From Javier....
We are down to the last four teams for the semifinals. Uruguay, two times World Cup winner in 1930 and 1950 (in the biggest sporting upset in history played in Brazil against Brazil) and semifinalist in 1970 against the Brazil of Pele. Germany, three times World Cup winner (1954, 1974, 1990) and multiple times finalist (1966,1982,1986,2002). Netherlands, World Cup finalist in 1974 and 1978. And Spain....... well Spain was in the top four in 1950.
Today Netherlands takes on Uruguay. The Dutch better not be overconfident, because Uruguay is not a pushover. The Netherlands were lucky with Brazil in that the Brazilians selfdestructed. The best news for Netherlands is that Uruguay's star striker Suarez has to sit out the game after his "Hand of God" against Ghana. The Uruguayans have performed beyond what anyone expected of them, they are heroes in their home country no matter what and will be under less pressure tonight than the Netherlands. But the Netherlands have performed admirably as a solid block. Great game.
Updated estimated probabilities are shown in the adjunct table. Netherlands has higher probabilities to win the World Cup than Germany because it has theoretically an easier path, with the Germans taking on the Simulator favourite Spain tomorrow (more on that next blog entry).
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Wow, I'm amazed by the new probabilities. I do think the Netherlands will reach the finals. But Germany is really strong in this tournament and I think they make a better chance of reaching the finals than Spain, unfortunately...
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