Predictions – June 26th Round of 16: Uruguay v S. Korea and US v Ghana

I’ve seen the first round.  Its time for the crystal ball to start speaking in specifics.

S. Korea will beat Uruguay by 2 goals if they score first.  They are too quick on the wings for Uruguay, who struggled against France’s speed in the first half and then weren’t really tested for the rest of the group matches.  S. Korea will corral Diego Forlan and Uruguay doesn’t have the speed or height to test them (maybe Lugano gets a goal off a set piece).

Prediction: S. Korea 3 Uruguay 1

Potential scorers: Park Chu-Yong, Park Ji Sung and Lee Chung-Yong; Suarez.

U.S. / Ghana match is tougher to call.  I will go with the U.S.’s experience to pull this out.  I think Ghana is too young to pull out a close match with the pressure of representing Africa likely to weigh on the young players the longer it goes.

Prediction: U.S. 2 Ghana 1

Potential scorers: Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra