I believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Spoiler, obviously)

[Ron Obvious]

76. You're welcome

One of the fascinating things about this sport is the endless permutations of possible results and the dependencies on what happens in other games.

This sport has the smallest margins between ecstasy and despair than any sport I know. I've seen a comfortable situation change to a hopeless one in seconds and vice versa.

The final round of group games will be played simultaneously, btw. This is to avoid any team knowing ahead of time how the other game in the group finished and knowing exactly what they need to do.

This was prompted by the worst game in the history of the sport, Germany - Austria 1982, to which I alluded earlier. Algeria (who had shocked Germany in the opener) had finished their final game and Germany and Austria both knew that a 1 -0 German victory would be enough to see both teams through to the next round when they played. After Germany took a 1-0 lead, both teams just kicked the ball around for 70 minutes without even attempting to disguise what they were doing. I remember turning off the TV in disgust.

We could be in for a scenario exactly like that on Thursday, of course. I'm not saying it will happen, but with the US having a German manager with excellent connections in the German camp....