They all seem to really conserve their strength early on to absorb the pressure and then take over when their opponents are knackered. After about 70 minutes today, Algeria were spent and there was only going to be one winner. We saw it with France - Nigeria and Holland - Mexico yesterday as well.

I suppose if I were a car owner in Paris, I'd sleep easier tonight with Algeria being out.

Thus far all the group winners have won their matches. That doesn't bode well for the US, but I think they have a real chance against a so-far unimpressive Belgian side.

But it was one of those matches where you wondered how on earth it ended up 0-0 after 90 minutes.

Mind you, I thought both goalkeepers had good games.

Thiago Silva will be out for the Germany match after an idiotic yellow card today too.

It'll be very interesting to see how the Germany/Brazil match plays out. I am cautiously optimistic...

Although as tough as they played France, I'm not sure they needed any extra help. Neuer is very difficult to beat straight-up and Low seems to have figured out his line-up finally (Lam to the back, auf wiedersehen Mertsacker). Too bad about the injury/suspension because that was shaping up to be an incredible match. Hopefully, it still will be.

I thought I was in a time warp of instant re-plays. Oh, my! Another one...

How much did PSG pay for David Luiz again?

I'm really, really having trouble feeling bad for him. Apparently he told Bastian Schweinsteiger, right before Chelsea scored the equalizer at the 2012 UCL Final at the Allianz Arena, something to the effect of "and now for the goal." Of course Schweini then went on to miss his penalty shot after extra time to seal the victory for Chelsea.

It sucks to be a key part of a memorable loss in front of your home fans, don't it David?

I think a HUGE congrats to Miroslav Klose is in order, on account of his new record. He is a total class act, and I'm just totally elated for him!

What a game! What a first 29 minutes, really! Precise passing, no reliance on a single player to win, no diving for penalties...this sort of game is why I love the German team!

I'm so excited for Sunday now!!

the German team struck quickly right up the middle in most their scores. They must have seen a defensive weakness in Brazil.

Brazil were also extremely vulnerable to attacks down the German right flank all match, and Thomas Mueller ran Marcelo ragged.

But yes, Brazil did also go AWOL in a big way in central defence.