Mea culpa, part 1 of infinity (World Cup edition)

This World Cup has been crazy and unpredictable in the fantastic way the best sporting events are. That said, I should take accountability for a few things I've gotten wrong.

* Congratulations to Argentina for making it to knockout rounds. I had written you off after Croatia destroyed you. Turns out Croatia might be that good and Argentina might succeed in spite of epic corruption and mismanagement. Lionel Messi came up with a goal that even video games would reject as not humanly possible. He did this with only the hopes and dreams of 40 million people resting on his shoulders.

* I, along with pretty much everyone else, thought Germany would find a way to make it out of their group. I, along with pretty much everyone else, was wrong. This does provide another handy excuse to peruse the German tabloid reaction:

Translation: Out! But we did not deserve that anyway.

I would pay a hefty subscription fee to read German tabloids covering SEC football.

* I should've listened to my brother-in-law, a diehard Sweden fan. They are legitimate contenders. First, they prevented Italy from even qualifying for the World Cup. 

(Let's take this opportunity to revisit the Italian tabloid reaction It's hard to see in this picture, but one sub-headline reads: “Italy, this is the apocalypse.” If the German tabloid sports media is unwilling to move to Birmingham, I would happily accept the Italians instead.)

Translation: Everybody at home!, Finished, Everybody out!

Then Sweden recovered from having their hearts ripped out by Toni Kroos in their match with German. The ending was so brutal that their coaches nearly fought after the game:

Nevertheless, Sweden recovered and schooled Mexico, scoring three goals in the second half. If you're a soccer neophyte, this was similar to those NBA finals games where Steph Curry or Kevin Durant would get tired of messing around and hit 5 three-pointers in a quarter or drop 43 points, respectively. 

This World Cup is up for grabs. Sweden has as good a chance as anyone. The knockout rounds should be thrilling.