Spain/France 
My Pick: Spain
A meeting of two of European soccer's most talented teams so early in the World Cup was not supposed to be written in the script but that is precisely what has happened. It will be a battle between talented youngsters versus old warhorses when Spain meet France for a quarterfinal spot in Hanover on Tuesday.
The Spanish qualified with consummate ease from their group, scoring 8 and conceding just one. They topped their group with 3 wins from as many games and are looking in hot form. Many of their reserve players played well against Saudi Arabia and might get in a look ahead of the normal first team. I hate to call the likes of Raul, Joaquin, Fabregas, Salgado and company reserve players but that is the strength of this young Spanish side. They have players on the bench who will easily walk into the first team of any other nation. Their reserve players are not just players who will fill the gap, but they are players who can change the course of a game on their own. Joaquin, Fabregas and Raul may get first team starts. That possibly means Luis Garcia and Marcos Senna will be on the bench. Iker Casillas will again don the gloves in goal after giving it up to Santiago Canizares for the game against the Saudis. The Spanish have been big underachievers on the world stage despite being host to one of the best leagues in Europe and will be keen to prove that they have well and truly arrived on the world stage.
The French on the other hand produced not so great displays en route to the second round. They drew with the Swiss and the Koreans and got past Togo. Their main target man Thierry Henry hasn't reproduced his club form and sometimes has been ineffective in front of goal. Raymond Domenech still depends a lot on a group who look impressive on paper but are well past their prime. Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram, Claude Makelele are name which would have caused opponents to quirk with fear not too long ago, but they are not the same today. They can still inspire their team but cannot deliver with the consistency they used to a few years ago. Frank Ribery was supposed to display a few of his tricks which have made him a star at Marseille but sadly there haven't been any great performances form him. Eric Abidal will replace Silvestre in defence after recovering from Injury. Zidane will also come in after being suspended for the last game against Togo. If France lose this might well be the talismanic Frenchman's last game in the beautiful game and the world and France would not like to see Zizou bow out in tears.
My verdict:
On paper and based on recent form Spain are clear favourites. The French though are more than capable of winning this one if their oldies fire. We may see another Zizou
special inspiring France into the quarterfinals where they may face Brazil. But the French will have to come up with something special for this game, otherwise its Au
Revoir for them.
