AS DEFENDING champion Germany bid its title-retention bid hopes goodbye following a 0-2 loss to South Korea in the group eliminations, Dabawenyos said that it would be anybody's ball game as the Fifa World Cup 2018 in Russia reaches the round of 16.
Dabawenyo De La Salle University Green Archers football varsity player Darius Joseph "Jed" Diamante and Ateneo de Davao University football player Jasper Rex Lim, in separate Facebook interviews yesterday, picked Belgium as a strong force to reckon with and the heavy favorite to clinch this year's championship trophy.
Diamante said: "I have always been rooting for Belgium. The amount of talent that they have in the team is just remarkable. What I love about how they play is they are very disciplined in defense and very creative in attack. Also, you can see in how they play that they are a team. I hope they make it to the finals."
Lim, for his part, said, "Belgium has a strong solid team with lots of key players such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, and Thibaut Courtois. I also support them because they have three players (Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi, and Thibaut Courtois) who play for the club that I support, Chelsea F.C. They are a very solid and complete team and I hope they they will win the Fifa World Cup 2018."
Belgium topped Group G with nine points after sweeping its matches against Panama (3-0), Tunisia (5-2) and England (1-0). Belgium must beat Japan in the knockout round of 16 to secure a quarterfinals berth.
Ateneo de Davao University football coach Alex Adolfo, however, said it would be difficult to predict which teams will collide in the finals.
"Halos tanang makalusot sa round of 16 mga kusog na na sila (Every team that survives the round of 16 are strong and can win the title)," Adolfo said.
Buboy Arrieta of Sports Amusement and Recreation Corporation (Sparcorp) at the Azuela Cove, meanwhile, said the quarterfinals will pit Uruguay against France, Brazil vs Belgium, Spain vs Croatia and Sweden vs England.