World Cup Picks- Saturday Round of 16 Edition

The round of 16 is exciting because gives the World Cup lots of drama with the ‘win or go home’ format.  For this Saturday, the competitions will have two games between four South Americans teams that know each other very well.

Here are the World Cup Picks for the round of 16:

Brazil vs Chile, 12 PM ET

The round of 16 will open with a tremendous game between the host, Brazil, and Chile, this Saturday at 12 PM ET at the Estadio Mineirao at Belo Horizonte.

Brazil won group A with seven points and comes to this matchup after beating Cameroon 4-1 in their last game; however, a lost in this moment of the tournament will be a debacle for the host nation.

“It is normal for us to be anxious, especially now in the knockout stage where we cannot lose,” Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said.

“We become more afraid, more nervous. It is normal. Not because it is in Brazil, but because it is a World Cup. You only get the chance to get to the final if you win.”

For Chile is about their best team in history, knocking down the favorite.  Chile was eliminated by Brazil in 1998 and 2010, in the round of 16.

“We are the rebels of the tournament,” said Chile’s coach Jorge Sampaoli. “Chile are contenders.”

“This is a Chile that I am proud to be at the helm of, in spite of the fact that we didn’t get a result. “The courage of the group, they have their heads held high and they are getting ready for the round of 16.”

Best Pick: Brazil.

Colombia vs Uruguay, 4 PM ET

Colombia and Uruguay takes the stage later in the game to play perhaps the most even series of the round of 16 at the Maracaná Stadium.

Colombia won group C with nine points, and dismantled Japan in the last game 4-1 with a superb game by James Rodriguez.

“Uruguay is a very experienced team with a lot of ability and a wonderful coach,” Colombian manager José Pekerman said. “It was going to be a difficult opponent in any case. Really, I am very busy with Colombia dealing with all the problems we have had with injuries.”

Uruguay ended second in group D over Italy and England but below Costa Rica; they will miss their best striker Luis Suarez, who’s out of the World Cup after biting Giorgio Chiellini in the game against the Italians.

“Listen, at this time this is a very delicate issue,” Pekerman responded when asked about Suarez. “But our concern is Uruguay as a team and we are working in order to play against them tomorrow. That’s all there is to say.”

These two met twice in the qualification series before the tournament; Uruguay won 2-0 in Montevideo and Colombia smashed them 4-0 when they visited Barranquilla.

Best Pick: Colombia.