WC Quarterfinal Preview (and Suggested Menu)

Here's a look at the games in the next couple of days (Friday-Saturday, June 30 and July 1), plus suggested breakfast menus.

Friday:
9:45am: Germany-Argentina. These two would probably be favored to go to the finals if they weren't in the same quarter of the bracket; the winner becomes the favorite to win it all.
Menu: Apfelpfannkuchen (apple pancakes), cheese and sausage plate; fruit, Yerba Mate, submarinos (bittersweet chocolate melted into steamed milk). An excellent game to drink beer with: Quilmes from Argentina; any of dozens from Germany.

1:45pm: Italy-Ukraine. On paper, this is something of a breather for Italy; but they looked anything but comfortable in a pre-tournament scoreless tie with the Ukraine. Italy will be missing defenders Alessandro Nesta (groin) and Marco Materazzi (red card), plus midfielder Daniele DeRossi, suspended four games for his elbow on Brian McBride. For Ukraine, striker Andriy Voronin is out for the rest of the tournament, putting all the focus on Andrij Shevchenko, longtime AC Milan star leaving Italy this off-season for the Premiership.
Menu: Breads & cheeses, prosciutto & salami, fresh mozzarella, cornetti and other pastries, espresso, Peroni & vino rosso.

Saturday:
9:45am: England-Portugal. First big test for an English side that has looked anything but impressive so far. They don't look fit to play another afternoon game; heaven help them if it goes to overtime. Portugal, on the other hand, looks ready to atone for their failure in the 2004 Euro championships, though they'll miss the creativity in the midfield from Deco, one of the two red-carded players from the Dutch game.
Menu: This could be the best cheese plate of the entire tournament; that's a given for England, but there's also some very nice Portuguese soft sheep's cheese. Plus of course, bangers, crumpets, jams, tea and strong coffee; nice ale selection, plus some English hard cider, and port.

1:45pm: Brazil-France. Rematch of the 1998 championship game; both sides say there's no revenge factor involved, but don't believe it. Should be a good one. Menu: Still working on this one a little. Croissants, of course, plus a fromage & pate plate; tropical fruits for Brazilian breakfast, but we could perhaps shade it more toward lunch, given the time of day. I'm having trouble finding more Xingu (Brazilian black beer), and Central Market is out of the Alsatian beer they used to stock. So, we shall see. And of course, there's always Cachaca and Cashew juice. Or Benedictine, if you prefer.