World Cup Round of 16 - Thank God for Penalties (AET Switzerland 0 - Ukraine 0) *Ukraine wins 3-0 on Penalties

I'm seriously glad they have penalty shootouts. There is of course some serious debate on if penalties are a fair way to settle football matches, but in this case, they are necessary. Both teams could play till the next World Cup in South Africa 2010 but neither would score a single goal.

Hell, even in the penalty shootouts, Switzerland couldn't score a single one to save their lives. They become the first team to leave the World Cup without conceding a single goal. Strange but true.

For the entire game, both teams showed alot of hardwork, but there was a lack of inspiration in both sets of players. There was plenty of endeavor, but no goals for all the effort put into the game. As the commentator said midway thru the second half, there was plenty of prespiration and no inspiration.

The closest both teams came to scoring was midway in the first half, when Schevchenko hit the crossbar with a header, and Frei also hitting the other crossbar with a freekick, just minutes after. After that, it was always going to be a dull stalemate.

In the end Ukraine prevailed in the penalty shootouts to set up a date with the Italians. It's probably going to be yet another dull game with both defences taking centre stage.

What's interesting to note so far in the 6 knockout games is that no game has been able to beat the 2.5 goals handicap. Every single game has 2 or fewer goals. Maybe it's time for the next one featuring Brazil and Ghana to break the duck. Maybe it's time for me to put a punt on it, since I've been avoiding betting on individual games.