Saturday’s quarterfinal match between Germany and Argentina features two soccer powerhouses who have a budding rivalry.

Germany eliminated Argentina from the 2006 World Cup in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks in a game that ended with players and staff from both teams clashing. A war of words has preceded Saturday’s match, and fans will be treated to a hard-fought, contentious match between two of the world’s best.

German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has accused Argentina of a “lack of respect” for the game and has criticized them for their apparent ability to influence officials. “You see how they gesticulate, how they try to influence the referee. That is not part of the game. That is a lack of respect. They are like that. We should not be provoked by them,” Schweinsteiger said.

Germany played just well enough to win Group D, winning against Australia and Ghana but suffering a loss to Serbia. They started the knockout stage very well, however, defeating England 4-1. Their young stars have been tremendous in the tournament. Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller have been magnificent, overcoming doubts that this World Cup was too soon for them. Ozil has played so well that Werder Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs has stated that he has outshone Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi, who is widely regarded as the world’s best player.

Argentina represents a much bigger challenge for Germany than any other team they have faced. They are one of two teams to win all four of their games and they feature the always-intimidating Messi. In addition to Messi, Argentina has joint top scorer Gonzalo Higuain who has scored four goals in the tournament.

Saturday’s match should be something special. The two teams are very evenly matched and they both feature some of the world’s best young players. Schweinsteiger’s words will certainly be in the minds of both teams as the international soccer giants seek to advance to the semifinals.

To engross themselves in an exciting and electrifying game of soccer scheduled on Wednesday, fans of Slovenia and England must be looking forward.

The game between Slovenia and England is expected to display some great dibbles and game strokes, with enthusiasm and expectation rising among fans of each nation. With failures in UEFA EURO 2004 and 2006 FIFA World Cup, the team of England, which was popularly known as the “golden generation”, is in a tough position. This year is therefore highly crucial for them to prove their skill and regain the lost glory in the international world game.

England is believed to bounce back with new vigor and zeal, displaying some great moves and play, with Fabio Capello in team. In the match against Slovenia, other big names of the team including Rooney, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe etc are hoped to exhibit great promise. The climate and other conditions of South Africa are thought to work in favor of the English player’s playing style. England has qualified for the World Cup of 2010 in emphatic fashion with nine wins in their kitty, with disappointments of previous losses.

For some good play among the fans, Slovenia on the other hand is also intriguing hope. Towering over Poland, Czech Republic and Russia, the nation with population of only two million people has made it to the World Cup. However, Slovenia does not have any biggies in their squad this time, the team spirit and collective strength is the key secret of their success. The names of the players in the Slovenia team who is surely provide tight fight to opponents and enough entertainment to audiences is striker Milivoje Novakovic, goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and Captain Robert Koren.

To know who towers over whom to win the game, do watch out for this match.

Cameroon and Denmark will play on the 19th of June in Group E of the 2010 World Cup. This game is far and away considered to be the key game to the advancement of each of these teams out of Group E. With two other teams in the group that seem to have their destiny sealed, these teams will be fighting for the 2nd position of advancement.

Most experts have conceited that Netherlands will at minimum advance out of the group. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Japan is the favorite to be in the cellar of Group E. This means that Cameroon and Denmark will seal their fate by the way that they play against each other on the 19th of June.

Cameroon sports a superior offensive attack. Samuel Eto’o is an absolute star in the league and has been the key to their success in World Cup Qualifying. When Eto’o was playing well in the qualifying the team was nearly unbeatable. They actually did not lose a single game in which he managed to score at least one goal. This means that the key for Denmark will be stopping Eto’o from making an impact in this game.

Cameroon has a weakness on defense that can be exploited by Denmark. The problem for Denmark is that they may lack a premier striker that can take advantage of the weakness of the Cameroon defense.

Once again, the African support may be enough to push Cameroon over the top as they sport somewhat of a home field advantage.

Ghana and Australia will square off on the 19th of June. Of the 2010 World Cup, they are each part of Group D.

For both teams, this match will be an important one. In the group, the other two teams, Serbia and Germany, are seen as the two strongest teams. This fact will put a lot of pressure on these two teams. As the other two teams that they play are going to be tough, it will be a must-win scenario when they face off against each other.

Against each other, these teams match up pretty well. On each team, the caliber of players is probably pretty similar on the offensive side of the game. Each team has a decent attack, but not one that is one of the premier attacks of the World Cup like the other two teams in the group.

The fact that they will put a lot of pressure on the two teams on defense since they have a similar caliber of offensive attack. Their level of defensive attack is also similar. With two teams, that matchup so well this should make a great game to watch.

In this match, one of the x-factors for Australia could be goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. Four years ago in the World Cup, Mark Schwarzer had a brilliant showing. This will give the Australians something to lean on as this goalkeeper could have the potential to keep Australia in the game through tough spots.

The home continent crowd can always be the x-factor for Ghana. Looking to support them against Australia, the African people will be on their side.

On June 22, Nigeria and South Korea conclude group play, when they face each other at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa. At 2:30 p.m. ET, the match will begin. Nigeria and South Korea are members of Group B.

In the first ever World Cup played on the continent, Nigeria is one of teams representing Africa. As a result, they will have a home-field advantage of sorts. No African team has ever made it to the World Cup final and fans will be delighted to see it happen in their own continent.

The game will obviously have important implications, as the final game of group play. They will use this as an opportunity to prove they are for real if one of the two (or both) is able to beat Argentina prior to this match.

This year, South Korea is one of three Asian teams playing for the World Cup. At least, they will look to go as far as they did in the 2002 World Cup, when they made it to the semifinals while co-hosting the tournament with Japan.

With midfielder Ji-Sung Park, South Korea’s success likely begins and ends. By playing in all of South Korea’s World Cup matches in 2002 and 2006 and by playing very well for the globally recognized Manchester United of the English Premier League, the beloved midfielder has made a name for himself.

With the speedy Nigerians, South Korea will have no problem enduring through the game. In the tournament, they are one of the best-conditioned teams. Nigeria appears to be a little stronger with their attackers. The supportive crowd may energize them to victory, if they can get a goal early.

In both teams’ final game of group play, the United States will face Algeria on June 23. The match will take place at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Fellow Group C teams England and Slovenia will be playing simultaneously in Port Elizabeth.

Both teams will have already played England and Slovenia heading into the match. How each team fared against Slovenia will likely have a big impact on how each team views this match. If both of them pick up wins against Slovenia, this will serve as a tie-breaker with the winner advancing to the next round (assuming they both lose to group favorite England).

The United States will be favored for this game. Slovenia and Algeria are considered to be on the lower tier of World Cup teams, and with England being the clear Group C favorite, team USA has become the number two team by default.

The United States are led by midfielder Landon Donovan. The veteran will be playing in his third World Cup and has spent the past few months on loan for Everton of the English Premier League. He has been solid and will hope to use his international experience to team USA’s advantage.

Algeria represents one of six African teams who have a chance at becoming the first African team to win the World Cup. With the tournament being held in Africa for the first time, expect a good deal of support for any African team.

After qualifying for consecutive World Cups in 1982 and 1986, this is their first World Cup in 24 years. Algeria qualified for the tournament by defeating bitter rivals Egypt in a playoff.

At 10:00 a.m. ET, the United States will play a World Cup match against Slovenia. It is the second match for both Group C teams. It will take place at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The United States will be the favorites going into the match. They are the consensus number 2 team of Group C after England. They will have played England six days prior to this match. If they lose to England, they will play this match with a great deal of urgency as they will need wins in their remaining two group matches in order to advance.

The United States has relatively high expectations going into the tournament. They upset Spain last summer 2-0 in the Confederations Cup and nearly beat Brazil. They have fallen victim to injuries, however. Defender Oguchi Onyewu is coming off of a patellar tendon rupture and forward Charlie Davies was left off the team after suffering multiple injuries in a car accident in October.

Slovenia’s schedule gets progressively more difficult as they begin the tournament. They open against Algeria and follow up by playing the USA (projected to finish second in Group C) and England (first). A win against Algeria will give the Slovenes a sense of excitement heading into their match with the USA, as another win would likely secure them a spot in the next round.

Defense, which is seen by many as one of the USA’s biggest weaknesses, is one of Slovenia’s biggest strengths. They allowed the second fewest goals in European qualifying.

In order for Slovenia to prevail, they will need increased effort from their goal scorers. Goals have been hard to come by for Slovenia, and as great as their defense is, they most likely won’t shut out the US and will need some sort of offensive production to avoid a loss.