CONMEBOL: We expected them to be the superstars of the tournament, and the South Americans have only exceeded expectations. Brazil and Argentina were the two favorites coming into the tournament. They have taken care of business, and both can be dramatically better than they have been so far. If one of the two won it would be much less of a surprise than if one didn't. It is the rest of the region that has really excelled, though. Colombia is still alive and has come this far despite losing their best player leading up to the tournament. Uruguay was solid in the two games when Luis Suarez was playing, but they totally fell apart when he was suspended. Chile was excellent throughout, led by great goaltending, and came very close to shocking the Brazilians. Only Ecuador didn't make the second round, and they were the lowest-rated of the six teams in the region. Still, there are three out of six teams still standing - very impressive. What's even more frustrating is that they could have had more than three, but Colombia knocked out Uruguay, Brazil knocked out Chile, and now Brazil and Colombia meet. If the bracket had been a bit more favorable to the region there could really be a story to tell. It would be very tough to challenge the argument that soccer lives in South America right now.