It's almost time. It was a great group stage, and a good win in the round of 16. But that's all in the past now. Now there are eight teams left, and we are one. We are in the elite, alongside our brothers from South America: Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, and along with European giants Germany, Holland and Spain. We're one of the big boys. And yet, we have been given a draw that has to be thought of as fairly easy.

It's almost time. It was a great group stage, and a good win in the round of 16. But that's all in the past now. Now there are eight teams left, and we are one. We are in the elite, alongside our brothers from South America: Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, and along with European giants Germany, Holland and Spain. We're one of the big boys. And yet, we have been given a draw that has to be thought of as fairly easy.

It's Ghana. The last African side. Support-wise, this is a team to be afraid of, because everyone in the stands aside from our Celeste faithful will be on their side. But on the pitch, they haven't shown all that much. 2 goals from open play, all in their R16 match with the USA. Before that, it was only 2 Asamoah Gyan penalties. They are strong defensively, but having conceded not a single goal in the group stage, we're no slouches there either.

Make no mistake - this is our best chance to make the semis for a very long time. We didn't draw #1 Brazil, or #2 Spain, or #3 Netherlands. We drew #32 Ghana. If we get through them, we are one of only four teams left in the world. And we can get through them.

We can do this. More than that, we have to do this. I feel for Ghana, and for Africa, I do. It's been a poor tournament for the host continent and if they were facing anyone but us, I'd root for them, but the fact is that come the quarterfinals, they are the enemy. They stand between us and glory.