World Cup Day 19 preview

Before the World Cup began, Belgium's Eden Hazard was pin-pointed as a star in the making. While the hype now surrounds James Rodriguez of Colombia, Hazard is slowly waiting for his moment set the World Cup ablaze.

To keep alive their hopes of winning the World Cup for the first time, Belgium will need to defeat the United States who came out of a challenging group which included Germany, Ghana and Portugal. Soccer fever has well and truly gripped the United States and the Red Devils will need to conquer the USA's '12th man' in the stands, as well.

After such a sparkling write-up pre-tournament, Belgium's performances have been uninspiring. The Red Devils narrowly beat Algeria, having trailed for most of the match, while South Korea and Russia went down by a goal each. All of Belgium's strikes, so far, have come in the last 20 minutes of matches.

"I think for the moment Eden wants to do more. He can do a lot for us, I think everyone knows that," head coach Marc Wilmots said at team headquarters.

"Now I'm waiting to see it. It's not a question of putting pressure on him because I know he's already under a lot of pressure. But I'm waiting for him to take hold of a match and impose himself. Even if at 23 he's still young to be doing that."

Watch that Hazard

Hazard, who plays his club football at Chelsea in England, started the South Korea match on the bench, but showed only fleeting glimpses in previous encounters. The 23-year-old was influential in Belgium's winning goal against Algeria, a lethal counter-attack, orchestrated by the quick-thinking and vision of Hazard. He also created the winner against Russia in the second group match.

"He can find gaps and score goals," Wilmots added. "We've discussed it together -- he wants to be more decisive, but there's a difference between saying it and doing it. I'm confident in him and I think all of Belgium is confident in him but I think it'll take a collective effort from all of us for this to happen."

While Wilmots is the sharp man-manager, looking to get more from under-performing players, USA boss Jürgen Klinsmann has told his players to believe his side can win the World Cup.

"Every single day we're going to have on the knock-out stage, can we do it? Yes we can," he said this week. Klinsmann has also told the players to make sure their flights are booked after July 13, the date of the World Cup final.

A tale of two number 10's

In the other Last 16 match, Argentina take on Switzerland with both sides pinning their hopes on two attacking-midfielders, in the mold of traditional 'No.10' players. Lionel Messi has quietly led Argentina to the knockout stages with four goals in three games, yet without the South Americans functioning at their best in matches against Nigeria and Iran.

In the red corner, Xherdan Shaqiri of Bayern Munich smashed a convincing hat-trick against Ecuador to help Ottmar Hitzfeld's side into the knockout round. Shaqiri - although he wears No.23 - has earned the tag of being the "Messi of the Alps" due to his similar position and playing style. Another connection is that both have been coached by Pep Guardiola.

On Shaqiri's comparison with Messi, he said in Buenos Aires this week, "He shoots very well. At Bayern, he's [Shaqiri] often only a replacement, but when he comes on he always does well. It's a gift to have a player like him at the club and in his own country, he's a god."

Even Swiss newspaper "Blick" have proclaimed they have their own version of Messi in Shaqiri. No pressure, then.