Brazil left back Michel Bastos (Wikipedia)

Some questions were answered, some answers were questioned, and gut instincts were confirmed as we are 99 days away from the beginning of the World Cup.

Based on the performances in this FIFA date we can tell that...

Brazil is dangerous...
...When they feel like playing. Duh. Dunga's boys are a steamroller when they decide to get to playing. Ask Ireland. After sleepwalking for a greater part of the 50 minutes, the verdeamarelha woke up and took the Irish to the toolshed. The story of the game was not Robinho or Kaká or Grafite or even Adriano's poor form.

Dunga saw that he was even deeper as Michel Bastos emerged from the Ireland match as the most benefited player from this callup. The Lyon defender's stock soared and now there is even talk of keeping him at left back and moving Dani Alves up to the midfield.

With that said, Dani Alves made a case for being considered for World Player of the year in the past week. He proved that Barcelona are a different team with him absent from the starting lineup. He also made that case for Brazil as he was a dominant force for the Canarinha.

Spain are number one for a reason...
For those of you who think Andrés Iniesta is still overrated, go home and save the drama for your momma. Lo Puto Crack was exactly that as he completely sliced up the French and set up both Spanish goals.

More importantly, Spain flexed their muscle in defense as the partnership between Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol solidified even more. Sergio Ramos was Sergio Ramos while David Villa was David Villa. But a player that truly impressed Vicente Del Bosque was Sergio Busquets.

France are sucking for a reason...
Two words- Raymond Domenech. He can bring all the tarot cards and astrology that he wants because France is a shell of the 2002 side that was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup. France showed nothing at home. They played nothing, there was little ambition to punch Spain back in the mouth and Les Bleues (Domenech) looked scared.

Iker Casillas was a greater offensive threat for the Spaniards than any French player was on the other end. Spain almost scored on three opportunities that came off the foot of the Real Madrid goalkeeper. Defensive midfielder Jérémy Toulalan was the biggest offensive threat and Thierry Henry and Nicholas Anelka fought against an organized Spanish side all by themselves. Uruguay and Mexico are salivating.

The US are somewhere...
For Vegas to put the Americans at 50:1 and the Mexicans at 80:1 was preposterous. The US were up against a big threat against a Dutch side that are trying to get back into form. They easily handled the US although Carlos Bocanegra was able to make the game close on the scoreboard off a setpiece.

Bob Bradley's side still looks incomplete and in this case he is to blame for the result of this match. There is a saying in football that "when the entire team looks bad, it's the coach's fault."

What there is to admit is that the US did not have the best health possible. Landon Donovan was suffering from the flu. We all know that when he goes, so do the US. That is why every team in the world now knows that if you neutralize Landon, half of the battle is won. The team did not look sharp and have lots of question marks on both sides of the pitch. Robbie Findley is definitely not Charlie Davies and the US looked limited offensively. Jonathan Bornstein struggled mightily. The Dutch hard men did not have to be very hard and the defense virtually had the night off with the exception of the final ten minutes of the game when the Oranje started to pack up and start warming up the team bus.

Uruguay are improving...
Finally all the pieces showed their true potential as they defeated Switzerland 3-1. If they play like this in South Africa, they have a very good shot to advance to the next round. Nicolás Lodeiro was able to put pressure on Switzerland while Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez took advantage of the spaces.

If collectively they are on the same page, La Celeste could be dangerous side.

The Dutch are Dangerous but...
There is still something missing in Bert van Marwijk's side. Arjen Robben was injured but it was Wesley Sneijder that sliced the US apart. Eljero Elia gave the US a clinic on how to move without the ball. They Dutch were not able to ice this game with the opportunities they had on goal. They are not necessarily the second coming of Clockwork Oranje, but there is a sick amount of talent on this team.


England are fighting...
Fabio Capello's men are fighting against the word in order to find their form and they battled against an Egypt side that was a tale of two halves. England went out and were soundly dominated by the Pharoahs in the first half. Fortunately for the Three Lions, Crouchaldinho showed up and once again saved the day for the English.

Elephants with bad memory...
Ivory Coast were being looked at as possibly the African team to have the best chance to win the World Cup. Those comments seem to have seem to have lost their confidence and losing coach Vahid Halilhodzic just a few days ago has set off a chain reaction as they were duly handled by South Korea. If they are able to get Guus Hiddink, he will have to pull off a tremendous magic act.

Black Stars lose their luster...
Ghana is another side that have stuttered a great deal. Their 2-1 loss Bosnia. Hoffenheim's Vedad Ibisevic (sorry US fans) scored for the Balkans and helped them come back against a Ghana side that once again showed very limited offense.