Euro 2008

This is by far the best football (yes FOOTBALL for you Americans) that I have ever seen. Great games, a lot of goals and many upsets. The favorites to win Portugal have once again proven that despite their technique and skills they lack in winning attitude. Hence their loss tonight from a German team which had 3 opportunities to score..and did so 3 times.
Let's start from the beginning though looking at the quarter final games + Greece.

Greece: OK, they were disappointing in this tournament and they did not stand up to their title of European Champions. But remember that they have something that teams like England and Spain do not have. A European title! So no matter how awful they were at this tournament I believe the least we could do is say Thank you to that team for making Greeks and Cypriots proud and move on.

Croatia vs. Turkey: The Croatians beat Austria in the premiere of the 2nd group despite their disappointing game and then they thrashed one of the tournament favorites Germany 3-0. I have always liked Croatia -mainly because of Davor Suker and Procinetski - but beware...whatever the Turks lack in skills they have in passion. It is not a coincidence that they secured a place in the quarter-finals by scoring a goal in injury time against Switzerland and then coming back from a 2-0 against Czech Republic in 15 minutes!! Despite this, they are going into the game tomorrow with 5 players absent due to injuries and suspension, so I would favor Croatia to go through but I am leaving a chance for the upset there.

Italy vs. Spain: I am almost convinced that after their thrilling qualification from the "Group of Death" the Italians will win the tournament. Even though Spain are first or second favorites to win the tournament, they have a tendency to lose important games. The exact opposite is true for Italy. It should be an interesting game. After all, the two teams have the two best goalkeepers in the world - Buffon and Casillas - and world-class strikers - Luka Toni vs. David Villa and Fernando Torres. I believe that Italy will make it through.

Holland vs. Russia: 20 years ago, when I was 8, I remember sitting in the living room of our house and watching the big final of Euro 1988. Holland vs. USSR. I still remember Marco Van Basten's goal against the then best goalkeeper in the world Rinat Dasayev..and I still remember Igor Belanov missing a penalty kick for the Soviets. 20 years later, Marco Van Basten is the coach of the Holland team and the Soviet Union does not exist. But these two teams still play very attractive football. Holland has upset world cup finalists Italy and France (3-0 and 4-1) and has played the best football up to now. On the other hand, Russia may not be the greatest team but they do have quality players and a great coach. From what I have seen up to now, if Holland keeps their form they will probably go through. Beware of the Russians though. They are capable of losing the game 5-0 or winning 5-0.

I will be back for more predictions for the semi-finals. For the time being this is the order of likeness for each team that is still in the tournament.

1. Russia ( I do have a bet on them winning the tournament)
2. Holland
3. Italy
4. Croatia
5. Spain
6. Germany
7. Turkey