Matchday 12

 Firstly I would like to thank all the readers and the people who commented. I really appreciate it :)

 Unfortunately I was quite busy yesterday so I had no time to write my daily blog. So about the games 2 days ago, well done to Germany on qualifying along with Croatia to the next stage. Ballack's unstoppable free-kick did the job. I have to praise the Austrian fans, they seem so peaceful and acknowledged that the Germans were superior to them. On the other hand, Croatia proved their supremacy in this group. 9 points out of 9 for them, not so bad. Can they keep on going on? Only time will tell. So it's Portugal vs Germany and Croatia vs Turkey, very interesting.

 Now on to yesterday. Well well well, the Italians do it again. Just when they needed a win, they got it. Fine display by them, although France made their life easier. First Domenech starts with another questionable lineup, then Ribery gets injured early in the game, and adding to injury Abidal gets sent off in the 1st half. Disastrous for the French, but still I have to give the Italians credit. Spain vs Italy in the quarters? Can't wait for that. Every French fan I have talked to is still talking about Zidane and how he is missed. Well his era is over, and so could be Thuram's, Vieira's, and Makelele's. Time for a fresh start, new coach and new players. Au revoir le France.

Holland continued their perfect start. 3 wins in 3 matches, 9 goals scored and only 1 conceded. To make it more impressive, they've done in it in the so-called "Group of Death". They beat the Romanians 2-0 with their 2nd-string team! The Romanians should be proud of themeselves, they almost pulled off a big surprise. Unfortunately for them, their worst performance came in the most important game.

 So what about today?

 Greece 1 - 3 Spain - Spain will rest their best players, but still I expect them to win comfortably with Guiza, Fabregas, and Sergio Garcia scoring for Spain, and Samaras for the Greeks.

 Russia 1 - 2 Sweden - The match most of you will be watching. I'm predicting a 1-1 draw (Pavlyuchechenko, Larsson) until the last 10 minutes when the Russians are push forward in numbers to score because they must win but Sweden grab the winner through the injured Elmander.

 Out of topic: Congratulations to my 17-time NBA Champions Boston Celtics on a crushing win over the LA Lakers :)