Matchday 13

 Russia in, Sweden out! Superb display by the Russians. Solid defending that turned into excellent counter-attacks. They neutralized Ibrahimovic who was out of sorts, he never found his game. They made him play far from the penalty box and wide on the flanks. Sweden were absolutely lost, playing those useless long balls which never really threatened the Russians. Bravo to Hiddink on his masterclass tactics. It will be a blast to see if he can stop the flying Dutchmen. I loved how Russia were so organized, it was just a pleasure to watch them. Sweden were lucky to only lose 2-0 as Russia were missed a plenty of chances especially in the last 30 minutes. Now the English fans can feel better because it was Croatia and Russia who knocked them out in the qualifiers, and both these teams are through to the quarters. For the Swedes, it's time to change all those 31+ aged players. I was surprised Kim Kallstrom didn't get much playing time in the tournament, and I also felt sorry for Marcus Allback, he was the top scorer for Sweden in the qualifiers and how many minutes did he play in Euro 2008? Only 15!

 Greece went from being the European champions to zero! Yes, 0 points this time around. How different can a team get in 4 years? Even a Spanish side with mostly bench players beat them comfortably 2-1. Spain were having fun, they should have won by a bigger margin. They now join Croatia and Holland as the only teams to get 9 points out 9. Italy are next in line, let the trash talk between their fans begin ;)

 The group stage is over, so you think you have 1 day to rest with no football, right? Nope, we have the 1st quarter-final match today:

 Portugal 2 - 1 Germany (in extra-time) - Two teams with a contrast in styles. They say you can never write off the Germans, but I will this time. I see this going to extra-time. Deco and Ronaldo to score for Portugal, and Klose for Germany.

 Bring on the quarter-finals :)