Congratulations must go to the German national team for producing a stunning performance to knock-out the Portuguese. To contain the talent of Portugal was never going to be easy but the midfield performance of the Germans must be a testament of their grit and desire to win this competition. Some eye-brows were obviously raised at the poor defending and Ricardo’s hesitancy will surely cost him his number one jersey. Controversy came in the form of Michael Ballack giving a slight push to the Portuguese defender before heading in the ball. Scolari claims it may have made the difference between winning and losing but to be honest Germany were the superior side and fully deserved their win. Let’s all just hope that Croatia vs. Turkey will be as entertaining!

That was Scolari last game in charge of Portugal before he takes over the reign at Stamford Bridge. I’m sure with the Portuguese campaign over more will be said about Ronaldo’s future and Big Phil’s plans for Chelsea. Ronaldo after the game gave an interview and claimed he would make a decision in a couple of days about his future, but it is evident with his latest comments that he favors a move to Madrid

"It is a dream, a step forward, you can call it what you want. For me it is a great opportunity, and as Scolari says, that train passes by only once, and we have to take advantage of it.”

I think this has been a problem in football for long now. It’s rare that you see the type of loyalty that Giggs, Maldini and Shearer had for there clubs. Players these days are quick to jump at a move to one of the so called “elite” clubs. As clubs spend time nurturing and developing there players and patiently waiting for them to reach there potential, clubs such as Real and Barca step-in and persuade the players to switch clubs once they are in there prime. It rarely works out, players such as Anelka, Reyes, Gravesen and Emerson are just some of the examples of players who get wide-eyed at the prospect of joining Real. A move to Real for Ronaldo would be a step backwards for him, playing in a league like the Premiership and under the guidance of United can only ensure he will become one of the greatest of his generation. I honestly feel disappointed for Sir Alex who invested a lot of energy into Ronaldo to change him from the over flamboyant winger he was a few seasons ago. It comes as surprise that Ronaldo would take advice to move to Real from Scolari as it seems he is just driven by money and would see this as a great financial opportunity.

Club News: The former Danish international Michael Laudrup is interested in taking over at Blackburn. In my previous post I wrote that Paul Ince would be the correct appointment but now with Laudrup in the frame I have changed my stance. I have always been a favorite of Laudrup, I think he would be great Manager and quite possibly be better than Mark Hughes. He was won numerous Danish trophies and awards but he did a fantastic job of replacing Shuster at Getafe. His most notable achievement with Getafe was their Uefa Cup run which saw them reach the Quarter Finals. They were able to breach the Bayern defense four-times but lost on away goals. Laudrup brings attacking football and can push Blackburn to Europe.

Tottenham have purchased the Argentinean right-winger Santana for a reported £4 million form Fiorentina. I’m a big fan of Fiorentina and Santana was one of my favorite players. He has great dribbling and crossing capabilities but I think he might be to weak for the Premiership, I think he will struggle to adapted in his first season. He has struggled though to make first-team in his last season with the Florence club and it seems that Ramos took advantage of this to make him part of his new revolution.

FC Twente has appointed Steve McClaren as there new manager and let us hope that they can stay in the First Division next season….fingers crossed 

To start off with, the Russia vs Sweden match must be discussed. Guus Hiddink has always proved he is a master-mind at what he does but his recent achievement of steering Russia into the Quarter finals is highly impressive. Russia started of the campaign with a whipping from Spain and i must admit i thought i would be difficult for Russia to regain their confidence in time to secure a place in the next round. However, Guus got his red army up and running again and secured victories against the European Champions and shutting out the attacking threat of Ibrahimovic and co. to book a place against the un-stoppable Dutch. One has to wonder, if any one can stop Holland it would be the Dutch born Guus Hiddink. His knowledge and experience of Dutch football and his ability to shut out attacks will be his biggest assets when facing a team that has shown no mercy to world-class defenders.

A player i like a lot from the Russian National team is Roman Pavlyuchenko. He currently practices his trade at Spartak Moscow. I think he would be a great signing for one of the mid-table clubs looking to push for Europe. He scored an impressive two goals against England during the qualifications, he has the physical features to dominate a game (1.88cm and 78kgs) and most importantly he can read the game like a child reads Harry Potter. What im trying to say is that a host of clubs will be contacting his agent when the championship ends.

Tonight's game Germany vs Portugal will be great, two world-class teams going for a win will provide for a classic encounter. I'm convinced this is the decider on who will face Spain in the finals. Portugal will take full advantage of the extra week of rest most of their star players got and the fact there manager Low will be sitting in the stands.

Club News: Roma have signed out of favour Riise for a reported £3.96million. I think that’s a great purchase for the price they got him. Riise comes with a wealth of Champions League experience, International Experience and a sweet left foot that is aching to play consistent football.

Sky Sports understands that Paul Ince is the favorite to take over from Mark Hughes. Personally i think he has done a great job at MK Dons and he has the desire to do well at Blackburn. Steve McClaren and Sam Allardyce would be a step backwards for Blackburn, personally i would like to see Steve McClaren retire from managing or at least apply for an assistant job at Leeds Utd.

In other news Brazil vs Argentina was a complete bore. Messi missed two complete sitters and concerns came over Man Utd Anderson who was taken off by stretcher. This result is bad news for Brazil who lost their previous qualifying match against Paraguay 2-0 leaving then in fourth place.

Lots of pressure on Dunga.