Finally. This is the moment I've been personally been waiting for. The election of the BEST BRAZILIAN FOOTBALLER OF ALL TIMES. And your vote will decide it.

In a quick recap, last time I posted I gave you 8 names to choose the Best Dutch Footballer.  Marco Van Vasten took an early lead but Arsenal fans soon started sending some votes for Denis Bergkamp but in the end, when more Dutch fans started voting, Johann Cruijff came from third place to sweep the title leaving Van Basten in second place. So here are all the results so far:

ARGENTINA: Alfredo DiStefano + Diego Maradona

FRANCE: Michel Platini + Zinedine Zidane

UNITED KINGDOM: George Best

GERMANY: Franz Beckenbauer + Oliver Kahn

ITALY: Paolo Maldini + Alessandro Del Piero

HOLLAND: Johan Cruijff + Marco Van Basten

Now for the BEST BRAZILIAN FOOTBALLER I expect more than 100 votes. To help you guys decide I added some information and in some cases a video showing a little bit of that player.

Ademir da Guia - O Divino [The Divine] . The son of great Brazilian defender Domingos da Guia, Ademir is the biggest idol of SE Palmeiras history. A player of extreme class. He was part of the starting line-up for 16 straight years. Didn't get capped for the National team as much as he deserved.

Carlos Alberto Torres - O Capitão do Tri [The Captain]. If nowadays we have right and left backs that move up to the attack - the so-called wings - Carlos Alberto was the pioneer. And he did the task with extreme efficiency when playing for Botafogo FR and the amazing 1970 Brazilian National Team.

Didi - O Príncipe Etíope [The Ethiopian Prince]. Two-time World Champion with the Brazilian National Team in 58 and 62 and the creator of the Folha Seca [the Dry Leaf kick] , a free kick in which he would hit the ball with the outside of the foot and in a way that the ball would take an effect and suddenly drop as if it was a dry leaf falling from a tree. Talented midfielder that played with Di Stefano and Puskas at Real Madrid but achieved glory wearing the Botafogo strip.

Falcão - O Rei de Roma [The King of Rome] . Falcão never looked like a defensive midfielder. Tall, too skiny, extremely talented, calm and didn not make many fouls. Every time I watched Falcão playing he reminded me of Franz Beckenbauer. He was definetily the Brazilian version of the Kaiser.

                                              Garrincha - The Bow-Legged Angel [Anjo das Pernas Tortas in Portuguese] does not need any introductions. Ronaldinho, Robinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and all the other tricksters of football owe Garrincha for creating entertaining football. To close my case I'll just say that to some Garrincha was even better than Pelé.

Leonidas - O Diamante Negro [The Black Diamond]. He invented (or improved) the bicycle kick. He was a star playing for Botafogo, Flamengo, São Paulo and for the National Team. He was the top scorer of the 1938 FIFA World Cup with 7 gols.

Pelé - O Rei do Futebol [The King] . Unquestionably one of the greatest athletes of the history of any sport. Pelé participated in four world Cups, I mean, three and a half, because in 66 he was hunted on the pitch by the Portuguese defenders and ended up out of the competition with an injury. But Pelé is unique and I'm still to see another one like him being born. Just like Garrincha, Pelé's talent is still a huge influence in the football stars we see all over the world.

Reinaldo - O Rei do Galo [The King of Galo]. He could have been the best striker of Brazilian football of all times if it weren't for the violence of the unpunished defenders in the 1980's. Reinaldo scored 28 goals in 18 matches in the 1977 Brazilian Championship, a record that lasted in numbers until 1997 but his goal average of 1.55 is still unbeaten.

 
Romario - O Baixinho [Shorty]. Romário played until the age of 41 in pursuit of his goal number 1,000. To reach that number he played for small clubs such as Miami FC (in the second tier of football in the USA) and Adelaide United (from the Australian League). But what is in the history of football is that Romario scored 71 goals for the National Team and led the team to the fourth World Cup title in 1994. He also shone and humiliated defenders in Europe playing in Holland for PSV and in Spain for Barcelona.

Ronaldinho - In 1997 Ronaldinho as still called Ronaldinho Gaucho when he scored an incredible goal for the Brazilian National Team against Venezuela. Not to mention that he also humilliated the now Brazilian coach Dunga during a Gre-Nal derby (Gremio v. Internacional is the biggest club rivalry in ronaldinho home state Rio Grande do Sul). just by seeing that weird looking buck-toothed kid playing one could alreay tell that he would become one of the best footballers of the planet.

Ronaldo - O Fenômeno [The Phenomenon]. He's the player I had the chance to watch from the begining of his carreer when he arrived to play for Cruzeiro of Belo Horizonte and since then he scored (many) incredible goals for all teams he played for: PSV, Barcelona, Inter milan, Real Madrid, AC Milan and National Team. Ronaldo had and has many problems on his knees but when healthy and in shape I don't believe there is a striker at the same level as Ronaldo.

Zico -  Fantastic. A showman. Zico is the greatest idol of the history of Flamengo. Directly reponsible for making the team from Rio de Janeiro one of the most famous in the world. In 1981 Zico proved the superiority of Brazilian football when he led Flamengo to beat Liverpool in the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo. He is also the player that most influenced my short carreer in football. A refined touch, perfect free kicks and extreme intelligence. Zico is with no doubts one of the best players in the world to wear a number 10 shirt.

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LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A RETRO FOOTBALL REPLICA SHIRT

CONTEST RULES:

"I separated the best players (the ones that people most argue about) into countries or categories. Some countries like Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Germany, England ... will be a category on their own and some countries with less entries will form a group category. You will have 2 weeks to submit your votes for each category and after that the 2 top voted players will move to a next round. In the end of the whole process we will be able to find out who are the top 10 best players of all times. And if you also decide to leave a comment on the my blog posts revealing your opinion about the players in that category your name will be on a raffle for a chance to win a Retro Football Strip Replica... It will be a prize from me for your participation."

90' (+2): It's over SPAIN WON!!! THE NEW EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS!!! There won't be enough sangria in the streets of Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, etc... tonight!!!! CELEBRATION!!!!

90': And after that horrible cross it can be Auf Wiedersehen!!!

89': Another kerfufle inside Spain's box. The ref called a foul on Schweinsteiger and the German didn't like it...

89': You can hear the Spanish crowd singing happily now: España, España!!!

84': But Germany can still save this match. Lots of goals have been scored in this Euro. Can Germany do just like Turkey did a couple of times?

82': Spain is 8 minutes away from their first International title in 44 years. It's about time.

80': Right in time to catch this amazing play by Spain. Marcos Senna started the play an almost finished it in great style!!!!

66': Great set piece by Spain. The ball is crossed and Sergio Ramos with a splendid header forces Lehmann to make another good save.

62': Germany NOW is trying to put pressure on Spain's defense ... There's still time... This match is far from over

59': Ballack!!!!!! Almost, almost, almost!!!!

58': Here comes Kevin Kuranyi. Two Brazilian-born are on his pitch right now. Marcos Senna for Spain and Kevin Kuranyi for Gemrany

54': David Silva shooooootssss after the corner and Sergio Ramos tried a heel flick. If he scored that one he could've gone home and just chilled

51': Germany is in trouble. They are not creating. They're nervous and Spain seems more and more comfortable and dangerous.

47': So Lahm, the man who could follow the 12-year-old-girl-looking Fernando Torres, is out and replaced by Jansen.

45' (+1): Half time whistle. Spain 1, Germany 0. A first 45 with lots of ups and downs.

41': Another corner for Germany.

37': The ref is not happy with Ballack's blood. He's out again. I'm telling ... staple him, staple him!!!

36': Ballack headed Senna's head. Staple him and he'll be fine!

25': The match gained some speed finally. Both teams are now attempting offensive plays

22': Spain had a great chance with Torres. El Niño jumped so high to head that ball it looks like he had  coils on his boots. The ball hits the bar. Lucky Germans

19': Look at Torres punching the grass... hahahahaha... Metzelder who looks like a psycho with that beard got him. Free kick for Spain

15': Easy for Lehmann

14': Lehmannnnnnn!!!! Great save!!!! The shot was deflected by Mezelder and Lehmann found time to come back and make an amazing save!

12': I haven't seen Cesc Fabregas touch the ball yet. Did he go to the pooper and didn't come back???

10': The intelligence of the German strategy is admirable. Podolski and Ballack will explore the left side to force Sergio Ramos to stay in defense

7': Ballack just left Puyol eating dust with a sweet move on the far left but his cross was wayyyy far

6': Through ball to Capdevila on the left side of the attack but he was caught offside.

4': Sergio Ramos and all the Spanish defense has been flaky this tournament and the Real Madrid guy gave a present to Schweiney butthe German didn't take full advantage of it.

2': The match starts slow as I expected. Nobody wants to risk a crazy move in the beginning.

1': Here we go. Spain kicks it off.

Before Kick Off:

The National Anthems. Spain's players look a little nervous. I guess no matter how professional you are when it comes a decisive moment and the responsibility of proving you are really the best in the continent the tension takes over. All the German players (and the bench and crowd as well) are singing their anthem. A very beautiful moment

Before Kick Off: So here it is my fellow football lovers. The big Euro 2008 Final. Maybe not the final some expected but both teams got there with merits. Spain by playing an extremely offensive football and Germany with the well known organization and discipline.

.:. Spain vs Russia .:.

Spain has a great chance to advance to the Euro 2008 finals. The team is very motivated and with talents like Fernando Torres, Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Iker Casillas, Iniesta, Xavi and the inspired David Villa (and Cesc Fabregas on the bench (?)) one could only think that they are really the favourites to play Germany for the title on Sunday BUT some other facts should be taken in consideration before the fans of La Roja start celebrating.

Russia has a fast, disciplined and well trained team. Guus Hiddink is a very intelligent coach and he might use a strategy to surprise Spain just like he did with the Netherlands.

Another point that will make a difference today is the weather. It's been raining in Viena for quite some time and the wet pitch might give Russia a physical advantage.

So all I can really say is that there are no real favourites in this match. Russia has a not-so-well-known roster but that doesn't mean that they don't have the necessary quality to win and Spain, we all know very well. The team has quality, has talent and has already beat Russia once in this competition. But can they really perform under pressure?

We shall see ...

Penalties: Here comes Cesc Fabregas. If he scores Spain goes through to the semis... He runs and.... GGGGOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!! Spain is in the semifinals of the Euro 2008!!!!

Penalties: Guiza steps up to take the penalty for Spain: SAVED!!! SAVED By Buffon!!! Italy is alive in the match

Penalties: Camoranesi on the ball... He has to score... GGGOOOAAALLLL... a relief for Italy - Spain 3-2 Italy

Penalties: The brazilian born Marcos Senna with the chance of putting ahead: GGGOOOAAAALLLL - Spain 3-1 Italy

Penalties: De Rossi on the ball - SAVED!!! SAVED!!! SAVED!!! Amazing Save by Casillas!!!

Penalties: Santi Carzola for Spain... GGGOOOAAALLLL - Spain 2-1 Italy

Penalties: Now it's Fabio Grosso for Italy... GOOOOAAALLL: Spain 1-1 Italy

Penalties: David Villa takes the spot. GGGGGOOOAAAALLLL. Spain 1-0 Italy

120': The Ghost of Underachievement is right there now. Haunting every single Spanish fan, every single Spanish player. If Italy wins we will have for the first time in the Euro history NO group winners moving to the semifinals

120': And it's over!!! Penalty shootout...

119': And that was probably the last chance of this match. Wasted by Santi Cazorla...

117': I don't see any of the teams fighting to score a late goal. They attack but with no intensity

115':

Five more minutes and this match will be decided in the penalty shootout

113': Oh my God!!! The referee stopped the match AGAIN for nothing!!!

111': Great deep ball for David Villa... No offside... but his touch was not the best... Corner for Spain. Ramos heads it ... it goes out

109': Aquilani is coming and here comes the man... Alessandro Del Piero.

108':

A good free kick for Italy now. Grossos lifts it in the box and nobody reaches it.

106': The Spanish crowd is singing non-stop. They are expecting for a miracle goal from David Villa or La Liga's top scorer, Guiza.  Italy keeps its cool and the solid defensive style

105': And the the referee blows for half time of extra time

100': And we reached 100 minutes of football

100': Nice heel flick pass by Guiza to Cesc but he was offside.

98': All right. My wife got Baby Lucas now. And Fabregas fell in the box. Nothing it was nothing. Just good italian defense again

95': Casillas just made an incredible save for Spain.

94': sorry guys i'm typing with one hand and rocking the baby with the other

92': Great attack by Spain and it ends with Silva`s shot going centimeters away from the post

Extra Time: it's on. 30 more minutes of football betwee Spain and Italy

90' (+3):

we're going to extra time here

90' (+2):

Great defense by the Italian side. Corner for Spain... cleared

90': stupid ref!!! that was a clean tackle by Puyol

90': 3 minutes of stoppage time

87': Why did Guiza touch that ball with his hands... He had the chance to score the goal...

84': Torres is upset again. Aragones replaces him. Guiza is in

82':

We are less than 10 minutes away from another extra-time

80': A lost ball finds Marcos Senna again... Ultra powerful shot. Buffon can't hold and the ball touches the woodwork and then he picks it up... What a Blaster by Marcos Senna

79': Another free kick for Spain and it's Villa again. Senna is next to him. Marcos Senaaaaaa... and Buffon punches it out! Good strike by the brazilian-born

78': Another corner for Spain. Ball in the air and it's punched by Buffon

76':

Corner for Spain. Fabregas plays it short. The ball bounces back out of the box and back to Sergio Ramos's chest he couldn't quite get a good touch and it's another easy one for Buffon

73': Di Natale replaces Cassano on the Italian team

69': Zambrota bends a cross in for Toni and he hheads it. not his best header tough

69': Fabregas takes the corner and Ambrosini clears it

68': Deflected by the wall and it's a corner for Spain

68': Panucci came hard on David Villa. A free kick for Spain. It's a long one. Villa is on the ball.

66': The Italians are coming up more on this second half. Free kick for Italy. Camoranesi lifts the ball in the box but it goes wide and high. Far.

60': Casillas AMAZING save with his foot on the shoot by Camoranesi...

58': Substitutions for Spain now. Cesc Fabregas comes in for Xavi Hernandes and Cazorla takes Iniesta's place

58': Another corner for Spain. It's Xavi on the ball. Buffon punches it out and David Silva shoots the rebound far from the goal

57': A substution for Italy: Perrota comes out and Camoranesi takes his place. (no Del Piero so far)

55': Torres is running a lot in this second half. He got this ball and crossed low in search of Villa. the defender puts it out for a corner. And nothing comes out of that ... But it's good to see El Nino fighting for the ball

52': Great deep ball by Marcos Senna to David Villa but the attempt of cross was horrible!

50':

Toni almost got his head on the cross. The flag was up though, he was offside!

49': The Italian defense made it's first real mistake in the match and David Silva almost had that one

47': That's an interesting fact that they just showed on TV. the last time Spain defeated Italy in a major competition was in the 1920 Olympic Games.  

46': And we're off for the next 45 minutes of football between Spain and italy.

Half Time: As GoonerJoe just mentioned in the chat we just hope for a brighter second half.

45' (+1): And it's over. 45 dull minutes. I'm going to get food finally

45':

Iniesta takes another shot and it goes outy for a goal kick. Spain has more initiative but they still didn't figure out how to break the Italian defense. Italy had a couple of chances too but nothing to really force Casillas to work hard

41': How bad can referees be? That was obviously a foul. Not a penalty though but certainly a foul. It should be a free kick to Spain

36': Cassano turns Sergio Ramos in and out and gets a cross. Toni almost gets to it. The ball is cleared by Puyol!!!! (the exclamation marks are to try to bring some intensity to this very poor match so far)

34':

And I still didn't go get my drink and my food.

32': Spain is not being able to get inside the Italian box. The players insist on long range shots or deep passes. Uneffectevelly so far

30': Ambrosini saw an yellow card.

28': Long ball from Aquilani in the air. It's for Toni... But the ref blows the whistle on the italian striker. Free kick for Spain. 

27': Cassano keeps on giving Ramos a hard time.

26': Bad boy Cassano tanlges with Sergio Ramos and gets the free kick.

23':

Free kick for Spain. Good opportunity!!! Villaaaaaaa.... The ball goes fast on the ground but Buffon dives and keeps it safe

21':

Oh my... I want some action please

18': Great cross by Ambrosini and Perrota came as a surprise in the middle, right behind Puyol. The header was just not powerful enough. Casillas has the ball

17': Torres hasn't been the same in this Tournament. He just delivered an awful cross.

16': Italy kicks the ball out because David Villa was down. Ambrosini kicked him in the previous play but the ref didn't call the foul or anything.

15': Very slow match right now... Nothing really going on. I need some chips and a drink.

13': Another long ball lost in the Spanish attack

12': Long ball for Villa but he couldn't get to it in time. Spain is looking nervous in these first minutes. Is it the ghost of the underachievemts haunting them already?

11': The first yellow is finally shown and it's to Iniesta.

10': Cassano steals the ball and is fouled by Torres. The ref has a talk with El Nino.

8':

Iniesta is alternating sides, trying to confuse the Italian defense. But the match is still in a very slow pace. Teams seem to be studying each other

8': Good combination on the left of the Spanish attack. Buffon picks up the deflected shot

7': Free kick for Italy on the left side. De Rossi sends it to the box. And Casillas picks it up easily

6': A long ball to nobody in the the Spanish attack

5': Iniesta gets a good cross cross from the left but the defense clears. Italy goes for the counter but David Villa comes back to help the defense and recovers the ball

2': Tough tackle from Marcos Senna on Cassano. No card shown.

1': Here we go. Italy playing all in white and Spain with their traditional Red shirts and Dark Blue shorts and socks

Before Kick Off: Camoranesi... GOOOOAAAAALLLL...

Before Kick Off: Here comes the National Anthems!!!

Hello Everyone,

  VS  

Spain and Italy will step into the pitch in less than an hour and now I really don't know what to expect about this match. I could only predict or comment something after the first ten minutes and even after that things could drastically change.

It's a mach of high expectations. Spain has the potential (like always). Youth, talent, speed, determination... Let's just hope they have the balance.

Italy has tradition, balance, and luck. Oh yeah, and they are the World Champions! (a small detail right?)

An Apology

I haven't been watching the matches live since Wednesday (with the exception of Germany vs. Portugal on Thursday). The reason some of you already know. I just got a new acquisition to my "team". My son Lucas was born on Wednesday, the day that Brazil and Argentina played each other in my hometown, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. I'm already training him for World Cup 2022.

Anyway, I just wanted to pinpoint a few things about the three quarterfinals matches so far: (after watching all the highlights)

Germany 3 x 2 Portugal

I would be very stupid if I simply said that Cristiano Ronaldo let his team down. It's not true. Every chance, every goal scored by Portugal in this competition had this young guy's touch.

But was he the same as the Cristiano Ronaldo we know from Manchester United? Absolutely NOT! His club teammates play for him, they do all the hard work in order to let Cristiano Ronaldo shine. That doesn't happen in the National Team. There, the best player of the year has to work a little harder for the team. And sometimes he can't do it all. He's still Cristiano Ronaldo but not a Garrincha, Pelé or Maradona yet. Will he ever be? Who knows?

Germany played like the three-time World Champion and three-time European Champion that they are. Discipline, confidence and efficiency were the secrets of the German victory. (and a great performance by Schweiney)

Turkey 1 (1) x 1 (3) Croatia (penalties shootout)

What a match!!! It's hard to find words to describe how incredible this match was. I bet that a lot of cardiac attacks happened in both countries with all the tension and late goals and the penalty shootout.

And what can I say about Semih Senturk? Is this kid blessed or what? He comes in from the bench twice just to score the goals that the team needs to qualify. That's why he's called the Liferguard among his Fenerbahce teammates and fans. He does save the team.

As for the Croatians I believe they went as far as they could. They could've qualified if they had transformed the chances they had or the mistakes of the Turkish goalkeeper into goals. They didn't and paid a high price for not doing their job. This if football.

Netherlands 1 x 3 Russia

Russia played exactly like Zenit FC in the UEFA Cup semifinals against Bayern Munich. Keeping the ball possession and putting pressure on the opponent's defense. Great job by the Russians and well deserved.

The great Netherlands was once again the most pleasant team to watch in the group stage but then... underachiever's syndrome.

The problem is that this team was not expecting to be attacked. They were prepared for a timid and defensive Russia. And they were shocked, surprised and groggy by the Russian Roulette's impetuosity.

With 6 points and the top spot of Group B guaranteed Croatia will rest some of the main players for tonight's match against Poland. Too bad for Germany.

But blame on the crazy UEFA rule that uses as first tie breaking criterion the direct confrontation and not the goal differential. I was surprised after the Croatians beat Germany when I heard that with that win they had already won the group. I thought, "wait a minute? Can't Germany get to 6 points too?" 

Well, they can, but it won't make a difference if they beat Austria by 10 goals and Poland beat Croatia by 12 goals. Croatia will still be first of the group because they beat Germany when the two played each other. Crazy UEFA rules.

Croatia's coach Slaven Bilic then did what any intelligent manager would do: rest his top players. Six footballers will come out of the bench to have a chance to play. They are: Dario Simic, Hrvoje Vejic, Dario Knezevic, Jerko Leko, Ognjen Vukojevic and Ivan Klasnic.

Poland will have to play all they can to win and at the same time follow what happens in the Germany x Austria match. The Polish will need more than ever to cheer for a Austrian victory, but not by a large goal differential. 

That's the scenario for tonight's matches!

Probable Lineups: 

  NETHERLANDS 

The Netherlands great performance against Italy motivated not only the fanatic orange-dressed supporters but also the players and the lovers of the beautiful game. And now after the 1-1 tie between Romania and Italy, the Dutch have a good two point advantage against their opponents in this so-called "Group of Death".

The formation and the line-up will probably be same from the last game. Sneijder, Van Nilsterooy, Gio, Engelaar, De Jong, Kuijt... Here comes the Oranje!!!!

  FRANCE 

France still needs to prove me right. I've been saying for quite some time that France had the best midfield and offense of all the 16 teams of this tournament. Makelele, Nasri, Viera, Malouda, Gouvou, Ribery, Henry, Benzema, Anelka, Gomis... It's a dangerous, fast and extremely talented team on paper. But we didn't see that reflected on the pitch... yet...

Will we see Les Bleus bloom tonight? Will the Orange Machine run over another opponent?

The kick off is just about 30 minutes away!

  ITALY 

After the fiasco against the Netherlands, Italian coach Roberto Donadoni decided to change the starting line up for the match against Romania.

Del Piero will assume the captain armband and Chiellini will be on the pitch too. Italy will go for a almost Kamikaze formation with possibly 3 forwards (Camoranesi, DiNatale and Toni) and Del Pierro right behind them.

Crazy? Desperate? Well, understandable.

ROMANIA

Romanian forward Ciprian Marica was certainly missed on the opening match against France. 

The yellow heads needed a more offensive team and the lack of action from both sides made that match the most boring so far in the competition and the only match that ended up goalless. 

But Victor Piturca decided not to use Marica on today's match against Italy because of the head injury suffered by the forward during a training session on June 10th.

Still according to Piturca the team intends to show a much more offensive football today than what they displayed against the French.  

Better late than never. Romania has a slight advantage in the table compared to Italy. And in this group 1 point might really mean a lot.

VS

Podolski is not really the nicest of the players. I have German friends who actually hate the kid. But at age 23 he has definitely gained the respect of the world of football with 49 caps and 27 goals for the National Team since 2004 when he had his debut.

He rarely misses a chance to score and even though he doesn't have the dribbling ability of a Cristiano Ronaldo or the drama factor of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic the Germans can always count on the young striker to decide matches.

Germany also has other great players to work the ball with the typical discipline and efficiency that already gave the country three titles in the competition, the last one in 1996. Ballack, Lehmann, Frings, Klose, Neuville; represent the experience and Mertesacker, Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez join Lukas Podolski on the young and talented side of this well balanced team.

As for Croatia, the team once known by playing a style closer to the South American football in times of the defunct Yugoslavia, qualified for the final stage of this Euro as one of the possible surprises but the injury of their Brazilian-born striker Eduardo came as an enormous bucket of icy cold water on the Croatian squad. The team is still dangerous with the brothers and long-time team leaders Robert and Niko Kovac. On the youth side the most dangerous player is Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric.

Both teams won their opening matches. Croatia beat co-hosts Austria by the minimum score on a penalty executed by Modric and the Germans beat Poland by 2-0 with Podolski scoring twice and showing respect to his Polish descent and refraining from celebrating.

Whoever wins this one will have their ticket to the quarterfinals almost guaranteed but I'm predicting a 1-1 score for this one.

VS

The Turks didn't impress me when they played Portugal. The team is not bad, Nihat, Mehmet Aurelio, Hamit Altintop... I expected much more from Turkey, specially from Atintop but they really disppointed me.

Switzerland on the other displayed great football in the opening match but ended up with two defeats. One was the goal that gave the Czechs the victory and the other was Alexander Frei's injury. I'd love to see Derdiyok have more time on the pitch.

A MUST win match for both teams. Switzerland will have to face Portugal in the last round of this group phase so if they're still hoping to move on in the competition they'd better get this one!

I just hope that we don't see embarrassing violence scenes like the ones from the last match between these two teams. But anything is possible. There's certainly some tension in the air.

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