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!!!!
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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.

90' (+3): The referee blows the whistle. Pizza, Spaghetti, Lasagna and Ravioli to be eaten in every Cantina around the world tonight!!! Italy who had a terrible start in the competition managed to advance. France and Romania go back home earlier!
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90' (+2):

And the match is over... Mutu is almost crying on the sideline and the goalkeepers become the heroes of the match!!! 

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  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.

End Of Match:

For me the most important names of this match were definitely: Sneijder, Engelaar and Van der Saar. They were crucial for this amazing and deserved victory!

As for Italy. Del Pierro came in to late in my opinion. He could've made some damage if he had more time. Another good name was Zambrota. But the World Champions will have now to win both matches against France and Romania if they want to move to the next round!  

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Here we are my friends.

The Euro 2008 starts this Thursday and we will begin to find out who rules football in Europe.

Italy are the World Cup title holders, Greece won the last edition of the tournament, France and Spain are bringing lots of new talents, Portugal is counting on Champions League Champions Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, Germany is always one of the main favourites, Holland is always a dangerous mystery, and then we got Romania, Russia, Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia who might be more surprising than people give them credit for.

I personally still believe France is the team to bet on, followed by Germany, Spain and Italy.

So get warmed up because this Euro will be incredible....

And don't forget to follow all the action here on Samba Soccer Club

So we are less than two months away from kick off at the Euro 2008.

The main nations like Spain, Germany, Italy, Holland, France, Portugal … are intensifying their preparations for the most important competition in the continent.

After some research I could see that most of the betting sides point Germany as favorites to win the tournament followed by World Cup Champions Italy. Among internet users it seems that Spain is at the highest preference as possible winners.

I truly believe that none of these teams will take the title. I would put my money on France.

With Abidal, Diarra, Saha, Flamini, Vieira, Ben Arfa, Anelka, Ribery and Benzema … the French can even leave Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet sitting on the bench…

I don’t particularly support any of the teams although I always have hopes that Spain is going to perform well in and International Competition. (I’m getting tired of hoping).

But before getting to the finals the teams need to qualify in their groups so my first question for you, CRAZY FOOTBALL FANS is … who are the teams that will make to the quarter-finals

HERE ARE THE GROUPS:

Leave your predictions: