Euro 08 Semis

After a month of soccer, the semis of Euro 08 are finally here. Thanks heavens the quarters were much better in quality than the round-robins matches. Here my view of the countries still in the running.

Germany-Turkey
Germany- After the 2-1 defeat to Croatia in their second group game, Germany have again showed why you can never write them off. After beating host Austria and favorites, Portugal, the Germans will be the favorites against the Turks. They deserved to be as Germany coach Joachim Low seems to have found a winning line-up. Putting Simon Rolfes and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the team have free up Michael Ballack and Lukas Podolski to go further up the field in support of Miroslav Klose. Of course dropping Mario Gomez (who can miss the goal from 3metres) has also helped a lot.

Turkey- The never-say-die attitude of theirs had won much admiration from neutrals but they are so decimated by injuries and suspensions for the Euro 2008 semi-final against Germany that Coach Fatih Terim has nine players from his squad unavailable for the clash. The biggest loss to me was Tuncay Sanli, who was just full of running against the Croats. Even with a full team, the Turks would have been underdogs so this might be as far as they will go.

Winner: Germany

Russia-Spain
Russia- Boss Guus Hiddink is known as a miracle-worker, and after his work with Russia, I believe his reputation. He had turned a no-hoper in Russia and guided them to the semis. The defense still looked very suspect, but their attack is on song. Roman Pavlyuchenko may miss more than he hit but he is big, strong and a willing runner. However, the reason why Russia’s attack has gone up a notch is the return of Andrei Arshavin. His ability to take the ball and beat the first defender opens up the defenses of the opposition. I don’t think it will be enough against the Spaniards, but with Arshavin in the side, it will not be another 4-1 thrashing.

Spain- Spain beat Italy 4-2 on penalties to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2008. Yes, Spain is in the semis of a major championship. Will wonders never ceased. For all the talk of David Villa and Fernando Torres, the one player that most impressed me is Marcos Senna. The defensive midfielder has been running non-stop which gives a solid platform for the team to attack. After having beaten Russia 4-1 in a group game earlier, Spain will be full of confidence for the match. Let just hope they don’t implode again.

Winner: Spain