That's the groups out of the way then, and it was not my finest tipping time ever. I could make the excuse that with the amount of shocks it would be hard for anyone to have come out in huge profit, but I'm still disappointed. Hopefully there's still enough time to recoup the losses made.
Three out of the four Quarter Finals do look like they could become walkovers as the teams on paper look pretty unevenly matched up. Because of the turnaround in Group A resulting in Greece and the Czech Republic progressing you would imagine they would provide little trouble to the might of Germany and Portugal respectively. It's not that the Greek's or the Czech's are awful sides, although both have looked it at times, rather that the amount of chances they give away will surely be punished by the attackers Germany and Portugal possess. The other side of the draw has Spain taking on France and England meeting Italy. This certainly has the feel of four European powers meeting, although all four sides could be said to be playing under their capabilities so far.
I'm going to release this in two parts with slightly longer appraisals of each side than normal.
Czech Republic v Portugal, Thursday 1945
As mentioned this looks like it has every chance of being a bit of a procession in Portugal's favour tomorrow night. I certainly made a mistake in labelling the Czech's the worst team here pre-tournament, especially with Ireland being around, but I still don't think they're much of a side. They did do exceptionally well to regroup after a 4-1 thrashing in their first match against Russia, but they could be in for more of the same in this match. In every match so far they have conceded chances to the opposition and are now about to face a side possessing probably the most potent attacker at the tournament in Cristiano Ronaldo, it will take some performance by the defence to keep him at bay for ninety minutes. The other issue is that Petr Cech has looked suspect on a number of occasions already and it looks like his superb performances at the back end of the season for Chelsea were now the exception rather than the rule. He really has never been the same since his head injury against Reading a few years ago and it's a shame as he could have gone on to become one of the best around in his position. The best players for the Czech's so far have been their wingers Vaclav Pilar and Petr Jiracek. They have both been very busy and have in fact both also scored, fortunate as the main striker is still Milan Baros and he has long since stopped being a top level player. Their best chance is to attack Portugal from wide areas to utilise their best players, but I still don't hold out much hope for them.
Portugal have at times looked like Ronaldo and ten others. This is not entirely surprising when he is the best player on show here and scored sixty goals for Real Madrid last season though. With Portugal still lacking a top level centre forward they are almost forced to put both the creative and scoring burden on Ronaldo's shoulders, thankfully in the last group match he looked as though he would take this on. He was absolutely everywhere against Holland in their comeback from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and qualify for the Quarter Finals, also adding both goals to also leave him hunting the Golden Boot. Throw in the fact he could also make a very strong claim for World Player Of The Year if he leads Portugal and Real Madrid to glory this year and you have a very convincing case for him to keep this level up. The rest of the side barring Nani and probably Helder Postiga are more concentrated on defending. The midfield centre is packed with high energy players who are there to chase and harry the opposition and then loo to give the ball to Ronaldo primarily, or Nani, at the earliest opportunity. The only chance I think the Czech's have is to try and rattle Portugal's centre backs Pepe and Bruno Alves. Both are notorious hot-heads and have received numerous red cards in their careers so could possibly be prone to lapses in judgement if pushed. However comma I still think this should be a fairly easy Portugal win.
Back Portugal at 1.8 with Paddy Power.
Back Cristiano Ronaldo To Score Anytime at 2.25 with Ladbrokes.
Germany v Greece, Friday 1945
My antepost tip for the whole tournament was Germany, and I see no reason to be worried about them so far. They've not blown anyone away yet, but at no point have I been worried they would fail to win a match. It may well be a cliche, but it is nevertheless true, that they are ruthlessly efficient and a real tournament side. Manuel Neuer in goal looks to have put an up and down season at Bayern Munich behind him and is showing why he is so highly though of. The defence has looked absolutely rock solid and any worries about Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng have been proven without foundation. The ever reliable Philip Lahm and Holger Badstuber have also been very good again too. This foundation gives them a platform for the rest of the team to move forward without worrying. Bastian Schweinsteiger's conversion from a show-pony right winger to possibly the best central midfielder in the world has been nothing short of a miracle. He is the man who takes the ball from the defence and then makes the passes to start attacks. Whilst Xavi and Iniesta are rightly lauded at Barcelona I much prefer the dynamic play of Schweinsteiger to their work. The combination of him and the playmaker Mesut Ozil provides a perfect balance in midfield and gives the forwards plenty of chances to shine. So far we have seen Joachim Low's favourites Thomas Muller, Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez starting every match, and they have all justified this at times. Muller is yet to shine, but does no end of work for the team and still provides chances for Munich team-mate Gomez to try and convert. I am still not sold on Gomez personally, but there is no arguing with his stats so far and he looks likely to score again in this.
Greece should not have qualified for the Quarter Finals, but amazingly beat Russia in their last match to go through in second at the Russians expense. They have been a solid side going all the way back to Otto Rehagel's successful side from Euro 2004. There was a recognition that they do not generally produce wonderful passers or attacking talents, so they reverted to a will not lose mentality and tried to nick goals. This has proven hugely successful for them when you look at the players they field and has led to many imitations from other lesser sides. So far here though their usually reliable defence has given away more chances than I've seen from any other side. The defence looks all at sea thanks to injuries and suspensions meaning changes had to be made, and this can't bode well for this match. The removal of the horrendous Chalkias in goal through injury is probably a blessing, but the replacement will have his work cut out with a marauding German attack. Greece have looked better when behind in their first two matches, but a repeat of their opening efforts in either game and there will be no way back for them. People will try and find reasons for the Greek's to have a chance, but I can't see any hope for them. When you have Giorgos Samaras as your main attacking threat then you won't be going too far.
Back Germany -1 at 2.0 with Coral.
Back Mario Gomez To Score Anytime at 2.0 with StanJames.
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