EURO 2008

Germany – Finally put away the come back King of the tournament, Turkey, not without a scare though. Germany needed a stoppage time goal from Philipp Lahm to settle the score. Germany could be missing their inspirational captain Michael Ballack as the midfielder is receiving treatment for a calf injury.

Philipp Lahm’s stoppage time goal puts Germany through.

Spain – Spain basically overwhelmed Russia with a lot of flair, leaving them no room to bring on their threats seen in the last few games. Question is can they overcome their tag as a perpectual under achiever in a major tournament? To me Spain captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas has been the best goalkeeper in the toutnament so far. 

Verdict – Both are evenly matched. Spain had been more consistent than Germany on the road to the final. It is a physically powerful German team playing against the craft of the Spanish one-touch football.
Score: German 0-2 Spain.

Market odds: German (+0.925), Spain (-1/4, -0.975)

Russia – Probably the best team in the semi-finals right now, Russia had been playing admirably well. They had knocked out Netherlands regarded as a potential Champion of the tournament.

Guus Hiddink elated the win against hot favourite Netherlands.

Spain – One of the top 4 teams from the group stage to survive the quarter-finals albeit a penalty shootout with Italy. Spain had many shots on goal but were mostly firing blanks. They need to avoid long shots on goal cause the Russian goalkeeper will be up to the challenge. More trickery is needed.

Spain on winning the penalty shootout against Italy

Verdict – Very close match. Looks like Aragones superstition, banning the players from wearing yellow,  had paid off. Both teams had outstanding goal keepers. Can they prevail against the lively Russia team? Probably. Will be a low scoring game. Score: Russia 1-0 Spain.

Market odda: Russia(+0.875), Spain(-0.5, -0.925)

Spain – Joined the ranks of Netherlands and Croatia to win a game with its reserves showing they too had depth and quality.

Daniel Güiza scores the winning goal, 2-1 to Spain.

Italy – Gets a reprieve with a 2-0 win over France, aided by an early red card to Abidal and having had Franck Ribery being stretchered out which totally tilted the game towards Italy.

Eric Abidal fouls Toni for Italy`s first-half penalty and was red carded.

Verdict – Italy had been inconsistent but seems to have recovered in the last game, that’s Italy. Always illusive. Buffon had done well in front of the goal post too. Spain’s trickery may well be able to knock Italy out of the competition. 3 of the 4 potential Champions of the tournament, Portugal, Netherlands and Croatia had been knocked out in the quater finals, could Spain break the jinx?
Score: Spain 2-1 Italy

Market odds: Spain (-1/4, -0.925), Italy (+0.85)

Greece – The reigning Champion once again looked vulnerable and disunited in the previous outing. Already eliminated from the group stage, will be playing their last game with only pride to salvage.

Spain – Spain’s play was mostly subdued by the Swedes in the last outing. They were unlucky to have a clear-cut penalty denied by the referee. Left it late to score a goal in stoppage time to put them on top of the table.

The two goal scorers for Spain Fernando Torres and David Villa.

Verdict - Spain needs a point to top the group if they were to avoid Netherlands in the quarter finals. If Spain lose, they will lose top spot only if Sweden beat Russia by at least 3 goals margin or Russia beat Sweden by at least 4 goals. So Spain looks like they will rest players and give the reserves a run-out here. It goes to show if Spain has quality and depth in its reserves. Score: Greece 0-1 Spain.

Market odds: Greece (+0.95), Spain (-1/2, +0.95)

Sweden – Their game plan is passing the ball around man to man and waiting for opportunity to appear.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the first goal for Sweden.

Spain – In the opener, the Spanish looked lethal with their quick counterattack and agile footwork. Looks good to top the group. Currently my favourite to win the tournament.

Hat trick hero for Spain, David Villa.

Prediction – Spain looks more superior all round and is set to demolish its opponents once again. Score: Sweden 1-3 Spain.

Market odds: Sweden (-0.875), Spain (-3/4, +0.85)

Spain – Perpetual underachiever in a major competition, could they turn the fortune this time round. This had led coach Luis Aragones to study the stars or the Kabbalah, an ancient tradition of explaining Judaism’s holy texts through mystical means. He believes that yellow is unlucky, despite the fact that it makes up half the Spanish flag. He has banned all his players from wearing yellow. Coming into the tournament, they are undefeated in 16 matches. In the last 18 matches, they have beaten world champions Italy, Argentina, France and England. Majority of their first-choice XI had Champions league experience.

Russia - Qualified at the expense of England. Coach Guus Hiddink have transformed the team into one of the dark horse of the tournament. 22-year-old goalkeeper, Igor Akinfeev, of CSKA Moscow, is a star in the making and is said to be in the same class as Peter Cech of Czech Rep. The back three also play for CSKA Moscow. Knowing each other well give them significant strength in defense.

Prediction – Expect coach Luis Aragones to turn the fortune for Spain around this time round with a low score line. Score: Spain 1-0 Russia.

Market odds: Spain (-3/4, +0.925), Russia (+1.0)