Game 31: Passed and Present

What a climax. Spain finished the tournament with a two-fingers salute to me and eveyone else who'd yawned at them in previous rounds. Xavi and Iniesta were unstoppable, with their every pass measured to perfection. Jordi Alba put on a turbo-heeled display, and Torres, despite only having 20 minutes of game time, looked the part.

Spain were deserved winners of a tournament that was, on balance, pretty good. Definitely a 7/10 tournament for me; with some good games and good goals. I think the only thing it really lacked were any big turnarounds.

So life returns to normal and we wait 2 years for the next binge.

Italy or Spain?

Who to support?

On the positive side:

• Spain remain excellent. Their touch, skill, ball-retention, ability to adapt is second to none. They could make history by achieving 3 straight tournament wins. In many ways they deserve it, such a talented group of player.
• Italy, from adversity (squad depleted due to the match fixing scandal) they have played well throughout the tournament, from holding Spain in the first match, onwards. In beating the Germans, they put in a tournament winning display.

On the negative side:

• Spain, utterly boring, always playing within themselves. No bleedin' strikers. Hope they lose.
• Italy, corrupt, hope they lose.

On balance - I hope Italy win, Balotelli scores the winner, abuses the ref, hugs his adopted mum and then throws a firework celebration in his broom cupboard.

Bets for the final:

• Italy to win
• Balotelli to score
• Balotelli to be sent off

Game 30: Marioooo

Football is back! Shock of the tournament (apart from Russia capitulating to Greece). Italy did what no-one expected, and produced a replica performance, dismantling Germany in the way that they basically did against England.

Super-Mario scored two good goals, the second a fierce wonder volley and a celebration to dwarf Ginola's shirt-off effort a few years back.

The Germans threatened a comeback, but didn't actually look that good. And so we have Italy v Spain in the final...an exciting game in prospect.

Game 29: Snore

I think the players are experiencing the same lethargy that I am as the tournament reaches its closing stages. I could barely keep my eyes open for this one (mainly down to tiredness and hay-fever) but the footy did nothing to wake me.

Spain served up something different, opting to hoof the ball for a change, to zero effect. Portugal looked well organised and were unlucky not to get a result.

The only real entertainment was seeing Ronaldo shooting himself in the foot by insisting he went last in the penalties, thus missing out entirely on the chance to influence the shoot-out. Actually a shame though, as he'd been threatening to set the tournament alight but was back to his old ways, blazing free kick after free kick into the stands and then trying to take centre stage there at the end.

I think the last two matches should be decent though, with Germany I expect to prevail.

Game 28: Two banks of five!

Ah, the bi-annual dose of abject disappointment. The post mortem now begins with forensic analysis of what went wrong and the usual calls for root-and-branch changes to the game from top to bottom.

My take - well we got beaten, in a game, by a team who played better. It was pretty good for the first half hour - De Rossi hitting hte post from range, Johnson having a good effort at the other. Parker was a monster, tackling, bursting forward and really competing. Balotelli fluffed a few chances, England were passing slickly - it was all set up for a classic.

But then it all went rather wrong. England tired early after their initial burst. Italy took control of hte game, and but for a stunning Terry performance would have run away with it. We held on and on in the hope of penalties only at that point remembering how much we fear and detest them. And so we are out.

I think Hodgson did well with a limited bunch of player. QFs is a respectable achievement; and actually winning a tournament with this generation of players would actually send out the wrong message. I don't want youngsters of the nation aspiring to be like Terry, Rooney, Gerrard (with their sense of entitlement)- and think that the next generation of Milner, Welbeck, Hart (with their ethic of work)  are more deserving and I hope more likely to succeed.

Game 27: Striker-less Spain

So again Spain went with this false-nine nonsense. A brilliant team, guaranteed to boss possession; gifted with incisiveness and creativity; deciding to blunten their tools by not selecting anyone to finish off the good work. So frustrating, and so anti-football. Only because Spain are Spain can this even begin to be understood - but nonetheless it is a ridiculously negative approach. For this reason (and the generous odds on France) I decided to support France. I say "support France", but you know what I mean...

My missus rightly piped up that Del Bosque looks rather like Rene from Allo Allo. That only furthered my conviction that Spain shouldn't win this tournament.

And so it began, Spain seemingly out of sorts, but France not much better. Alonso gloriously nodded home (from the striker position, to invalidate my argument about the striker thing, and so Spain looked set. France did little in response. Ribery is a big game bottler. Nasri had a sulk on, and the French went out with a whimper (with Alonso rounding off his 100th cap with a brace)

Game 26: Germany do a Germany

Like the first Quarter Final, I struggled to get too excited about this one, it was just so hard to see how Greece would compete, let alone get a result. That said, it didn't stop me putting 50p on them to win; at an astonishing 9-1 odds (surely unheard of in a Euro QF). This together with the potential of England facing the winners led me to strongly support the embattled Greeks.

So, with my investment made I sat down to see the McLeish inspired 10-0-0 formation of the Greeks in action. Like a training game of attack v defence it inspired no confidence whatsoever, and was literally a matter of "when rather than if". 

The only note I made for the first half (yes, I have a small notebook dedicated to these championships) read as follows: "Germany absolutely shat on Greece". As a wannabee journalist I hope that kind of frank insight is what head-hunters want to see!

So when Lahm brilliantly slotted the opener for Germany just before half time, it was pretty much match over. He's not looked so much a threat going forward so far this tournament, but this goal was a timely reminder of the menace he poses.

The second half, remarkably saw Greece equalise - and like every other game where they have needed to recover, they have somehow looked more menacing - the equaliser was deserved rather than fluke - Samaras poking home after good work from Salpingidis down the right. This, however, only seemed to spur the Germans on, with Kadeira and Reus both smashing unstoppable volleys, either side of a Klose header to take the game out of sight.

A sympathy penalty for Greece made the score look more flattering, but Germany sent out their usual message. 

The good news, from now on, every game is definitely one to look forward to.

Game 25: Portugal beat the Czechs

Little to surprise us here. Portugal were odds on favourites and despite a spirited effort by the Czechs, the result was not greatly in doubt. The game ticked along okay, but didn't get my pulse racing - but the right team went through in terms of keeping the tournament exciting. The Czechs lack real class up front and would have struggled with a semi-final; whereas Ronaldo and Nani have the talent to really light up the latter stages of the tournament.

Germany v Greece tomorrow, which has the potential to be rather one sided...but you just never know..