Thursday, June 19, 2008

Day 3 and The Quarterfinals

Well, we saw the Turks come back from the brink. Guts turned out to be enough, after all. The Swedes collapsed as the Russians found their motivation. The Italians slide through, as dogs France proved what garbage they are. The Greeks had the tournament they should have had the last go around. Nobody that left did anything to make you wish they would have stayed. The Spaniards look the prettiest, the Portuguese the poof-iest and Dutch look the frontrunners, but the Croatians have a chance to steal the show.

Predictions...5 minutes into POR - GER (as I type, not as I post)...all right, they're veiled, wishy-washy predictions. The bold are who I want to win.

POR - GER - Can Portugal's talent overcome an ordinary German side and their own lack of heart? I don't know, but I've never trusted Portugal in knockout tournament football.

HRV - TUR - Guts can only take you so far. With half the regular squad unavailable, the Turks look to have reached the terminal.

NED - RUS - A motivated Russia take a back seat to no one. The Russians have no qualms about running with the Dutch. Still, there must be too much Dutch firepower.

SPA - ITA - Spain look marginally tougher than I remember them. I'm not sure if Spain's opposition have served to properly test them in advance of Italy. That said, without Cannavaro, the Italian defense is not of typical strength. I cannot pick Italy here, but this one figures to last longer than 90.

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