How Portugal got here: Portugal won group A by beating Turkey 2-0 and the Czech Republic 3-1, Christiano Ronaldo looked sharp in these games and showed why many consider him to be the best player in the world. Having already won the group after the first two games, Portugal
rested their starters and lost to host nation Switzerland 2-0.
How Germany got here: Germany beat Poland 2-0 on the back of Lukas Podolski’s two goals which led to a Polish politician threatening to revoke Podolski’s non-existent Polish passport. After losing to tourney dark horse Croatia 2-1, it took a Michael Ballack laser free kick against Austria to propel the Germans into the quarterfinals. Hopefully the German reporters will take note of the start time and not have to call in a bomb threat to make it on time.
Prediction: Although the Germans scraped their way into the quarterfinals and will be without their coach Joachim Low it is tough to count them out of any international competition. That being said, I still think Portugal will advance to the next round; they have the skill, depth, and the best player in the world, and they will take it to Germany.
Croatia vs Turkey
How Croatia got here: Croatia came into Euro 2008 confident after
knocking England out in the qualifying round, and they remained that way winning all three first round matches. Croatia clamped down on defense for a 1-0 win after an early PK goal against Austria. In their second game, Croatia upset Germany 2-1 to win Group B. In their final game Croatia beat Poland 1-0.
How Turkey got here: Turkey are the comeback kids of Euro 2008. After losing their opening game to Portugal 2-0, the Turks fell behind Switzerland 1-0 in the first half of their second game. Semih Senturk scored the equalizer in the 57th minute, and just as the game looked to be headed towards a draw, Arda Turan silenced the home crowd with a goal in stoppage time for the 2-1 victory.
Things looked bleak for the Turks in their final game against the Czech Republic; they were behind 2-0 until Turan scored a goal in the 75th minute. Nihat Kahveci then pulled off the stunner by scoring 2 goals in the final 4 minutes as Turkey pulled off the comeback to win, 3-2.
Prediction: Croatia has only let in one goal so far and Turkey has been barely hanging on and will be without their keeper. I’ll ride the hot hand and go with Croatia.
The Netherlands vs Russia
How The Netherlands got here: The Dutch have looked like the team to beat in Euro 2008, as they easily won all three games in the ‘Group of Death.’ Ruud van Nistelrooy ha 2 goals in a 3-0 opening match against ’06 World Cup champion Italy. They continued their dominance in the second game toying with France on the way to a 4-1
victory. The Netherlands made 9 lineup changes but were still too much for Romania to handle losing 2-0.
How Russia got here: It came down to the final match to decide who would get the final spot in the quarter-finals, both Russia and Sweden lost to Spain and beat Greece. Russia came out the more inspired team and outplayed Sweden from the beginning. The return of the suspended Andre Arshavin, who scored the second goal, made the Russia seem like a completely different team than team that lost 4-1 Spain and barely held on to beat greece 1-0.
Prediction: The Netherlands/Dutch/Holland (never know which to use) looked fantastic: crisp passing, inspired offensive play, and their keeper is playing well. It’s going to be tough for anyone to beat them, let alone Russia
Spain vs Italy
How Spain got here: David Villa was too much for the Russians to handle as he scored a natural hat trick in Spain’s 4-1 victory. Villa again was the hero as he scored in stoppage time to beat Sweden 2-1 which secured Spain’s position at the top of Group D. The Spanish reserves came from behind to beat Greece 2-1 in a meaningless final game.
How Italy got here: drama following the Italian squad. In their opening 3-0 loss to the Dutch, there was a controversial no offside call on Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first goal, and UEFA later backed up the refs’ decision. In their second game against It wouldn’t be a major international competition without some Romania a disallowed Luca Toni goal
and a huge save on a penalty kick in the 81st minute by Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon led to 1-1 draw. In a rematch of the 2006 World Cup finals, the Italians benefited from an early red card and penalty kick to beat France 2-0 and advance to the quarterfinals (with some help from the Netherlands’ 2-0 victory over Romania).
Prediction: I think the Italians will win this one for few reasons. From what I saw in the first round, the Italians had a ton of opportunities they did not capitalize on. Luca Toni just barely missed about 5 goals. Italy has done this time and again, just barely getting by the first round only to turn it on during the knockout stages. Spain has looked good, but they have played some sloppy defense and were lucky they did not get scored on more than they did.
thanks to super commenter Gootman, www.the700level.com
Tags: Croatia vs Turkey, Euro 2008, Portugal vs Germany, PREDICTIONS, Quarterfinal, Spain vs Italy, The Netherlands vs Russia
tonight Croatia win bro
You got your first prediction wrong brother!
Let see how you will fare tonight! 