4 teams remaining and just 3 matches to decide who will be crowned as the champion of Europe .Germany ,Spain ,Turkey and Russia will battle it out for this spot .
So what are the predictions !!!
Last time i predicted Portugal to beat Germany and it went wrong .Though this time i feel that there wont be any surprises in the semifinals .Spain and Germany should reach the finals ,but you should never stop expecting those unexpected results from them .Germany will play against the inspirational Turkey ,who is playing for National pride and honor whereas Spain will play the tactical team of Russia in the supervision of Guus Hiddink's experience .
Spain vs Russia
This can be a thriller .
Russia got to the Semi-finals after a stunning 3-1 won over the heavily favored Dutch side. Roman Pavluchenko banged in the first goal only to be countered by Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s goal in the 86th minute to send the match into extra time. Dmitri Torbinski and Andrei Arshavin scored in the second half of extra time as the Dutch couldn’t wrinkle the back onion bag. Now they look ahead to their match against Spain. The combination of Pavluchenko and Arshavin have netted the Russians five goals and their Coach Guus Hiddink label of “The Wizard.”
But ,the two points of concern for the Russians are, curiously enough, set-pieces and generally taking their chances in front of goal. Hiddink's teams of old would more typically have honed these abilities first and foremost, but the free-spiritedness of the Russians exposes a degree of naivety that can be exploited. Exploitation was the Netherlands' specialty in their wins over Italy and France, but the eight days' rest for much of the team perhaps dampened the red-hot high those two wins had put them on.
After resting his squad for the meaningless game against Greece, coach Luis Aragones lined up his strongest team, with tournament top scorer David Villa playing alongside Fernando Torres in attack, but they still couldn’t produce any goals. They’ll have to do a lot better against the goal happy Russians. If Spain have trouble scoring they’ll definitely have to neutralize Andrei Arshavin, or else there’s trouble ahead. “Arshavin is a little genius,” says former Russia and Moscow Spartak star Igor Shalimov. “He can do everything, score, create, read the game and change the tempo, make fast breaks to hurt the opposition, take set pieces and battle for the team. He is so influential.” They’ll have to get David Villa, Fernando Torres, David Silva and Sergio Garcia rolling on offense, apply pressure to their defense. Spain can’t sit back and wait for the other side to make a mistake. The semi-final with Russia will be a totally different type of game, much more open. The Russians are like us, they are attack-conscious and we will need to circulate the ball.”
Prediction :Expecting a very good match ,attacking football
Scoreline:2-1 or 3-2 to Spain
GERMANY vs TURKEY
After an indifferent start to their Euro campaign Germany are back on track to bag the coveted Henri Delaunay Trophy. Confidence will be high in the German camp after the convincing quarterfinal victory over the Portuguese. Germany looked solid with a disciplined backline and were quite impressive with their passing. With German skipper Michael Ballack hitting top gear and hit man Miroslav Klose breaking his goal scoring duck, Coach Joachim Loew will be convinced that his men will make it to the finals. Positive news for the Germans will be the return of Torsten Frings who was ruled out after a fractured rib.
Turkey will need another miracle to reach the final of a major tournament for the first time, especially with forward Arda Turan and midfielder Tuncay Sanli suspended and star striker Nihat Kahveci out with a thigh injury. Brazilian-born midfielder Mehmet Aurelio will return from suspension.Since it can use any help it can, Turkey was glad for some inside information. Hamit Altintop plays for Bayern Munich, as do five players from the German team.
Coach Fatih Terim will be urging his men to showcase their “Never say die attitude” in the semis as well. Turkey face the prospect of having just 13 outfield players available for their Euro 2008 semi-clash. The Turks were without six players when they beat Croatia 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals and lost further three - Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik - to suspension.
Prediction -- 4 to 6 yellow cards from Turkey's side (Will not be surprising to see Red card as well )
Scoreline :3-1 to germany (Its time for Klose to show what hes capable of )
source (photo):goal.com
So what are the predictions !!!
Last time i predicted Portugal to beat Germany and it went wrong .Though this time i feel that there wont be any surprises in the semifinals .Spain and Germany should reach the finals ,but you should never stop expecting those unexpected results from them .Germany will play against the inspirational Turkey ,who is playing for National pride and honor whereas Spain will play the tactical team of Russia in the supervision of Guus Hiddink's experience .
Spain vs Russia
This can be a thriller .
Russia got to the Semi-finals after a stunning 3-1 won over the heavily favored Dutch side. Roman Pavluchenko banged in the first goal only to be countered by Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s goal in the 86th minute to send the match into extra time. Dmitri Torbinski and Andrei Arshavin scored in the second half of extra time as the Dutch couldn’t wrinkle the back onion bag. Now they look ahead to their match against Spain. The combination of Pavluchenko and Arshavin have netted the Russians five goals and their Coach Guus Hiddink label of “The Wizard.”
But ,the two points of concern for the Russians are, curiously enough, set-pieces and generally taking their chances in front of goal. Hiddink's teams of old would more typically have honed these abilities first and foremost, but the free-spiritedness of the Russians exposes a degree of naivety that can be exploited. Exploitation was the Netherlands' specialty in their wins over Italy and France, but the eight days' rest for much of the team perhaps dampened the red-hot high those two wins had put them on.
After resting his squad for the meaningless game against Greece, coach Luis Aragones lined up his strongest team, with tournament top scorer David Villa playing alongside Fernando Torres in attack, but they still couldn’t produce any goals. They’ll have to do a lot better against the goal happy Russians. If Spain have trouble scoring they’ll definitely have to neutralize Andrei Arshavin, or else there’s trouble ahead. “Arshavin is a little genius,” says former Russia and Moscow Spartak star Igor Shalimov. “He can do everything, score, create, read the game and change the tempo, make fast breaks to hurt the opposition, take set pieces and battle for the team. He is so influential.” They’ll have to get David Villa, Fernando Torres, David Silva and Sergio Garcia rolling on offense, apply pressure to their defense. Spain can’t sit back and wait for the other side to make a mistake. The semi-final with Russia will be a totally different type of game, much more open. The Russians are like us, they are attack-conscious and we will need to circulate the ball.”
Prediction :Expecting a very good match ,attacking football
Scoreline:2-1 or 3-2 to Spain
GERMANY vs TURKEY
After an indifferent start to their Euro campaign Germany are back on track to bag the coveted Henri Delaunay Trophy. Confidence will be high in the German camp after the convincing quarterfinal victory over the Portuguese. Germany looked solid with a disciplined backline and were quite impressive with their passing. With German skipper Michael Ballack hitting top gear and hit man Miroslav Klose breaking his goal scoring duck, Coach Joachim Loew will be convinced that his men will make it to the finals. Positive news for the Germans will be the return of Torsten Frings who was ruled out after a fractured rib.
Turkey will need another miracle to reach the final of a major tournament for the first time, especially with forward Arda Turan and midfielder Tuncay Sanli suspended and star striker Nihat Kahveci out with a thigh injury. Brazilian-born midfielder Mehmet Aurelio will return from suspension.Since it can use any help it can, Turkey was glad for some inside information. Hamit Altintop plays for Bayern Munich, as do five players from the German team.
Coach Fatih Terim will be urging his men to showcase their “Never say die attitude” in the semis as well. Turkey face the prospect of having just 13 outfield players available for their Euro 2008 semi-clash. The Turks were without six players when they beat Croatia 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals and lost further three - Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik - to suspension.
Prediction -- 4 to 6 yellow cards from Turkey's side (Will not be surprising to see Red card as well )
Scoreline :3-1 to germany (Its time for Klose to show what hes capable of )
source (photo):goal.com
