From the sublime (and inevitable) Spanish progression, to the hysterically hyped English performances, all 8 teams who have made it thus far have at least some sort of argument that whilst their performances to date may not have been totally convincing, their arrival in the knockout stage means all bets are off.
Within limitations, of course.
In Group A, Russia's initial tonking of the Czech Republic, and Poland's stuttering 1-1 against the sterile Greeks led to the CSSR then sharing the spoils with their Polish hosts, while the Czechs almost sent the Greeks home with a 2-1 win.
All outcomes were still, surprisingly, open, on the third Match round.
That led to an nervous last night , on Saturday last, where the fanatical Poles were obliged to beat their neighbours the Czechs (in Wroclaw, just a 100km from the Czech border) to secure a place in the last 8....., whilst over in Warsaw, Poland's capital, the Russians met the Greeks, again to determine who went where.
Methinks the Polish FA missed a trick here. Poland's draw in the second round of games against Russia had at least partly been secured by the fanaticism of the Home crowd, who almost sucked the phenomenal Blaszczykowski equalizer into the net.
In a fantastically tense game, the Czechs kept their nerve and secured a 1-0 win to take them through, Jiracec scoring. More surprisingly perhaps, Greece did the same to Russia, and from looking down and out, Greece rallied to send the disappointing Russia home. Wow. A phenominally motivated Greece had proved that whatever the pundits decree, it's what you do on the pitch that counts. And count it did, as the Greeks resisted mightily, and snatched a 1-0 win that put many in mind of Portugal 2004.
Group B had followed an equally schismed course.
The relentless and talented German team had bested Portugal in their first game, and had triumphed over the disappointing Dutch in round 2. Given that Holland had equally surprisingly been turned over by Denmark at first, who then succumbed to the Portugese second up, it left a group where Die Mannschaft were supreme and through, and meant last year's WC Runners up were clinging on by a fingernail, and having to beat the Portugese, whilst hoping the Danes were crushed by the Deutsch. Wow times two.
The supremely confident Portugal, inspired by a remarkable performance from CR7 sent the Dutch home with their tails between their legs, whilst Deutschland just rolled over Denmark and made sure they and Portugal would be the ones going forward.
Group C in it's early days , saw a more refined and predicted course. The World Champions, Spain, shared the points with Italy in a fascinating game, (the best of the Tournament thus far) and then crushed the RoI 4-1. Croatia, that ever surprising newish-nation showed again their resilience, comfortably beating the Irish, and coming out even with Italy.
So for it's outcome, in Group C, the World Champion Spain needed a degree of stability in their game against the impressive Croats, whilst Trappatoni's RoI squad had nothing but an encounter against the nervous Italy, twitchy that a biscotti of Calciopoli proportions in the Spain/Croatia clash might see them off.
How did it turn out?
Well, in a game when they were playing for pride and little else. the Irish put up a brave fight, but went down 2-0, whilst the atmosphere at the genuinely big game between Spain and Croatia at Gdansk made you glad you were a football fan. It was electric .
The game wasn't half bad either, with Croatia giving as good as they got for almost all the game, only to see the cute Spaniards find a way, again.
They replaced Torres with the" false 9 " Fabregas, and his delightful chip put Iniesta clear who was able to square for Jesus Navas to smash homethe winner in the 89th minute.
From this game I took the comfort of seeing how Espagna can be beaten - the opponent must have the confidence to cede the inevitable possession, but utilise their rare moments of superiority by attacking for the jugular, which,incidentally , Croatia did. Btw, it also helps to have Luka Modric in your team.
Group D, of course, contained England, ever debatable, but who, from their 1-1 draw against the technically more proficient France, went on to lay the Swedish ghost of latter years and put themselves in a promising position prior to their meeting with the co-host Ukraine.
France meanwhile, were comfortable winners against the same, and on 4 pts each, these European rivals looked like the favourites to go through, particularly as Sweden were now cooked and booked onto the plane home.
The last night was a typically fraught evening, especially where England are concerned.
For a start, the game was shown on ITV, who seem to have of late a propensity for getting it wrong - from the interminable adverts to the Adrian Chiles/ Roy Keane duopoly of dullness, backed up by the spark that is Gareth Southgate (sic) and the Liverpool scally supreme Jamie Carragher.
What an effort, or should that be affront. The games were better than the presenters, not surprisingly.
France performed like an "England-lite"- going down to a hugely depressing 2-0 loss to Sweden, already condemned to the exit themselves, and will now reap the reward of a Quarter Final against Spain.
England, meanwhile, almost stumbled to a 1-0 win against Ukraine, and their reward as group winners is to meet Italy in Kiev on Sunday. My personal feeling is that they both got what they deserved. From the group of death to the group of dearth, as it were. Boom-boom.
So with a line-up of Portugal v Czech, Germany v Greece, Spain v France and England v Italy, now we are 8.
The biggest reward of the Tournament thus far has been the quality of the football. It has generally been of a high standard, and without any 0-0 draws, exciting too.Quality players have been allowed to shine, and what is hard to argue against that it's a Tournament of genuinely decent teams.
Which is why, of course, that UEFA will seek to expand it, for money, whatever the arguments otherwise.
Predictions?
Here's mine.........
Portugal, Germany, Spain and Italy.
## Warning ## The value of Internet Punditry can go down as well as up.
Incidentally, here's link to 10 of the best goals from the Group Stage.
Back in a couple of days with a Swansea City piece, talking about tele-visual treats and the recently released fixture list. See you then,
Onward, Swansea City
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