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He’s a cheeky scamp, that Jose Mourinho. His exquisitely-tailored backside has barely settled into the hot seat at Inter Milan, but he’s already talking about transfer targets. And – shock, horror – two of them play for his old club Chelsea. The other? Well, he just happens to be on Chelsea’s wanted list. Who’d have thought it?

“I can’t forget about Deco, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba,” smirked the Special One. “These are players I could never say no to. I don’t know which of these three will leave their clubs, but we will see.”

Oh Jose, you big tease! We know you well enough by now, so stop playing all these flirty games! What Mourinho wants, Mourinho usually gets, and his …

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So, now we know the quarter-final line-up for Euro 2008, and there’s no time to take a breather. It’s straight into the action tonight with a mouth-watering cracker. The first of the four quarter-finals takes place in Basel, and it’s a beauty and the beast showdown between Portugal and Germany.

Portugal provide the beauty. A free-flowing, attacking side blessed with the world’s best player, Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese can also call on Deco, Ricardo Quaresma, Nuno Gomes and Simao. They have pace and creativity and flair in abundance, and strolled through their group, winning their first two games before putting out a weakened side and losing a meaningless final match against Switzerland.

In the other corner is the beast. Germany, that most …

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There have been many words churned out in the media about the Austrian attitude to Euro 08 (Ed - thanks for adding to them). Many commentators have tried to analyse the co-hosts apathetic attitude to the tournament but they have not quite nailed quite why some locals have compared the arrival of foreign fans to the siege of Vienna in 1683.

However, one can somewhat understand the frustration of the Viennese. The citizens have to cope with a month free of theatre and are forced to navigate the city without the aid of horse-drawn cabs. Such is the potential for humanitarian disaster that casinos are rallying together to offer assistance for those rendered traumatised by culture free leisure time.

At …

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Spain face their toughest Euro 2008 examination to date on Sunday as Luis Aragones´s side take on Lazarus men Italy. Written off after a 3-0 thrashing against Holland and a poor 1-1 draw with Romania, the Azzurri came roaring back with a comfortable 2-0 win over woeful France to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Opponents Spain are in irresistible form having seen off Russia, Sweden and Greece but the big questions on most punters´s minds will be whether the perennial tournament chokers are going to live up to their dubious reputation? Have they peaked too soon?

Our feeling is that Spain won´t bottle it, but they are running into an improving Italian side jam-packed with big tournament experience. In the big …

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