Never Mind The Ballacks!
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 efficient of footballing machines. Among the favourites at the start of the tournament, they were beaten by Croatia in their second match and made hard work of beating Austria 1-0 to finish runners-up in the group. They would have wanted to avoid Portugal at this stage – but tough. This is what they've ended up with. Still, while Portugal may play all the fancy football, the Germans know how to dig in and win big games, and with Michael Ballack providing the driving force from midfield, they cannot be written off. If Lukas Podolski shakes off a calf problem and is fit enough to play, Germany will also have the best striker on the field.
No prizes for guessing the most popular team here – we reckon 90% of neutrals will be rooting for the Portuguese. But there's a golden rule in international football that should never be ignored; don't write off the Germans!
To bet on Ballack and the boys check out Bodog's Euro 2008 odds.
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