Euro 2008

Goals from man of the match Bastien Schweinsteiger in the 22 minute,Miroslav Klose in the 26 minute and Michael Ballack in the 61 minute gave Germany a 3-2 victory over Portugal in the first quarterfinals match in the competition.The Germans led twice by two goals,but the Portuguese kept fighting their way back into the match.First it was Nuno Gomes in the 40 minute to cut the deficit to 2-1 and later on Helder Postiga in the 87 minute to it make 3-2.The Germans just had a powerful presence in the field throughout the match and used a power style of soccer to get the victory.They move on to the semi-finals and will play the winner of the Croatia versus Turkey match that is schedule for Friday the 20 of June.The Friday match between Croatia and Turkey ended with a Turk shoot-out victory.After a goal less 90 minute of play in which the Croatian team dominated, the two teams headed for 30 minute extra-time.This is where all the drama took place. Croatia opened the scoring in the 119 minute with Ivan Klasnic putting in a cross from playmaker Luka Modric.With Croatia thinking they were through to the semi-finals the Turks answered the bell for the third straight game in style with an equaliser just a few seconds to go in the extra-time with a goal from super-sub Semih Senturk to make 1 all.Croatia squandered a lot of scoring chances in the match(Ivica Olic hitting the cross bar from dead close range).Turkey went on to win the penalty shoot-out by 3-1.The Croatians were totally shock and went into the penalty shoot-out with their spirits clearly down.The Turks thus move on to play Germany in the first semi-final schedule for Wednesday the 25 of June.The Russians continue their surprise run to the title with a superb 3-1 extra-time victory over the Dutch.The Russians clearly dominated the match and opened the scoring in the 56 minute of play through Roman Pavlyuchenko.The Dutch got a late equaliser from Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 86 minute to force extra-time.Goals from Dmitri Torbinski in the 22 minute of extra-time and Andrei Arshavin in the 26 minute of extra-time sealed a great performance from the Russians.They move on to play on Thursday the 26 of June, the winner of the Spain versus Italy quarter finals match.The Italians did play Spain on Sunday the 22 of June and the game went into penalty shoot-out that saw Spain through to the semi-finals,where they will play a Russian side that they had beaten during the group stages of the competition by 4 goals to 1.Spain had the upper hand in the encounter that ended in a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes.In the penalty shoot-out Spain's Goalkeeper Casillas stopped penalties from Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale.Italian Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon stopped Daniel Guiza's of Spain spot kick.Final shoot-out result,4-2 in favor of Spain.After four days of quarterfinals play favorites Germany and Spain are still around,together with gatecrashers Russia and a Turkish side that is depleted with injuries and suspensions.