Now things really get interesting. Since so many of my earlier predictions were wrong I thought I would now make new predictions for the single elimination stage. So here are my new fearless predictions.
Portugal v. Germany: This is going to be an intense game. Portugal has looked fine through all of their games. Yes, they lost to Switzerland but they had already clinched the group and were resting everyone. Germany looked really good against Poland and then pretty poor against Croatia, costing me a jersey that I then owed Danny. Against Austria they looked just good enough to win but not convincing. Germany is going to have to play very well to win this. It certainly is not going to help that their coach Joachim Loew will not be allowed to coach after being sent off in the last game. Many of the German players are trying to get healthy for the match while the Portuguese players have basically had a full week of rest. A little side fact, the pitch has been completely replaced in the last day or two for this match at St.Jakob Park. Maybe the new grass won't even hold up. If Germany plays like they can they will win. I'm also a little biased on this one.
Croatia v. Turkey: Croatia has lived up to their title as the big dark horse of the tourney. The have won every game they have played and have lots of momentum going into their match against Turkey. After getting stomped by Portugal in their first game Turkey has been the only team to come back from being down to win a match. This is a team that doesn't go away. Unfortunately for them, I think that they are going to go away this time.
Netherlands v. Russia: The Netherlands have been the big surprise to me. They have always been a good team but this time they are looking not just good but dominant. Their style is a lot of fun to watch, not a lot of defense and a whole lot of offense. Holland made easy work of Romania (2-0), Italy (3-0) and France (4-1). Russia on the other hand has not been really convincing. They are fun to watch as they are the youngest team. Russia got destroyed by Spain (4-1), squeaked by Greece (1-0) but looked really good against Sweden winning 2-0. The score should have been 5-0 with all the chances they had. This is the first time Russia has made it out of the group stage in any major tournament since the end of the USSR. Both of these teams focus on their offense with quick counter attacks My conservative prediction for this is the Netherlands beating Russia 15-10.
Spain v. Italy: Spain has looked very comfortable in their first three matches. Like Russia and the Netherlands, Spain has a very fast counter attack and the ability to score at almost any moment. They might find more of a challenge than Russia, Sweden and Greece with Italy. That depends on what Italian team shows up. In Italy's first two games they looked very old and almost confused. In their qualify or go home game against France they finally stepped it up and looked like they even wanted to win. I am not convinced though. I think that Italy will not be able to stop Spain, their defense might slow Spain down but it won't be enough to put them over the top.
So there are my quarterfinals picks. I am pretty confident that I will be right with all of them except for Germany v. Portugal, this one could really go either way. With that being said, I am still expecting Germany to win.
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