EURO 2008 Quarter-final lineup: Germany v Portugal Croatia v Turkey Netherlands v Russia Italy v Spain Germany v Portugal tonight looks an intriguing contrast of styles. The Lusitanians will be hoping Cristiano Ronaldo can catch fire in the right way tonight and burn the German defence that was breached twice by Croatia in the group stage. While Germany will not be short of fans pouring across the Swiss border to Basel, Portugal can count on the largest expat support of any competing nation in Switze rland. Their victory over the Czechs in Geneva almost felt like a home game, given the numbers of red and green flags flying from windows across the city. * * * "We are more technical, while the German game is more physical," Ronaldo succinctly put it. "The physical game does not win tournaments," assured German coach Joachim Löw, "but it helps you not to lose them." Ronaldo is a daily fixture in the Spanish sporting press, who leap at any rumour of a rumour of a rumour regarding his interest in playing for Real Madrid next season. While the Manchester United winger has erected a wall in front of questions on his future, journalists have had to use a Trojan horse: "Do you prefer paella or fish and chips?" one cheeky hack asked him. "Bacalhau" (Portuguese fish dish) was Ronaldo's smart reply. * * * The uncrowned King of Germany, 'Kaiser' Franz Beckenbauer, who put the boot in relentlessly on Löw's predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann, has said Germany must improve in order to beat Portugal tonight. "The midfield has suffered from a lack of ideas," he told Bild. "They will have to play like they did in the 3rd place play-off in 2006." Should the Teutonic muscle triumph, the praise should go to the American and Japanese fitness coaches employed by the Klinsmann/Löw regime. Mark Verstegen and Massaya Sakihan are gearing up the Mannschaft with tests employed on NASA astronauts. * * * Spain v Italy looks the pick of the quarter-finals to me. The Spanish have played the most attractive soccer of EURO 2008 thus far and do not have any major injury worries. "I thought they (Italy) were dead but they made it through in the end," Spanish coach Luis Aragones told journalists. "They are not the team I wanted to play but today anyone can beat anyone. They will be a very tough opponent but I have a lot of faith in my team." Memories of the USA 1994 quarter-final in Boston chime. Jose Luis Caminero had equalised Dino Baggio's opener for Italy, before Spain missed a hatful of chance s in the second half, allowing Roberto Baggio to pop up and score the winner with three minutes remaining. Spain and Italy are superficially similar Latin European nations, with shared Roman roots and mutually intelligible languages. Spain is the home of two giants of the club game. Barcelona and Real Madrid are colossi of economic and political power, their influence stretching far beyond the football pitch. Spain have also joined Italy at Euro 2008 in complaining about the changeable weather in the Alps, a shock to the weeks of endless sunshine in their own lands. But when it comes to the national teams, however, Italy has long been streets ahead. The Azzurri have bagged three World Cups to Spain's none. This time more than ever, though, the tables look set to turn. The world champions are up to their old tricks, flattering to deceive with a sluggish start before turning their engines on full blast when they're up against the wall. Roberto Donadoni's revival however, will be badly hit by the absence of Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo, suspended after picking up two yellow cards. What a loss to the tournament, let alone Italy. Why must UEFA and FIFA persist with this cruel rule? At least UEFA have prevented another 'Gazza's tears' incident by erasing bookings after the quarter-final. But that is too late for Gattuso and Pirlo, and possibly Italy. In domestic play you need to accrue five yellow cards to miss a match, so why is it two in international tournaments, when the absence of key players ruins the spectacle. * * * Rumours of discontent within the French squad are growing. That would come as no surprise given Les Bleus' disenchanted body language throughout their three games. What are the players traipsing home across the Alps to make of their coach Raymond Domenech proposing live on air just after France had been eliminated by Italy? The game had gone from bad to worse for France, who first lost their most useful attacker Franck Ribery through injury before Eric Abidal was dismissed for a clumsy tackle. "The only thing I am thinking of right now is to marry Estelle," exclaimed Domenech post-match, to stupefied millions. Conspiracy theorists are pointing to Ludovic Giuly's omission from the French squad as down to the Roma winger's 'friendship' with Domenech's girlfriend. Estelle Denis presents '100% FOOT' on France's M6 channel and she and Giuly exchanged a number of texts after he appeared on her show in 2004. Giuly grovellingly apologised to Domenech, claiming he had no idea they were a couple, but that didn't stop Domenech leaving Giuly out of the 2006 World Cup squad, as well as Euro 2008. Domenech and Denis already have two children, Merlin and Victoire. If only their father could have been a magician and pulled a victory out of the hat. Domenech has since apologised for the rush of blood to his head and has also excused France's poor form by saying his real objective was to prepare for the 2010 World Cup. * * * Spain had an unfair advantage beating Greece in Salzburg. The Wals-Siezenheim stadium is nicknamed 'the Bullring', or in Spanish, 'Arena de los Toros', thanks to its occupancy by Red Bull Salzburg. Those purists who fear an American franchising of football in England should wake up to what happened here three years ago. The old Austria Salzburg, dating back to 1933, became Casino Salzburg in 1978, Wustenrot Salzburg in 1993 and finally Red Bull Salzburg in 2005. The last of these changes was the most controversial as it ditched the tradional purple strip in favour of the corporate red and white colours. Salzburg's kit is identical to that of its sister club, the New York Red Bulls (formerly the Metrostars) and forms part of a global corporate identity which includes the Formula One Red Bull team. Die-hard supporters, in a move to mirror those of AFC Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester, formed a new club in 2006, successfully registering the traditional name and logo and entering the team in the seventh tier of Austrian football (no jokes, please). SV Austria Salzburg have enjoyed two promotions in as many seasons and deserve our best wishes. * * * Croatia coach Slaven Bilic has been one of the stars of Euro 2008. The former Hajduk Split, Karlsruhe, West Ham and Everton defender has been the most effusive of the coaches on the touchline, celebrating Croatian goals as if he were still playing. Not your average footballer, the quadrilingual law graduate and smoker plays guitar in a rock band and hails from a radical family. His father was one of the students who organised a protest against 'President for Life' Tito at Split University in 1971. Although Bilic senior was not jailed, the family were placed under surveillance. When Bilic junior was selected to play for Yugoslavia at the 1987 World Youth Cup in Chile, his selection was overruled from above, making Slaven even more pro-Croat than ever. Twenty-one years down the line, he has surely got his revenge. * * * (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Results 10th June: Spain 4:1 Russia (Villa 20' 45' 75', Pavluchenko 86', Fabregas 90'), Innsbruck Sweden 2:0 Greece (Ibrahimovic 67', Hansson 73'), Salzburg Now we have seen all the teams, what have we learnt so far? Ibrahimovic's golazo against Greece was the most spectacular goal, Spain's 4-1 torching of Russia the most alluring and the Dutch's 3-0 thumping of Italy the stand-out result of the first slew of games. Fears that the Oranje would miss Arjen Robben proved groundless as they trounced the World Champions, defeating the Azzurri for the first time since Nottingham Forest were last crowned English champions. Italy has been awash with soul-searching today after such a clamorous capitulation. Italian back fours are supposed to be as compact as ranks of Roman legionary, not crumble like old Garibaldi biscuits left in the tin for too long. In midfield and attack too, the azure blues were decidedly off-colour as the Dutch sailed past them time and again, bagging three goals when it could have been more. All of a sudden, the in-vogue formation of 4-1-4-1 looked rather ropey. How fortunes change. Marco Van Basten is once again the Netherlands' poster boy after serious doubts were raised following his team's heavy weather in qualifying, while the blissful memory of the World Cup triumph in Germany has begun to fade. My suspicion is the Dutch are yet to prove they can be consistent so let us not get carried away. Remember how the Dutch steamrollered Yugoslavia 6-1 in the Euro 2000 quarter-final before grinding to a 0-0 draw and defeat on penalties against Italy in the semi-final. More recently, they began the 2006 World Cup at a canter, dispatching Serbia 6-0 in the first round before succumbing dismally 1-0 to Portugal in an ill-tempered game that produced four red cards and eight yellow cards. It was a Dutchman who coined the phrase 'sexy football' but it wasn't his countrymen playing the hottest soccer so far in the Alps. That award goes to Spain, who followed a stop-start 1-0 win over the USA in their final preparation match with a 4-1 mutilation of Russia and Guus Hiddink. How much should we read into Spain's deliciously simple pass and move soccer I am not sure. Russia were rubber in defence and, here comes my two cents, I could not imagine England being so outplayed had they qualified in place of them. Russia, let us not forget, were woeful 3-0 losers at Wembley in qualifying and also lost away to Israel, only scraping into the finals courtesy of England's self-destruction at home to Croatia in their final game. Guus Hiddink may be one of the world's top coaches, but his CV looked creased after Spain had finished with his latest team. Other sidesvmaking up the numbers are Poland and Turkey, who were utterly insipid losing to Portugal. And Greece, you might say, but I shall defend Otto Rehagel's team for providing some welcome entertainment. The sight of the Salzburg arena booing and whistling the Greeks for their negative play was wonderful theatre. Yes, we all want to be entertained and God forbid every team played like Greece, but I have a sneaking admiration for a team who managed to win Euro 2004 without any flair and who have the gall to turn up four years later with the same coach and same tactics! Plus we like to boo the baddie. The Czechs and French have yet to convince me while Sweden and Croatia's victories confirmed they will be tough nuts for any team to crack. Romania have yet to show what they are about, if anything while of the twin hosts, Switzerland could yet make it to the second round if results go their way. After, Holland, Portugal and Spain, the fourth and last team in the A-League thus far is of course Germany, who looked a much improved and more confident team than two years ago. That the Germans could be on the road to another final is demoralising on the one hand, but only to be expected on the other. There will be tougher tests than Poland ahead for Joachim Low's side, but there was an inescapable feeling during that game that we have been down this familiar road many times before. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

World Cup Qualifiers Schedule The race towards South Africa starts in August Fabio Capello has his work cut out for him. England start their qualifying campaign for the next World Cup on September 6th away to Andorra four days before meeting their recent nemesis Croatia in Zagreb. Present at the negotiations in the Sheraton Hotel in the Croatian capital were David Rodrigo of Andorra, Arno Pijpers of Kazakhstan, Bernd Tange of Belarus, Aleksei Mikhailichenko of Ukraine plus Capello and the host Slaven Bilic. It took six and a half hours in Zagreb for the six coaches from the teams in the England's group to reach an agreement on the calendar and in the end both Capello and Bilic claimed they were very happy with the outcome. The Ukrainians were reportedly the least satisfied as they didn't want to play in June of 2009 and ended up having to visit Croatia and entertain the same team in the space of four days. "I thank Belarus and Andorra for accepting some compromises, as without them it would have been difficult to reach the agreement," said the Croatian coach, who was only unhappy with the trip to Belarus on August 19th next year. "It's FIFA's date for friendlies so we'll be able to count on our internationals just three days before the trip," moaned Bilic. Capello on the other hand stated he got exactly what he wanted – an easy opener with Andorra, a relatively lightweight rival in Belarus for the closure and both Croatian games in September. Group 6 – qualifying calendar 2008 20th August Kazakhstan vs. Andorra 6th September Croatia vs. Kazakhstan Andorra vs. England Ukraine vs. Belarus 10th September Croatia vs. England Andorra vs. Belarus Kazakhstan – Ukraine 11th October Ukraine vs. Croatia England vs. Kazakhstan 15th October Croatia vs. Andorra Belarus vs. England 2009 1st April Andorra vs. Croatia England vs. Ukraine Kazakhstan vs. Belarus 6th June Croatia vs. Ukraine Kazakhstan vs. England Belarus vs. Andorra 10th June Ukraine vs. Kazakhstan England vs. Andorra 19th August Belarus vs. Croatia 5th September Croatia vs. Belarus Ukraine vs. Andorra 9th September England vs. Croatia Belarus vs. Ukraine Andorra – Kazakhstan 10th October Ukraine vs. England Belarus vs. Kazakhstan 14th October Kazakhstan vs. Croatia Andorra vs. Ukraine England vs. Belarus Note: Only the group champions qualify for the World Cup directly, and the second placed team enter an additional qualification round against another of the eight best runners' up out of the total of nine European zone groups. England games 2008. Andorra vs England (Sep 6th) Croatia vs England (Sep 10th) England vs Kazakhstan (Oct 11th) Belarus vs England (Oct 15th) 2009. England vs Ukraine (Apr 1st) Kazakhstan vs England (June 6th) England vs Kazakhstan (June 10th) England vs Croatia (Sep 9th) Ukraine vs England (Oct 10th) England vs Belarus (Oct 14th) Copyright Soccerphile & Ozren Podnar Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football England World Cup Betting

Disturbing Durban Draw: Oh no, England vs Croatia again!? An unpleaseant realization for England and Croatia: these teams will meet each other again in the European zone of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers! The whimsical Lady Luck decided that competing alongside England and Croatia in the Group 6 will be Ukraine, Belarus, Kazahstan and Andorra. The draw has not amused the English fans, with the wound inflicted by Croatia very fresh, but the trips to Kiev, Minsk and Almaty cannot be pleasant either. Ukraine, the quarterfinalists of the last World Cup, have had a meagre Euro qualifying campaign, but cannot be easily dismissed, specially in the early stages of the new qualification cycle. The odd Belarus side proved capable of losing at home to Luxembourg, winless for ages, but also of defeating Holland on the last day of the competition. Kazahstan offer more of the same uncertainty: the Asians kicked out Serbia from Euro by beating them 2-1 last March. They will also naturally want to avenge Englishman's Sacha Baron Cohen's massive insult dealt upon the whole nation through the infamous movie featuring Borat, one of Cohen's alteregos.

"There are not many candidates because it looks a bit like a crocodile that opens the mouth and says: 'Jump into that.' Once he's in there, he's eaten. And once you have eaten four, five says: 'No, maybe I don't jump in there.'" So went the words of Arsene Wenger, the best coach working in England at present. In the old days, before the savaging of Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor by the tabloids and the realization that the real money and chances of success were to be found in the Premier League and not the international game, the nation’s best coach would have leapt at the chance of managing England.

The Emperor has no clothes and it’s official. For the first time within the walls of the awesome citadel that is the new Wembley Stadium, the English national team has come a cropper in a big way, and this time there can be no hiding from the naked truth.

World Soccer News for week of November 22th Tradition smashed as England exit Euro England's elimination from the European championship was the top story around the world: foreign fans and the media respect English soccer far more than those at home and the failure of the Three Lions has been greeted with as sense of shock and awe. In Croatia, the fans celebrated the triumph with crackers and fireworks, seeing the 3-2 win at Wembley as one of the three greatest ever in the 16-year history of the national team. The other two are the 3-0 thumping of Germany in the 1998 World Cup quarter finals and the 2-0 defeat of England last year in Zagreb. Although England is not at their finest hour, beating them away from home will guarantee a place in the national soccer history for the Croatian team that achieved that.

Know England's next rivals The chequered squad - Pride of Croatia By Ozren Podnar Manager Slaven Bilic, the former West Ham and Everton defender, usually deploys a 4-4-2 system with Pletikosa on goal, Corluka and Simunic as full backs, Simic and Robert Kovac as central defenders, Srna and Kranjcar as wide midfielders, Niko Kovac as a defensive midfielder, Luka Modric as an attacking midfielder, Petric or Olic as the second striker and Eduardo as the main striker. In the current Euro qualifiers Croatia have won eight, drawn two and lost only one game, on Saturday to Macedonia, after learning that they had already qualified thanks to the Russian defeat to Israel. It will be interesting for Steve McClaren to learn that their next rivals have never lost two qualifiers in a row, but then again a draw at Wembley would be just fine for both teams.

European qualifiers Greatest day for English soccer. And England did not even play. Ozren Podnar reports... What a wonderful Saturday for English soccer! England did not play, though, but Israel did, and Macedonia too. Not only one result went England's way on that glorious day, but two! Israel achieved the unimaginable feat of beating Russia by 2-1, when even a draw seemed unassailable; an hour later, an unbeaten Croatia finally succumbed to lowly Macedonia, who so rarely win a game at home (four in the last seven years, to be precise). Any of these unlikely scores would have saved the Three Lions from the instant ignominy of elimination from the forthcoming Euros. In the end, both results came out just as if Steve McClaren himself had designed them.

After months of real uncertainty and voices of doom, England’s qualification for Euro 2008 looks ever more likely now after the three lions cruised past Estonia 3-0 at Wembley on Saturday.