GERMANY 1-2 ITALY

It was a very open match where both teams gave much spaces for each other to attack deep into each other's halves. This enabled an exciting flow of the match between both teams too. Therefore, it was a far more exciting match than the previous one between Spain and Portugal. Germany ended up attacking more of the Italian defence but opened up their defence too much. Two very good chances were almost resulted in goal, with the first one being defended by Pirlo as Buffon left the goal wide open after falling down from a corner while the second one from Boateng crossing in almost resulted in an own goal by Barzagli. Italy responded with a direct shot on goal by Montolivo and then a good one from Cassano.

In the 20th minute, via a good left side cross by Cassano, Balotelli met it with a header which ended with the first goal of the match. Germany did not respond with much pressure although they attacked more from here onwards. A try by Kheidara was dangerous but Buffon managed to save it. Chiellini in one of the counter attacks, sent a pass that split the German defence, which overcame the offside trap. Balotelli took it down and hit a shot into the net at the top corner in the 36th minute. The German defence really needed to be stronger as well as putting pressure on the Italian offence if they are ever thinking of overcoming this match.

In the second half, Germany played deeper in the Italian half in order to find the goals to respond. However, the resounding Italian defence helped keep out most of the chances. I feel that the Germans were just not giving Italy enough pressure, especially when the possession was with Italy that they didn't press enough to get back the possession. The Italian defence restricted most of the German offence to the outside of the penalty box. A very dangerous freekick by Reus in front of goal was saved by Buffon. In the dying minutes of the full time, a handball by Balzaretti caused a penalty kick to be given to Germany. Ozil converted the penalty kick by scoring a shot at the top right hand corner of the goal. It was too late as there was not enough time to comeback to score the equalizer.

Pirlo to me was the best player on the field which gave the Italians the victory despite Balotelli scoring the two goals. He was everywhere and his passes were just classy. Italy will go into the final to play Spain, a rematch of their first group stage match.

PORTUGAL 0-0 (2-4) SPAIN

In all honesty, Portugal played much better in the 90 minutes, killing the Spanish possession football to the extent that Xavi needed to be substituted. They also attacked more dangerously with Ronaldo and Nani while defended well by Pepe and Coentrao. However, I was wondering why Spain don't start with Pedro instead of Negredo. Spain are lucky to go to the finals. I kind of pity the luck of the Portuguese as they didn't deserve to get out.

In extra-time, Spain started to look like their old self where they kept possessions and were dangerous in attack. This is probably because fatigue was catching up with both teams so the marking was not so intense. Iniesta had a good chance to score which he missed in front of the open goal. Nani was always dangerous attacking from the right flank, giving Spain quite a lot of problems. Ronaldo seemed too selfless to not try to move into the penalty box directly, eventhough in some of the offensive attacks, I believe he could just run all the way in and try a shot or two. This is especially for the counter-attack near the end of full time where the Portuguese attacking force outnumbered the Spanish defence. He also wasted quite a lot of freekicks which were taken in front of goal.In fact, Sergio Ramos tried a freekick which looked much more dangerous than all those taken by Ronaldo.

This is the second match in the entire EURO2012 campaign so far that dragged into the lottery of penalty kicks. During the penalty kick, both initial Portugese shot by Moutinho and Spanish shot by Alonso were saved by Casillas and Patricio. Bruno Alves hit the bar before Fabregas kicked the ball as it deflected at the left post before going in. Ramos tried to mimic Pirlo by scoring a chipped shot too during the penalty.

Whichever team Spain face in the final, whether it is Germany or Italy, it will not be easy. I plea that they put Fabregas or Pedro from the start in the field!Spain need to play more offensively if they want to avoid another match that will end with lotteries of penalty kick out. Give us fans some goals man!!!

ENGLAND 0-0 (2-4) ITALY

What happens when two defensive teams meet in knock-out stages? A long, long night of football which drags on forever. The Italians dominated possessions with 68%, created more passes (833 against 364), hit the post twice, had a goal scored but declared offside and created more chances on goal (36 against 9, 8 on target against 1). Italy wasted so many chances in front of goal that they have only themselves to blame for dragging the match into extra-time. The Portugese referee was a controversial figure on the field, giving a few confusing decisions in the match.

Once it is the penalty shoot-out, we know experience reigns. Buffon is ultimately more experienced and his appearance in front of goal was enough to scare anyone. England have always been not strong in penalties and that gave the Italians more chances of winning.

Balotelli stepped up to take the first shot and he nailed it. Gerrard responded with a shot too for England. Montolivo shot wide to the left and gave England the advantage. Rooney then nailed his. Pirlo came later and scored an incredible chip into the penalty, defined famously as the Panenka penalty created by Antonín Panenka. Young came next and hit the upright with his shot. It was back to square one. Nocerino scored for the third goal. Cole came next and got his shot saved by Buffon. Finally, Diamanti stepped up to score the winning goal for the Italians. Therefore, both Ashleys missed to give the Italians the win.

The Italians will meet the Germans but they will be definitely be very tired going into the match.

SPAIN 2-0 FRANCE

Spain scored their opening goal courtesy of a good run by Alba on the left. The 19th minute goal from a Xabi Alonso header from Jordi Alba's left side cross was possible after Alba's ability to run away off his marker. It was definitely great for Alonso to score for his 100th cap for his country. Ribery was probably the most dangerous French player that gave the Spanish defence some problems with Benzema working hard to connect well. Cabaye had a beautiful attempt from a free-kick that tested Casillas well. However, overall in the first half, the Spanish controlled about 65% possessions to make sure that they led the match.

In the 2nd half, the French began to control more possessions and created some really decent chances during their offensive attack. They managed to bring down the possessions of the Spanish below 60%. Most of the chances were wasted by the miscommunication and bad connection between the players when nearing the goal in attack. Benzema was less lethal and coordinated in the 2nd half. I think Ribery was probably the best French player in the match and yet again the one creating the most troubles to the Spanish defence. Nasri came into the match in the 65th minute to give more offensive power to the French. For Spain, they answered by taking out Silva and Fabregas about the same time while bringing in two strikers of Pedro and Torres. It was a strange decision for me since the Spanish were losing possessions in the middle at that time. Torres was caught offside for a few runs towards the French goal. In the late 89th minute, Pedro gave Spain a penalty courtesy of a push by Reveillere after a nice run into the penalty box by leaving Rami. Xabi Alonso stepped up and nailed the penalty to get his second goal of the match.

Spain will proceed to play against Portugal in the semis!

GERMANY 4-1 GREECE

Well, the Germans are expected to be in the final. Greece are not expected to create another miracle in the EURO competition. Lahm, the left back and captain, gave the Germans the lead with a curl ball from outside the penalty box. The goal came after a few good chances that did not materialize, with one of them disallowed for offside. Germany attacked more in the first half, controlling around 70% of the possessions while Greece parked a bus in front of their goal.

By the second half, the Germans have been wasting quite a number of chances again. They were caught off guard in one of the Greeks' counter attacks which resulted in a goal from the right in the 55th minute. Germany responded within 5 minutes later with an impressive Kheidara goal from a right cross. Then, just shortly afterwards, in less than 10 minutes, another goal from the right cross yet again for a header by Klose. Not long after around the 74th minute, Reus scored a goal into an empty net after the goalie fell from stopping a Klose shot which fell in front of him. Greece got a goal late in the match courtesy of a penalty kick from a handball by Boeteng in the penalty box.

Germany, with their impressive 15th consecutive win, broke the record with the longest in the run. They will face either England or Italy in the semis.

CZECH REPUBLIC 0-1 PORTUGAL

The Czechs played well in the first half, controlling much of the game by attacking the Portuguese consistently. Their defence was also solid in containing the offensive power of the Portuguese. C.Ronaldo hit the goal post twice and was denied a few chances by Petr Cech. He also denied shots from Nani and Moutinho. However, in the second half, the Portuguese started to exert more pressure by attacking and controlling the game more. The Czechs seem to be contented to sit back for a draw. C.Ronaldo finally scored the only goal from a header by a cross by Moutinho. They will go ahead to play against Spain or France in the semifinals.

CROATIA 0-1 SPAIN

To be honest, Croatia were the better team in front of goal while Spain played badly in comparison with the previous two matches. There were some really nervous situations where better timed shots could have resulted in goals by Croatia. There was a Ramos challenge in the 1st half which could have resulted in a penalty. I could not understand why Spain can't start with Fabregas and a striker in the same match? I believe a draw will be a fairer result. Jesus Navas scored the easy goal for Spain via an assist from Iniesta whom got the chipped ball from Fabregas to beat the outside trap deep into the second half. Overall, quite an exciting match where I believe Croatia created many problems to the unreliable Spanish defence in front of Casillas.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Italy beat Ireland 2-0 thanks to goals from Cassano and Balotelli. Cassano's header scored via the corner kick by Pirlo. Diamanti's corner met with a bicycle kick by Balotelli deep in the 2nd half. As for now, Holland are out of the competition. Czech Republic are playing Portugal while Germany are playing Greece in the two quarterfinal matches which are confirmed.

FRANCE 1-1 ENGLAND

The match was quite lively with offensive attacks from both sides. To be honest, England surprised me as they looked a far more disciplined team on the field, playing quite decent football. They didn't behave like they missed anybody. However, England behaved like Italy of yesterday, putting a lot of players in the penalty box to defend - most of the time 2 rows of 8 players. France had more possessions but found it hard to enter the penalty box. The goal in response to Lescott's first England goal from Nasri was spectacular, entering the goal from such a tight angle near the post, kicking from just outside the penalty box.

The French lack the speed of counter-attacking which they must take advantage of while playing teams with such defence like England and Italy in the subsequent matches. Ribery, Nasri and Benzema should really cooperate and learn to play fast to go offensive and not wait until 8 to 9 players have reached the penalty box to defend. The English on the other hand, have to also be more willing to control the ball more often and not just sit through matches to defend, like what they did in the first half. I believe the Italians defended less than them when meeting the Spanish yesterday.

Well, this is their first match and my take is teams are just playing safe, although I still see some very stupid scenes of getting yellow cards unnecessarily. This is my second EURO2012 match watched and the scoreline is identical. Sigh!

SPAIN 1-1 ITALY

Well, with lots of work, this is my first match of EURO2012 watched live. When I first saw the lineup, I am abit disappointed. Zero striker in the lineup of Spain which is loaded with 6 midfielders. It is fine with 6 midfielders if it will guarantee a very strong midfield, which was not the case. I would not even consider putting Silva and Busquets in the lineup. The flow of passing was very much disconnected by Spain's standards. The pitch may be blamed for the lack of rhythm of football passing but I blamed the players for not playing like a unit / team.

To be fair, Italy had better chances of the night and Spain were lucky to get a draw with a very alert Casillas. Italy's attacks looked far more dangerous and effective, especially in the first half, which gave the defence a lot of scary situations. Cassano and Balotelli were dangerous and I guess Di Natale was just more experienced than Balotelli. I would give Balotelli more chances to prove himself as he lacked experience in such big tournaments. Torres' inclusion late in the second half was welcomed but he was not as sharp as expected to finish off two good chances. Spain also wasted all their free kicks and corners. Overall, I think the result is fair, considering the chances and the possessions of both teams.

I will want to catch the French - English match tonight. I don't expect much of England. The first upset of the tournament came from the Denmark 1-0 Holland match. It was unexpected but I am never too fond of this generation of Dutch for being extremely aggressive. The memories of the last World Cup is still fresh in my mind.

EURO2012 HAS STARTED!

Enjoy football, folks!