Euro 2008: knock-out stages
The Euro 2008 contenders have been whittled down to the last eight and play for a place in the semi-finals this week.
The quarter-finals were the point at which Sven Goran Eriksson's England made their exit in the last tournament. They lost their game against the eventual finalists Portugal on penalties. Darius Vassell's and David Beckham's kicks failed to hit the back of the net — with Beckham slipping at the spot. You'd think his teammate John Terry would have watched and learned.
France were also casualties at quarter-final stage in Euro 2004 and have had a shaky preparation for this year's competition, with qualifying defeats both home and away to Scotland, and were already fighting for survival at the group stage.
Thursday sees Portugal taking on the second-placed Group B side —likely to be Germany, unless Austria cause a massive upset. That match is on ITV1 at 7.30pm.
The second quarter-final, Croatia v Turkey, is on Friday evening (7.30pm, BBC1). Turkey booked their place with a dramatic recovery with two late goals from captain Nihat Kahveci against the Czech Republic.
After Rafael Nadal's demolition of defending Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in the French Open, it will be interesting to see whether the Spaniard's proven ability on clay will translate to SW19's faster courts — especially after his first title win on grass at the Queen's Club last weekend.
This week's top game: Sunday, 7.30pm
Euro 2008 Football:
Spain v runner-up of Group C (ITV1/BBC1)
With the TV schedules yet to be confirmed and the final line-up of Group C still hingeing on France v Italy and the Netherlands v Romania, one thing is certain. Spain will be at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna on Sunday to try and book their place in a semi-final. They looked strong against Sweden at the weekend. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres — el Niño — put them ahead and, despite an equaliser, a strong second half reaped a winner from Euro 2008's leading goal scorer David Villa.
