Michael*

For me, Germany are the team to beat. They've evolved again this year, and their sheer adaptability makes them favourites in my mind. Not only can they still counter attack at blazing speed, they can also outmaneuver you in wide areas or grind you into the dust with measured possession. Granted, the Greeks were probably the weakest team in the knockout stages, but I'm not sure we'd have seen the same levels of domination from Italy, France or Portugal. Perhaps more so from Italy, since they did it to England. Spain are no less technically flawless than before and they're still racking up enormous amounts of possession, but they don't seem to be attacking with as much purpose, creating as much space or picking teams apart like they used to. Of course, they've mostly played against lesser opposition so far and may simply be cruising at the moment, but against one of the heavyweights we should really find out what they're made of. Portugal will start as second favourites and rightfully so, but I think they'll fancy themselves a lot more now than they would have done in years gone by. Hopefully, for the sake of pure neutral enjoyment, they don't resort to the spoiling tactics they tried to employ against Germany in the opening group game. Looking forward to both games. Two days to go but the tennis should keep the withdrawal symptoms at bay.

It's the staff's job to diffuse situations with the potential to escalate. Like you said, excessive fandom is ridiculous and we don't expect everyone to like Kate. Heck, I don't even like Kate that much myself. So by all means express opinions, just be aware of the reality that others might see certain criticisms as provocation. All we ask is that members make the effort to keep things amicable around here.

It's always gut-wrenching to lose on penalties but in truth, it was something of an injustice that we even managed to hold Italy to a 0-0 draw. Sneaking through tonight would in all probability have meant humiliation against Germany and quite honestly, I wouldn't have wished the indignity or the inevitable media storm on Hodgson. The best four sides are through to the semi-finals, which can only be a good thing for the tournament.

Thread cleaned. Please guys, keep it on topic and keep it civil too.

Justice most definitely done. When Pirlo took command after the break, England were thoroughly dominated and it would have been a travesty of epic proportions had the Italians gone out on penalties.

Half-time and it's too close to call. I'm glad England haven't put too much stock in trying to rile Balotelli, Terry's penchant for random acts of thuggery means he's just as likely to get himself sent off instead. The Rooney of recent years is a nine out of ten or a four out of ten performer, at this point he looks closer to the latter.

How about this one? In the interest of full disclosure, it's Lily Donaldson under the shark's head...

SF1. Scarlett Johansson SF2. Charlize Theron 5-8. Emma Stone 5-8. Rachel McAdams 9-12. Amber Heard 9-12. Olivia Wilde 13-16. Keira Knightley 13-16. Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Linda

Bump

Scarlett

Mavis Clementine Anne Evelyn Carrie

Alyssa Miller [5] Jarah Mariano [2]

Not far off actually. Before one of Portugal's group games, Carragher had dared to suggest that Ronaldo wasn't really all that and had yet to do major damage in a big tournament or Champions League final. Roy, looking rather irritated, then sat on the fence as usual, firing back with what I can only describe as a barrage of stats - sixty-odd goals last season, medals coming out of his ears at club level and so on. It was a pretty spiky exchange and quite honestly, I was a bit surprised to see Carragher back on TV afterwards.

I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that you're getting decent coverage - it's difficult to imagine the tournament attracting a great deal of interest in the States. Even more so since tonight's game failed to live up to expectations.

This looked to be the first quarter-final between two teams of reasonably comparable ability, so I was hoping for a cracker. So much for that idea - France completely directionless, Spain barely even tested.

A piece of drama usually only reserved for their BZ topics now, as a mild spat breaks out between Irina Shayk and Bar Refaeli over Ronaldo's hair. Shock horror etc...

^Ah, good old Roy. It's impossible not to enjoy his grumpy, scowling presence on ITV. His trademark pent-up rage seems to be reaching borderline dangerous levels at the moment, presumably because resisting the urge to kick the studio coffee table over and grab Patrick Vieira round the neck is using up most of his self-control. I loved his brutal honesty about the Irish campaign, as well as his smackdown of Jamie Carragher over whether or not Ronaldo should be considered an all-time great. Honorable mentions too for messrs Klinsmann, Seedorf, Dixon and Martinez.

Drive

^Maybe I've finally managed to perfect the art of switching off when they talk, maybe it's because the obligatory media drum-banging for the 'mighty' England has been relatively absent this year - to be honest I'm not quite sure what it is, but so far I've found the usual suspects and their trademark drones marginally more bearable than at previous tournaments. All except for Lawro that is - God, the bloke's miserable. Very few games this summer have been genuinely without merit, yet the uninitiated might think he was being forced at gunpoint to watch a 0-0er between Rochdale and Morecambe on a wet evening in January. Does he even like football?

Nice to meet you!

Also, lovely stuff from Martin Keown during Portugal-Czech Republic...

Greece's point blank refusal to cross the halfway line made for an extraordinarily dull first half. Luckily for the neutral, Germany's incisive one-touch football ran riot after the break. Undoubtedly, the Germans are the team to beat at the tournament thus far.

I suppose these things can only ever tell part of the story at the best of times, but it's quite interesting to see the vast differences in the two line-ups. I strongly suspect that the Squawka one is heavily and perhaps unfairly weighted in favour of completed passes as opposed to key ones, hence the presence of Busquets and Xavi in their team. Needless to say, Spain's style of play lends itself to racking up gargantuan amounts of possession a lot more than say, Italy's, even when their relentless measured passing isn't accompanied by goals.