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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.

That was probably the closest we've come to a genuine dud game so far. The Czechs looked like rabbits in the headlights throughout and banking on Cech to win them a penalty shoot-out only seemed to doom them further. I've made a deal with myself to try and turn a blind eye to Ronaldo's less appealing personality traits at this tournament, and it's working out well up to now. Like the guy or not he's simply a joy to watch in full flow. At one stage last night I even caught myself rooting for Portugal so I could watch him again.

I think I'll be giving that a try very shortly then. The thought did occur when I bought 'Harley's Revenge' that it might let me use Robin in the challenge maps, but as it turns out, you still have to pay for the other DLC pack. Bit of a cheek, if you ask me!

Having sampled all the other characters, my temptation to try out Nightwing is starting to gather pace, though I must say, I'd probably have some slight reservations about paying for the DLC and then having to play through the same combat sequences as before. The challenge maps with the varied rules sound like they might appeal, though. Are they just for Batman or can you use the rest of the gang too?

Metal Gear Solid 5 revealed? Whatever the current plan is for the fifth game, I hope it's a prequel. To pick up after the events of MGS4 would be doing the previous game a massive disservice, it was such an ideal way to bring the series to a close. I think what I'd really like to see would be the old Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, but remade with the MGS4 engine. After all, how many people would have played the original NES games?

QF1. Emma Stone QF2. Scarlett Johansson QF3. Rachel McAdams QF4. Charlize Theron 9-16. Keira Knightley 9-16. Amber Heard 9-16. Mary Elizabeth Winstead 9-16. Eva Mendes

So according to some kind of number crunching thingy that apparently determines the highest performing players by measuring successful tackles, completed passes, shots on target and whatnot, this is the team of the tournament so far. I can only assume that Stephen Ward and Sean St. Ledger missed out by a hair's breadth.

Any more gaps like yesterday's and I may have to contemplate going outside.

Strength to strength.