With the Group Stage over, it was the turn of the quarter-finals. The England-Portugal game was a thriller, and for some the best game yet, at least in terms of drama. England fans will regret going out on yet penalties again, but cannot argue that they were argue that they were the better team. The early departure of Rooney was meant that they lacked the cutting edge up front. Although Vassell did his best, his past England appearances have shown that he is at his most effective when used as a fresh substitute in the last half an hour. Perhaps Eriksson is now regretting not picking the more dynamic Jermaine Defoe for the squad. Instead, it was Defoe’s Tottenham team-mate Helder Postiga who turned the game; after a truly shocking first season at Spurs he showed that at least his shoulder is capable of performing at the highest level.

As for the controversial “goal/foul” by Sol Campbell/John Terry, it’s simply a question of what would’ve probably been given by an English referee, but not a European one such as Urs Meier, who didn’t have the best of games in any case. Nevertheless, the level of refereeing in the tournament has been of a very high standard so far, apart from one or two notable incidents (the Russian goalkeeper being wrongly sent off against Spain). England can take hope though. Rio Ferdinand will be back for the qualifiers, Ledley King is a real find and all of Ashley Cole's performances (particular against the last Cristiano Ronaldo) demonstrated that he is one of the best left-backs in European football. Owen Hargreaves also deserves to play a more important role more often.

Portugal, however, were not the particularly decisive either. True, they had more shots than England, but both teams had the same number of shots on target (8) and the hosts looked panicky when England came at them in extra time. Much like their friendly encounter earlier this year it was a close encounter and one suspects that they will face a sterner test when they come up against the winner of the Sweden-Holland tie.

The same applies for Greece, who will meet either the Czech Republic and Denmark. The Greeks thoroughly deserved their 1-0 win over France. They were well-organised and passed the ball around cleverly, but I feel that they only play well when they opponents are underachieving. The French, perhaps missing the drive of Vieira, once again lacked creativity and seemed to be constantly waiting for Henry, Pires and Zidane to show some inspiration and to seize the initiative. Regrettably for the neutral, they played nothing like the France of Euro 2000 and one more pre-tournament favourite has exited early on.

On a completely unrelated note, if anybody has linked to Round and White and would like a reciprocal link then let me know. Oh and we're still looking for more contributors.

Well, in the end my predictions were right. Rudi Voeller started off the first half of the Germany-Czech game with one forward up front and paid the price for being so conservative in a must-win game. True, the Czechs conceded a superb goal by Ballack, but then hit back with an equally brilliant free kick by Marek Heinz. The second half was a different game altogether; with Lukas Podolski on and partnering the disappointing Kuranyi, the Germans looked more determined, but despite a couple of goalmouth scrambles, they still lacked the cutting edge. Ironically, it was the injury to Lokvenc which was the biggest blow to the Germans, as it forced Karel Bruckner to bring on the far more effective Milan Baros, who almost immediately added to his Euro 2004 tally. Some might argue that Voeller was somewhat naïve, particularly as the Dutch were up 2-0 in Braga within 30 minutes, and so he needed to go all out for the win. But he didn’t, and subsequently became the first managerial casualty of the tournament, followed swiftly by Giovanni Trappatoni.

The Italians’ greatest fear became reality when Sweden and Denmark luckily reached the 2-2 draw that would enable them to both go through regardless of what the Italians achieved against Bulgaria. Unsurprisingly, there were some in the Azzuri camp that cried foul, but anybody who saw the Scandinavian’s game saw that it had been a hard-fought contest where both knew that defeat would probably mean exit from the tournament. Ultimately, the Italians, much like the Germans, blew their chance in their second game; both played out drab draws against Sweden and Latvia, respectively, when they really should have gone for the win.

Group C

With no major surprises in terms of results so far, the big news in Group C was instead made by the increasing disarray of the Azzurri and it's not just down to the fact that they've taken over from the Dutch as the team that suffers from infighting.
If there is one team that has lost the footballing public’s sympathy over the course of the championships, it is them. The tediously defensive tactics employed by Trappatoni in the first match against the Danes meant a drab encounter, despite the Danes’ best attempts to score.

And then there was Totti’s llama impression. It’s always disappointing when one of the game’s best players makes a fool of himself, but given the high profile of the tournament and precedent cases, Francesco can consider himself very fortunate to have been let off with a mere 3-match ban.

But the Italians' unsubtle accusations that the Swedes and the Danes will conclude in tonight’s key match really takes the biscuit. The Scandinavians have both concentrated on playing attractive attacking football, and would both deserve to go through. And in any case, the whole idea is ridiculous that they. Sweden and Denmark may well be neighbours, but they don’t love each other that much. Would England and Scotland or Spain and Portugal fix matches in similar circumstances? No. If the Italians don’t go through to the next round tonight, then it is simply because there are not good enough.

Rant over. Round and White would now like to congratulate Henrik Larsson on his triumphant return to the Swedish team. His first goal in the game against Bulgaria, a memorable diving header, showed that his decision was the right one, both for his team and the game as a whole.

As for Bulgaria; they were expected to be the group’s whipping boys and so far have not disappointed. But perhaps they will follow the Russians’ example in their final game by beating Italy and in doing so demonstrate that they can play football. I’m sure that I’m not the only non-Italian fan who will be hoping exactly that.

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Group D

German football has changed a lot in the eight years since they last won the European Championship. Perhaps it is a sign of the times that many Germans considered the team to be the underdogs before their first game against the Dutch and that the media there celebrated the draw against Holland with the same fervour as if they had beaten them. Neither team was outstanding in that match though. Nevertheless, the Czechs also struggled in their opener against the highly defensive Latvians.

However, the second round of games in this group showed the real gap in quality in the four teams of Group D. Whereas the Czechs and the Dutch went at each other from the first minute and provided us with some classy attacking football in doing so, the Germans and Latvians struggled to make any impression on each other’s defences for 90 minutes’ time.

Since he took charge of the national team four years ago, Rudi Voeller has been regarded as a messiah in Germany, but he’s beginning to test peoples’ patience with his constant reliance on the ineffective Fredi Bobic and Miroslav Klose, while leaving the on-form and exciting talent of Cologne’s young forward Lukas Podolski on the bench. He may well have a good reason for being so stubborn, but if the Germans go out on Wednesday night, his failure to provide his younger players with opportunities to play unless no one else is available could well cost him his job. After all, even Eriksson saw sense a while ago and plays Wayne Rooney instead of Heskey.

Dick Advocaat is probably already nearing the end of the reign. Still, you have to have some sympathy for the Dutch coach. He has to cope with the constant criticism from Johan Cruyff, the untouchable oracle of Dutch football and the Dutch media (and public) for his tactics. True, the decision to take off Robben in the game against the Czechs may well have been a bad one as it took the pressure of the Czech defence and allowed them to move forward. But if the plan had worked and Bosvelt had helped contain the irrepressible Nedved and co at bay, then Dick would’ve been called a tactical genius. He probably would have received an equal amount of criticism if he had left Robben on instead of defending the precarious lead and the Czechs had still gone on to win.

As it is, the Czechs did deservedly go on to win and have left the group in an interesting position, as any one of the remaining three could go though given the right results.

Well, after a long absence Round and White returns and slap-bang in the middle of what has so far proven to be an excellent Euro 2004. There’s been some highly attractive football so far, some moments of genius and one of the finest games in recent years in the form of the 3-2 win for the Czech Republic against Holland.

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Group A

With matches in Group A finished, it has to be said that the end positions are justified. Despite the shock defeat in the opening match, the Portuguese bounced back with two fairly convincing wins and demonstrated against Spain that they do deserve to be playing in the quarter-finals. The Spanish, on the other hand, seemed to lack the will-power and the tactical nuance required to beat the hosts. For many watching the game, it seemed a bizarre decision to leave Valeron and Morientes, the goal scorers from the first two games, on the bench. Particularly as Raul was as subdued as he has been at Madrid over the last few months. Going for a draw against a team requiring a win is always a risky tactic, especially against a team such as Portugal, who are relatively useful when going forward. It backfired and Spain, the perennial underachievers, will have to concentrate on qualifying for the World Cup now.

Greece, however, will be looking forward to their game versus the title holders. Otto Rehhagel has formed a tight-knit team, by carefully choosing the right players for the right positions and adapting the team for different opponents. Nevertheless, the game against Russia, who were left with something to prove after their first two games, showed that the Greeks are still vulnerable at the back and if Henry shows the form he started to show in last night’s game, the Greeks will not make it to the semis.

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Group B

Group B was always going to be about France and England. Although both have some outstanding players, they have been some clear signs that they both have a lot of work to do. Luckily, for them only three other teams (Portugal, the Czech Republic and possibly Holland) look as though they will be able to match them.

France still appear to be playing as individuals and not as a team, but this is something that can be changed. More worrying for Santini is the fact that their defence has been breached in every game so far and that they rode their luck in the first two games. If it weren’t for two errors by England and a fortunate deflection off Trezuguet, they would only have 3 three points and be returning to France today.

Similarly to Portugal, England have had to come to terms with a shock defeat in the first game and make amends in the following matches. Despite Rooney’s excellent performances, they too have some work to do. The defence looks relatively solid except for when it has to deal with set pieces, Owen still looks uninspired and the captain is still to regain his form. Nevertheless, they do have Ashley Cole and Gary Neville, the two best fullbacks of the tournament so far, a Paul Scholes who finally scored for England again and Wayne Rooney, who is still very young, but has a lot of potential. He’s not Pele yet though Sven. The next game will be interesting though, particularly as Scholes will have to learn to a) how to tackle properly and b) that playing in left-midfield means exactly that. Both will be vital if one considers that Luis Figo will be marauding down the England’s left wing in the Thursday’s quarter final.

Groups C and D to follow later today...