Fifa World Cup 2006: Semi Final

So only 4 matches and 4 teams are left in the competition now. And yet again it is going to be a European team winning this World Cup.

Of the 4, Germany has to be the hot favourite as they are the home nation. They went through the QF by beating Argentina on 4-2 on penalties (yet again). These Germans are really good at penalties. And this time, Lehmann saved two penalties to help his team progress to the semis. Their attacks are led by two Polish-born players, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski. I liked what I saw so far from Podolski. And Klose has a knack at scoring at World Cup Finals, having scored 10 in two tournaments already. Chances are the German can win this edition of World Cup, although its not going to be easy against the ever improving Italian side in the SF. Most likely we wouldn't see the same scoreline as in the last friendly match between the two sides for the upcoming match.

While they were lucky to come through in the last round, there was no luck involved in their win this time around. Italy saw off the challenge of Ukraine as expected, although the 3-0 scoreline did flatter them a little. Luca Toni, the Serie A topscorer last season with 31 goals, finally opened his account in the World Cup with a brace in the QF match. Their defense has only conceded one goal so far in the competition, an own goal from Cristian Zaccardo no less. They should be put to a sterner test in the semis against a very potent German side.

Portugal did enough to book their place in the semis, although the talking point of their QF game against England has to be the sending off of Wayne Rooney, especially C.Ronaldo's part in the episode. England, who has not played well throughout the tournament but still managed to progress so far, were undone yet again in another penalty shootout. Eriksson must be dreading facing Scolari's team. Three times he faces him and three consecutive knockouts in the QF of a major tournament (World Cup 2002 1-2 vs Brazil and Euro 2004 2-2 (AET), 5-6 (PEN) vs Portugal). I thought England had a chance as Portugal were missing the influential playmaker Deco and defender Costinha through suspension. However, once Rooney got sent off, England was going to be in trouble. Already without the injured Owen, now they only have Crouch and the untried Walcott, who didn't even had a game in Germany (how he got into the squad ahead of other established strikers such as Defoe, only Mr Eriksson can tell us). And when the game goes into penalties, I knew it was game over for England. Sure enough, Ricardo made 3 saves as England were bundled out of the tournament.

France were uninspiring in their group games. However they came good when it mattered most. The 1-0 win over Brazil in the QF probably made them favourite for their semi final fixture. Have been largely impressed by a certain Franck Ribéry, who spots this prominent scar on the right side of his face. He was a relatively uncapped player before the World Cup but his performance so far indicate otherwise (think he could be a good signing Mr Wenger... :P). And could this tournament be a final swansong for Zizou before he retires? He turned in an inspiring performance for France against the Brazilians, laying on the winning goal for Henry. We will know come 9 July as two games still stand in his way. But first let's bring on the Portuguese.