Mini-Coverage: Semi-Final Time

Ooh, Spain are through to the semi-finals after beating Italy last night on penalties - woo! There are a lot of people out there who think that the Spanish are all style and no substance and yeah, the team they had out last night probably proved that point. What the heck was Aragones thinking when he put Fabregas and Guiza on instead of putting Xabi Alonso on and leaving Fernando Torres on the field of play? This was a baffling decision, although they still won which is all the really matters... The Italians had a good go of it in extra time although they never really looked like threatening.

Thank you 5 Live for making the match hilarious as well - your descriptions of "sweaty Vienna", "long straggly hair" and "long legs" alongside describing Italian coach Donadoni as "hip" and "cool", with absolutely no sarcasm, made my night (er, aside from the result). And they say there's no homo-eroticism in football... Special mention to Italian midfielder De Rossi as well, whose massive oversized shorts were described lovingly by a friend as being like "bed-linen". Surely these baggy clown shorts are what caused him to miss his pen.

Also through are Russia, who beat the Netherlands in extra time. There isn't really much to say about this match except for the fact that when Dmitri Torbinski scored, he was well and truly crushed under his Russian team-mates. When he got up, he was invisible from the side. Seriously, he looked in real pain underneath the pile of bodies. This game wasn't as exciting as it had been anticipated although you wouldn't know it from Clive Tyldesley's screaming, especially when Wesley Sneijder had a go on goal. Germany will appear in the first semi-final against Turkey, although I can't really say much about the Germans because, quite simply, I haven't seen them play. However, Turkey are making a claim to be this tournament's Greece after their exhilirating game against Croatia (and this definitely isn't a hyperbolic statement!). Who would've thought that they would come from behind to win the game 3-1 on penalties? It really was gripping and even though they're going to come up against stiff opposition in Germany on Wednesday, I think they could go all the way.