Here come the blues!!

Well well well, the quarter finals did'nt turn up all the expected results did they? Here's a review. Engalnd looked miserable agianst portugal, as they have done throughout the tournament. THeir miseries were compunded by an innjury to beckham in the second half. rooney showed his mercurial temperament by stamping on chelsea defender ricardo carvalho's (ahem!) balls after being fouled. He saw red and engalnd were thrown into the deep end. rooney had a spat with united teammate ronaldo fuelling speculation about ronaldo's future at united. England defended well through extra time but were finally thwarted in penalties by portugals keeper ricardo who made three fine save to send luiz felipe scolaris team into the semis. A predictable result awaited us in the match between ukraine and italy with ukraine unable to beat the stout italian defence and the azzuri held out to book a place in the semis. Host germany blew past sweden courtesy two first half goals from young striker podolski. Sweden looked entirely at sea and had no answer to the german blitzkrieg. The big one was defintly a rematch of th 1998 final. If brazil had revenge on their mind they definitley did'nt show it as coach carlos alberto perreira played a very defensive formation and played right into france's hands. Zidane might well be playing his last tournament but he definitely did'nt look like it as he made footballer of the year ronaldinho look like a complete novice. He played the game of the tournament, weaving past defenders with the consummate ease of the maestro he is. Joga bonito was at its best. He complted his performance by setting up the goal which thierry henry scored and sent france into the semi final. favourites brazil were knocked out. Some heads will definitely roll down there, maybe the first will be the coaches. Meanwhile there was jubiliation for the french team, who proved that having an old team does not handicap you. The world is waiting, zizou. Semis Germany vs Italy France vs Portugal