Euro 2008 : Germany storm into Semis

The first quarter finals match between Germany and Portugal was a high octane match. The pace was great at all the times. But it was sad to see Portugal crash out.

Germany stuck to their World Cup strategy of scoring early and defending well. I am sure this strike from Ballack he scored in the previous group match against Austria must have been the turning point for the Germans in this tournament. 

Conceding 2 goals in a span of 4 minutes that too just after 20th minute of the match, puts a great deal of pressure on the opposition. Thats exactly what the Germans did to Portuguese. It certainly lifted the tempo of the match and we got to watch the fascinating technique of Portugal fight against the mighty [ both in terms of physique and game control ] defense of the Germans. This relentless attack from Portugal produced a goal for them in the dying moments of the first half. Portugal werent going down without a fight. Infact they had a very good chance to fight back when the scoreline read 1 goal to 2 at the end of the first half.

The second half started with even more fierce attacks from Portugal, but the German defense had the better of them. But it was Germany who scored first again. Portugal failed to find an early goal in the second half. Portugal finally scored their second goal in the 84th minute of the match, but it was a touch late to come.

German defense prevailed, and Portugal had to bow out from this tournament. Germany have a very high chance of meeting Netherlands in the finals, while they await the winner of Turkey v/s Croatia match. I guess, either of them should not cause any problems to Germany in the semis.