Time for Confession in Group C

So now we know the first of the quarter-final match ups, the Shermans will play Greece and Portugal will face the Czech Republic. Who would have predicted before the tournament that Holland would lose all three of the games?

A little word about the Dutch, they are undoubtedly have a talented pool of players but, there are too many egos in the Dutch camp, too many players who are used to being the star at their club and thus the focal point of their club team. This does not translate itself very well to the National team, where they have to play a more team orientated game and the proof of that was in the three displays we have seen over the last week and a half. They were lucky last night they should have lost by a lot more.
I think I wrote watch out for Ronaldo, well he looked very good last night, which is good for us the spectator.

A quick line about the other game, the Shermans roll on, is anyone equipped to stop them? A word of praise for Denmark, they did better than anyone expected.
So to Group C, the scenario here is relatively straight forward, The Father (Italy) has to beat the Holy Ghost (Ireland) to go up, which on paper seems a straight forward task. Ireland have conceded seven times and scored once so far to date.

A win for Italy secures qualification if Spain or Croatia win or is a scoreless draw. If that game is a 1-1 draw, then Italy needs to better or equal Croatia's 3-1 win over Ireland. If they equal it, Italy will go through because they are ranked higher than Croatia by Uefa. However, if Spain and Croatia draw 2-2 or more then Italy is out.

Did you follow that, good neither did I, The interesting thing to note is that this is the exact scenario which happened in Euro 2004 where Italy won their last game, but where eliminated because Denmark and Sweden played out a two-two draw.
Machiavelli must be rubbing his hands with glee, with all the possible claims for collusion between Spain and Croatia, if they secure a two-two draw. I don’t think it will happen but it will be interesting nevertheless.

The Irish only have pride to play for, but they are under no pressure, we shall have to wait and see. Tomorrow sees the conclusion of the group stage with England and France in pole position at the moment.