Euro Pop , last 2 quarter finals

Last night EnGerLand duly dismissed the pesky Norwegians 3-0 and even had a penalty saved. Check out the reaction of a rather famous ex English footballer, who was watching with his daughter, to the splendid goal scored by Lucy Bronze, who, if you read the preview was my choice for the player to watch out for.

I also want to mention two pieces of commentary. the first was as EnGerLand were awarded a free kick, the commentator mused if they could "Bend it like Beckham".

The second was on an EnGerLand break with a Norwegian defender horribly out of position, the commentator stated that she had been caught in "No Woman's land". It made we laugh and cringe at the same time. If you did not see the game, here are the highlights.

Is it coming home ?

On Saturday we have two games after which we will know the identity of the four semi finalists. In the first game, Le Azzurre of Italia (a different shade of Blue to Les Bleus of France) face the impressive, especially physically, ladies in Orange representing the Netherlands. Dutch women are the second tallest in Europe after Latvians (Dutch men are the tallest in Europe). The height of the Dutch women gives them a distinct aerial advantage especially at free kicks and corners.

Tomorrow, however they face a nation who loves to defend. It is in their blood.Italian football is famous for the Catenaccio style of play. The word means door bolt and that is what Italian teams do, they bolt the door shut in front of you. They are also as one would expect from an Italian team, skillful going forward, with the excellent Barbara Bonansea and Valentina Gianciti leading the way. The defense is marshaled by the superb Elena Linari and between the posts they have the agile Laura Giuliani. They will not be able to score against.

Linari, she likes a tackle

Giuliani cat like agility

Interestingly enough there is not much of a professional league in Holland, almost all of the squad play abroad, perhaps success for the women's team may act as a stimulus to the creation of a professional league in the Netherlands. The Dutch will be looking to their talisman, Lieke Elisabeth Petronella Martens to give her full glorious name, who scored twice against Japan to break down the Italian defense.

The Dutch rode their luck against Japan with the woodwork saving them twice and by being awarded a last minute penalty for handball. That will not be enough against Italy.

Below are the the highlights that show how these two teams both beat Asian opposition to reach this stage.

Italy v China

Excellent piece of skill from Martens

Martens will need to be sharp

The last Quarter Final is between Sweden and the Shermans. The Shermans have gone under the radar so far in this tournament and yet, once again, here they are on the verge of another semi final. There is not too much to say here, the Swedes have done well to get this far, but this is their level. It would be a massive shock if they could pull out a victory here.

Whatever happens, let's hope for some good football the blog shall return next week ready for the semi finals