The Road to Berlin

So, here we are at the semi-finals. By the end of tomorrow two teams will have made it to the final in Berlin. The remaining two will be heading to Stuttgart, where they will be playing for third place (although I'm not sure why they bother with third place as nobody really cares).

Germany-Italy

Although end to end, it was still 0-0 after ninety minutes. The match went into extra time (called "Over Time", or "OT" for short, on ESPN) and I was certain that it would go to penalties. Germany are good at penalties and would have probably quite fancied their chances in a penalty shoot out (called "Penalty Kicks" or "PKs" for short, on ESPN), especially as Italy tend to perform poorly in penalty shoot outs.

Germany's hopes were dashed (even more so as they were playing at home) when Italy came in dramatically in the last two minutes of extra time with TWO goals. A fantastic finish. I had thought that the final would be Germany-France, but have been proved wrong. I was neutral in this match and if Italy can squeeze a couple in after two hours, then well done to them.

As far as tomorrow's match is concerned, I'll be rooting for France.

France-Portugal

France are through to the final with a penalty from Zidane after Ricardo Carvalho tripped Thierry Henry up in the penalty area. The score remained 1-0 throughout the rest of the match. So, the final in Berlin is Italy-France.

The Third Place Playoff

Germany beat Portugal 3-1, with Portugal managing to get one in towards the end of the ninety minutes.

Here's my wallchart.