Euro 2012 Quarter Final Predictions

I'm not sure you can get away with saying Dark Horse any more these days, so I won't, but a team to watch has to be RUSSIA. They beat Italy in a tournament warm-up game, in Italy and by 3-0, so deserve to be taken seriously. And I think they will beat HOLLAND in the first quarter final.

POLAND I'm putting into the quarters on the back of a wave and surge of passion and emotion from the home supporters, playing host to a major tournament for the first time in their history. But GERMANY will be too strong for them, and ex-pat Podolksi will almost certainly score against them.

I'm backing CROATIA to be the surprise package of the tournament. I like the look of their squad, on and off paper. Even on a blackboard it'll look pretty strong. FRANCE are on the way back, but they're not the force they were 10-15 years ago, so it's a CROATIA win for me here.

And in the final quarter final (it's awkward, but it's right), the other host nation will take on the holders. And lose, I think. SPAIN are still too strong for most nations, and although UKRAINE can expect vocal backing, and all the pressure to be on their opponents, I think SPAIN will edge it, on penalties, mind.

So that'll leave me with a semi-final line up that looks like this:

RUSSIA v GERMANY
CROATIA v SPAIN

Apologies to supporters of these nations if my usually wildly inaccurate predictions put the mockers on your team.