In last week’s Match Zone, we presented the quarter-finalists from Group A to Group C with the final games of Group D yet to be played. In the end, it was England and France who advanced from the drop despite contrasting results; a close-ranged finish from Wayne Rooney gave England a 1-0 win over co-hosts Ukraine who unfairly had a goal disallowed while Sweden exposed the weaknesses of France as they beat them 2-0. Talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored one of the goals of the tournament to set the Swedes in motion before midfielder Seb Larsson secured the three points in a game of merely academic interest.

The competition for European football’s most-sought-after intensified as the powerhouses of the region knocked heads in the round of eight. First up was Portugal who took on a stubborn and resilient Czech Republic team, and that resilience was on display for much of the game. Cristiano Ronaldo was however once again the hero for Portugal as he scored in the 79th minute to hand them a 1-0 win and a spot in the semi-finals.

Germany created history in their quarter-final match-up as they became the first team to win 15 consecutive competitive games. Facing up against the ‘never say die’ Greece team, the Germans suffered a slight scare when Georgios Samaras cancelled out Phillip Lahm’s opener but a 15-minute blitz saw strikes from Sami Khedira, Marco Reus and Miroslav Klose secure for Germany the opportunity to take a step closer to the title.

With a potential Iberian Peninsula clash on the cards, Spain obliged the eager fans by dispatching an out-of-sorts French team 2-0. With Spain on course to create history by winning three consecutive major tournaments, few expected France to disrupt that run, however, fewer could have anticipated the experimenting done by French coach Laurent Blanc who left key players Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez on the bench for Flourent Malouda and Anthony Reveilliere. Dominating the possession as expected, EURO fans watched as the Spanish ran circles around France, who seemed clueless as to their identity, and put them out of their misery through a Xabi Alonso double strike.

The last game of the quarter-final round saw England face off with Italy. With chances coming few and far between for both teams, it was no surprise that neither the 90 minutes of regular time nor the 30 extra minutes given were enough to separate the two, leading to penalties. In fact, England coach Roy Hodgson ran hours of penalty training as if to indicate that was what he was playing for. In the end the tactic did not work as Italy triumphed 4-2 on penalties, with Ashley Young and Ashley Cole both missing their penalty kicks for the English.