Well, I hoped for Germany and Portugal to give us a rousing start to the knock-out stages and they sure did that. But what did I say about Portugal bursting straight out of the traps, racing into a lead, then being pinned back as the Germans fought to save the game? Role reversal or what? Hey, I'm only human.
The Germans looked a totally different team from the lot who blew hot and cold during the group matches, where they did just enough to get through but not much more. Maybe Joachim Loew should stay in a sponsors box high up in the stand. By the way, I see they still allow smoking in stadiums in Switzerland. Tut-tut. The man they call Yogi should stay away from the dug-out, puff away as much as he likes, while his team turns on the style, looking more Portuguese than Portugal themselves, if you know what I mean.
The first goal was an absolute classic, a quick interchange of passes which stretched the Portuguese defence and, with Bastian Schweinsteiger making sure he would be the first man in the middle, he had a simple tap-in from a well delived cross from Lukas Podolski.
The pace of the attack certainly exposed Chelsea's new right back Jose Bosingwa who, while looking useful going forward, had trouble getting back as the Germans swept into the area behind him. Never mind, I told myself, only 22 minutes played, plenty of time for Portugal to hit back. Oh yea?
Four minutes later Schweinsteiger curled a free-kick in from the left, the Portuguese marking was all over the shop and Miroslav Klose was able to rise unchellenged and send a glancing header into the net. All the doubts about goalkeeper Ricardo were raised again as he had no impact whatsoever in what was going on in front of him. Can you imagine the same thing happening at the other end? Jens Lehmann would have been shouting and bawling himself hoarse then, when the ball came into the area, he would have been out there, ready to land a heavy punch on ball and opponents (and team-mates too if necessary) to clear the danger. And of course he would then roll about on the ground as if mortally wounded!!!
To Portugal's great credit, they did not just roll over and die. With Deco looking good and Ronaldo beginning to get some joy in getting behind the German defence they had a few half-chances and it was generally accepted that they had to get a goal back before half-time. Well, in the 41st minute, a Ronaldo shot was saved by Lehmann and Nuno Gomes was first to the rebound to make it 2-1. Game on!
The Portuguese camped themselves in the German half from the start of the second half and it looked like it was inevitable that they would get the equaliser. But while they have talented players who were perfectly capable of passing their way through the German defence, all too often they opted for shots from distance which seldom troubled Lehmann. I don't like that big tosser - coming upfield to get in a header which ultimately enabled Borussia Dortmund to knock the Teddy Bears out of the UEFA Cup in 1999 might have something to do with it! - but he certainly played his part in getting Germany through to the semi-finals.
Just when it looked like a goal had to come, it did...but at the other end. After 61 minutes, the Portuguese defence was again nowhere when another Schweinsteiger free-kick came in from the left, Michael Ballack gave Paulo Perreira a wee nudge but nothing too significant and, with the goalie going walkabout, the German captain's header flashed into an empty net. Game over? Well, not quite.
Once more Portugal kept at it, they pinned the Germans back, just as I thought Germany might do if they were chasing the game, and three minutes from the end substitute Nani sent over a cross from the left and fellow sub Helgar Postiga made it 3-2 with an excellent header. When the fourth official held up the board saying their would be four minutes of injury time, I wondered if they'd switched Euro2008 to Parkheid. But for all the possession they enjoyed, Portugal just couldn't get the goal they needed, with Postiga being particularly annoying in giving away needless fouls to halt promising attacks.
So those big bad Germans have done it again and knocked out one of the tournament's more attractive teams. But it should be stressed that at no time did Germany squeeze the life out of this contest, they played the Portuguese at their own game and, aided and abetted by an iffy goalkeeper and an indecisive defence, they just about deserved to be through to the semis.
And if I'm not mistaken - as if! - they'll be up against group rivals Croatia and will have the chance to avenge last Thursday's 2-1 defeat in Klagenfurt. Then again, Turkey might just have a thing or two to say about that.
LITTLE BOY BLUE