I'm sure I'm not the only one who is sick of listening to Christiano Ronaldo this and Christiano Ronaldo that. Manchester United may well feel Real Madrid have been tapping up their prized asset and, being experts in similar underhand dealings when unsettling the likes of Louis Saha, Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves, I suppose they will know an illegal approach when they see one. Having won all there is to win at Old Trafford, both in England and in Europe, the player probably feels he needs a fresh challenge. Dry your eyes Fergie, take the money and get over it.
A touch of Ronaldo magic opened up the Czechs early on and, after Petr Cech got in a block, Deco scrambled the ball into the net from close range but their joy was short lived. The super-duper Libor Sionko levelled the scores with a diving header and I'm sure there are a lot of Bears out there wondering why he didn't play like this when he was with the Rangers. Of course, those were troubled times at Ibrox, PLG's team never really got going and, with a couple of injury problems, he caught the eye only in patches. Watching him in Switzerland, I'm beginning to regard him as the one who got away.
The Czechs gave as good as they got for so much of this game but a stunning Ronaldo strike restored Portugal's lead and, although they had chances to level things up again, the longer the game went on, the more likely it was that they would be killed off on the break. A feature of this competition has been classic counterattacking moves which have brought special goals for Holland and Spain and Portugal finally wrapped things up in injury time, although Ronaldo looked to be offside before squaring the ball to Quaresma. Perhaps UEFA ruled that a couple of Czech supporters behind the goal played him onside!!!
Of course, after the game all the talk was of Big Phil Scolari taking over at Chelsea at the end of the tournament. Apparently he wanted to keep things quiet while Portugal were still involved but Chelsea, under a bit of pressure to clear the clouds of uncertainty hovering over Stamford Bridge, insisted on going public. So having allowed Ronaldo's future to overshadow a major football event, the English media can switch their attention to goings-on at Chelsea, for now at least. Then the fitba will no doubt take a back seat to Wayne Rooney's wedding. Zzzzzz.
Switzerland's game with Turkey was in danger of turning into a farce. A downpour reduced the pitch to something resembling a swimming pool in the first half - or was it Alexander Frei's tears at being ruled out of the rest of the tournament and possibly missing out on a move to Breezeblock Boulevard? The Turks would no doubt have had something to say if Hakan Yakin's first half goal had been the winner but they battled back well, drew level with a Senturk Semih header, then won in with a super injury time strike from Turan Arda.
So the co-hosts are out after just two games. I don't suppose it will be of any consolation to them that Austria won't be too long behind them. In fairness to the Swiss, they've given a lot in their games against the Czechs and the Turks and, with a bit of luck, could still be in the frame. But the problems caused by losing the first game were evident in Basel. A draw was no good to either Switzerland or Turkey, both sides were stretched in the closing stages and, while the Turks were the ones to snatch it, it could just as easily have been the home team.
With Portugal now safely through to the quarter-finals, the Czech Republic v Turkey game on Sunday is shaping to be a winner-take-all cracker. My money is still on the Czechs but I've no doubt the Turks will make it very difficult for them and, as the various groups unfold, things are getting very interesting indeed. Heres hoping all the teams can keep up the eye-catching stuff in the knock-out stages.
LITTLE BOY BLUE