Group A Discarded

After two quarterfinals matches done and dusted, we have no surprises.  Group of Death powers, Portugal and Germany, have discarded their Group A opposition and advanced into the semifinals of Euro 2012.

Portugal dominated the Czech Republic, and finally were able to send the Czechs packing with a 79th minute  winning header from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is silencing his doubters in this tournament.

The Germans also put in a dominant display against the Greeks today.  The Greeks could hardly get a sniff of the ball, and it seemed like Philipp Lahm's 39th minute goal would be enough to get them to the semis.  However, Greece do not die that easily, and they fought back once again, leveling the score through a quick counter-attacking goal from striker Georgios Samaras.

While football fans across the world may have envisioned the 2004 Euro being reenacted in front of their eyes, all the Samaras goal did was awaken the beast that is the German national team.

Germany responded with three goals (Khedira 61,Klose 68, Reus 74), and would finally send this resilient Greek side packing.

Although it was another impressive display from the Germans, there are now a few question marks that manager Joachim Low will need to sort out.  Low surprisingly made changes in his team selection, despite the perfect winning record in the group stages.  He opted to give starts to Miroslav Klose, Andre Shurrle, and Marco Reus, as opposed to his traditionally favored line of Mario Gomez, Lukas Podolski, and Thomas Muller.  Perhaps it was simply Low's disbelief in the strength of the Greeks, that it was an opportunity to give game time to some peripheral players.  Whatever the reason, 34 year old striker Miroslav Klose took advantage of it.  The veteran Lazio man was dangerous all night with his movement, and even scored one of his patented headers to top it off.  It will be interesting to see whether he has done enough for Low to give him the nod again in the semifinals.

Is Mario Gomez's job safe?

While Klose impressed, German right back Jerome Boateng struggled defensively.  The Bayern Munich man was responsible for both of the Greek goals.  He allowed Georgios Samaras to sneak behind him for Greece's 55th minute equalizer, and he also was reckless later in the game, being penalized for a handball in the box.  While Boateng certainly has the talent to remain a starter for this German side, we will soon find out if this performance was enough to cost him the starting right-back job.