When I left you last time out Henrik Larsson was about to lead the line for Sweden as they searched for the point they needed against Russia to qualify for the quarter finals of Euro 2008. Well, a lot has happened since then and unfortunately for the Celtic legend, his side lost 2-0 and went crashing out of the tournament.

This meant that the Russians completed the quarter final line up. They were set to face a must fancied Holland side in the last eight – more on that game in a minute.

First a word for Larsson and Sweden. In all honesty, the better side won – Russia looked very impressive with Andrei Arshavin putting on a display worthy of a genuine world class player. Sweden’s tactics left a lot to be desired in my view. They needed a point and they set out to get a point – they should have played normally and gone for the win. I guess Russia were in a no-lose situation in terms of their approach to the game. They had to go for the win, no other result would do – this suited their style of play and it was no surprise to me they came out on top.

In terms of Larsson’s individual performance – he was quiet. More so than in the previous two games. His best moment of the game was a header in the first half which hit the cross bar as Sweden looked to get back on level terms. He has shown his quality during Euro 2008 and it is a shame he didn’t get himself a goal.

So, onto the quarter finals. First up was Portugal v Germany on Thursday. Everyone knows that Germany turn it on when it matters and it appears that this year is no different. They aren’t playing superbly but lots of people are now placing football bets on the Germans to win Euro 2008 – you’d back them to beat anybody, no matter how they are playing. That’s the German way I guess.

This time out, they were helped by a below par Portugal side. Cristiano Ronaldo was largely anonymous and so was the Portuguese defence for the most part. Goals from Schweinsteiger, Klose and Ballack gave the Germans a 3-2 win. It was an exciting, end to end game and strikes from Nuno Gomes and Postiga made Germany sweat for their victory.

The Portuguese were far a far cry from the side that performed so well in the group games and despite being favourites for this game – they are out of the tournament. Underdogs 1-0 Favourites!

Next up was Croatia v Turkey. The winners would face Germany in the semi-finals. Slavin Bilic’s side had won all three of their group games and were widely expected by many to dispatch a Turkish side who were probably still celebrating getting this far. I’ll skip any chat about the 90 minutes – it was dire. Probably the worst game of the tournament so far.

Things came to life in the dying seconds of extra time though! First up, Croatia thought they had won it through an Ivan Klasnic header. Bilic was on the pitch celebrating with his players and it was all over bar the shouting. All they had to do was hold on for a minute against a Turkey side who hadn’t really threatened so far. Then, Croatia failed to clear the ball and it fell to Semih Senturk who volleyed home the equaliser to take the game to penalties. It was an amazing finish to a dreadful game.

It made me laugh to see Bilic complaining that too much time was added on at the end of extra time. Maybe if you hadn’t run onto the pitch to spend two minutes celebrating with your players, there would have been no time for Turkey to equalise, eh Slavin?

Croatia were destroyed at this point and I wasn’t at all surprised that Turkey won the penalty shoot out. Croatia thought they were through, they were thinking of the semi-final….then BANG…it’s all taken away from them. Turkey goes against the expert opinion and knocks out the Croatians. Underdogs 2-0 Favourites!

Holland, despite Celtic striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink only being used for 8 minutes, had probably been the team of the tournament so far. They came up against Russia last night in the third quarter-final.

Having watched this game, I can say with absolute confidence that Russia were by far the better side and at times, completely outplayed Holland. Guus Hiddink is a genius – he could probably help Gretna win the SPL! Once again though, Andrei Arshavin was the man who led the way for his side. He tormented the Dutch throughout the entire game – it was probably the best individual performance of Euro 2008.

When Ruud van Nistelrooy equalised for Holland in the last few minutes of normal time, it was far from deserved. Russia had previously taken the lead through Roman Pavlyuchenko and they look set for victory until van Nistelrooy intervened.

Justice was done in extra-time though. Russia scored twice to seal a semi-final slot and unsurprisingly Arshavin was involved in both. First he crossed for Dmitri Torbinski to score and then he fired low past Edwin van der Sar just a few moments later to send the Dutch out. Underdogs 3-0 Favourites!

Russia will play either Italy or Spain in the semi-final - these two sides meet tonight in what is a great spectacle. I must admit, I fancy the Italians to win. The demise of Portugal, Holland and Croatia has proved that it doesn’t how well you play in the group stages – you are always vulnerable. You don’t want to get rid of all your good displays in the group games. Football odds are going out of the window in this tournament!

That’s why I think it will be an Italy v Germany final. Neither side has been superb so far, but they know how to win games in these tournaments.

Spain are probably slight favourites for tonight’s clash - simply because they have played better football so far, but I expect a gritty performance from Italy to see them go through. Underdogs 4-0 Favourites?