So what do you think of the show so far? I've certainly been very impressed by the quality of football we've seen and, if you take the France-Romania and Spain-Italy stalemates out of the equation, every game has had something to lift me out of my seat and maybe even cause me to spill a drink or two. Mind you, Croatia-Turkey came close to dive-bombing and it would have been totally forgettable if not for that sensational final minute or two. We've had 28 games, 68 goals and enough thrills and spills to help any fan seeking his fix of fitba to get through June.
At the start of the competition, everyone acknowledged that it was wide open, with any of six or seven nations tipped as possible winners. The very fact that Russia and Turkey were not among the favourites but are still alive and kicking at the semi-final stage is a clear indication that the dividing line between success and failure is wafer-thin. Injury-time strikes ultimately killed off the Czech and Croatian challenges, Holland had the great misfortune to come up against the only team in the tournament capable of beating them at their own total-football game, France can claim to have been unlucky against Italy and the Italians, in turn, can shed tears over their penalty kick shoot-out defeat from Spain.
Predictably, the what-if scenario of England or Scotland qualifying has been played out over a pint or two and, in my humble opinion, we can all thank our lucky stars that we've stayed at home. For England to have qualified would mean no place for Russia. The tournament would be so much poorer without Guus Hiddink's team and, even if the English had got to the finals and qualified out of Group D, they would surely have been slaughtered by Holland in the quarter-finals. Putting Scotland into Group C at the expense of Italy or France would do our nation no favours. Apart from having our eardrums assaulted by a repetitive rendition of Doe-A-Feckin-Deer, we probably wouldn't have picked up so much as a point.
The absence of Rangers players or Rangers signing targets has been disappointing but, with our club reverting to a Scottish core, the national team's failure to qualify ensured our guys would be elsewhere. Mind you, King Carlos's absence from the Spanish team has been puzzling, especially as our run to the UEFA Cup Final would have raised Rangers' profile. But it is a sad fact of life that our sights have been lowered so drastically that we are unable to compete in the market for anything resembling genuine talent. Take the hint Sir David, move on.
So we've only had former players to catch the eye and Libor Sionko certainly did that with the Czech Republic. He will have been well pissed off to be substituted just a few minutes from the end of the game against Turkey, with his team 2-1 up and through to the quarter-finals, only for a Petr Cech howler and an injury-time winner to end his interest in the competition. He impressed only in flashes at Rangers so, whatever has happened to him since his move to FC Copenhagen, it has lifted his game and suggests that things weren't quite right for him at Ibrox. Ah well, some you win and some you lose.
Jean-Alain Boumsong and Soti Kyrgiakos are unlikely to look back on this tournament with any satisfaction and Gio Van Bronckhorst and Rino Gattuso will be haunted by what might have been. Gio was outstanding against Italy and France but he was always more comfortable going forward so, when forced to defend against Russia in the quarter-final, he wasn't quite so happy. Then again, even good defenders would struggle against the likes of Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko. Holland's 3-0 victory over Italy was a wee bit tough on the Italians and, with Rino having been booked, Donadoni decided to protect the wee man from himself and save him for the crunch game against France by leaving him out of the Romania game. He was missed, Italy struggled and, although he did the business against the French, another booking ruled him out of the clash with Spain and he was a big loss to his side.
So we go into the semi-finals with a totally open mind. My big pal The Koelsch will be ready to jump into his panzer and remind me of any success Germany might enjoy. With Cologne having just been promoted back to the Bundesliga, it helped him to get over Rangers' end-of-season disappointments and a German success at Euro2008 will result in him suffereing a hangover or two. Enjoy it, ya feckin big toerag, a visit to British North Ayrshire is long overdue!
I just hope these last three games fulfill all the promise of the past couple of weeks. Unlike so many of football's big occasions in recent years, Euro2008 has exceeded my expectations and, with none of the remaining teams laying any great claim on my allegiance, I'm intent on sitting back and enjoying it, with a beer in one hand and a spiced rum in the other. With the new season looming up on the horizon, it won't be long before my old apathy has returned,.
LITTLE BOY BLUE