Euro 2012: Predicting How the Rest of the Tournament Will Play out

The group stage left us with only minor surprises. The quarterfinals played out mostly as expected. Will the semifinals of the 2012 European Championships finally offer a major upset or two?

There is certainly no lack of storylines to cover. Spain and Portugal will face off in an Iberian clash, with Cristiano Ronaldo facing a slew of teammates from Real Madrid and rivals from Barcelona. Portugal will look to prove it is the real deal at this tournament, while Spain will look to continue its reign as the world's top side.

Meanwhile, traditional powers Germany and Italy will do battle. The Germans have won an absurd 15 matches in a row, while Italy has made life for itself difficult despite advancing this far.

And to think, we have to wait until Wednesday to get things started.

Spain vs. Portugal

This one will surprise people.

If Portugal plays up to its potential, it is the type of team that is perfectly constructed to upset Spain. They play solid defense, they battle to control possession in the midfield and they are scary on the counter-attack.

Nani is a clever playmaker from the right side, while Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world not named Lionel Messi. Spain will look to dominate the midfield, but they can be vulnerable against a team able to win possession back and strike quickly.

It will help that Ronaldo and several other Portuguese players are familiar with this Spanish side.

If you think I'm heading down an upset path with this selection, you would be correct. Spain will dominate possession and they will make soccer aficionados giggle with their crisp, beautiful passing. However, Portugal head into this tournament on a string of quality play and will scorch the Spaniards on the counter.

Yes, I'm aware of how flimsy this limb will look if Spain dominates, but I'm sticking with my pick.

Prediction: Portugal wins, 2-1.

Germany vs. Italy

As Italy showed when they drew with Spain, they are fully capable of hanging in there with any squad in the world.

However, as they showed when they drew with Croatia and needed penalties to beat an England team that they clearly outplayed, they are also capable of bewildering.

Germany, on the other hand, has marched through this tournament with clinical ease. Only Portugal has looked honestly capable of knocking off the Germans thus far, and the star power for this team in the midfield and attack is absolutely ridiculous.

Having said that, there are two ways Italy could win this match.

Playing in Italy's favor is that they may be able to control the midfield with Andrea Pirlo, especially if Bastian Schweinsteiger is unable to play or is limited with an ankle injury.

The other is if Mario Balotelli plays like he did against England in the second half. The German back line has been shaky at times—they gave up two goals to Greece, for heaven's sake—and Balotelli and the Italian counter could do some damage.

Having said that, if we're being honest, this should be Germany's game to lose. Mesut Ozil has been one of the tournament's finest players and the Germans didn't start Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller or Mario Gomez and still scored four goals against Greece.

Talk about crazy depth. Germany wins and controls the match throughout.

Prediction: Germany wins, 1-0.

Germany vs. Portugal

The Germans won the first match, and they'll win this one as well. That will mark the team's startling 17th win in a row. I'm simply not willing to bet against the Germans, and not even Portugal and Ronaldo have enough magic to beat Spain and Germany in back-to-back matches.

It will be a good contest, don't get me wrong. Portugal will be improved from the opening match. However, in the end, the Germans will be too strong and the Portuguese's habit of squandering too many golden opportunities will bite them in the butt once again.

Prediction: Germany wins, 2-1.

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