Sporting Madness

A quick note that we will be live with today's edition of Premier League Punditry in just under an hour. Phil from There Is No Original Name For This Sports Blog will be here as usual, but Amrit is lying on a beach in Mexico, so Ben Knight , one of Canada's pre-eminent soccer writers (currently of Onward! Soccer , formerly of The Globe and Mail and Sportsnet.ca ) will be filling in for him. There's only a bit of Premier League action to talk about, but there's plenty of other stuff going on in the world of European soccer between the FA Cup, Guus Hiddink 's takeover at Chelsea, rumours of Avram Grant to Portsmouth , Real Madrid possibly preparing for another run at Cristiano Ronaldo , Jose Mourinho vowing to return Douglas MacArthur -style and David Beckham supposedly coming back to MLS ( or is he ?). [All stories above from ESPN Soccernet ] The plan is to cover some MLS and Canadian soccer topics as well, including the Ottawa stadium debate , Toronto ...

Breaking down the Euro 2008 quarter-finals... Germany 3, Portugal 2 This game came with the billing of a clash of ancient titans, and it didn't disappoint. Both sides turned in fantastic displays of attacking football, but Germany's team effort proved superior to Portugal's Ronaldo-centric strategy in the end. Bastian Schweinsteiger returned to the German lineup in fine form after a suspension, scoring the side's first goal and setting up the other two with excellent set pieces. The Germans' strength in the air proved vital, as did their skillful attacks down the left flank from Philipp Lahm and Lukas Podolski. They certainly look to have regained their form after a loss to Croatia and a close win over Austria in the group stage. Related: Stephen Brunt's excellent column on the match [The Globe and Mail] Turkey 1, Croatia 1 (3-1 Turkey on penalties) 118 minutes of mostly boredom topped off by two of the most exciting minutes in the tournament so far is the best...