How I see Euro so far

What more fitting way to usher in the semifinals than with the first and only extra time and penalty shootout in this Uefa Euro 2012™ Championships?

By winning this game the Italians confirmed my earlier suspicion (Are Italians born cheats or champions) that they are a force to reckoned with this time around.

The four semifinalists are by far the best teams in this edition of the Euros. It seems like now the men are up and the boys go home.

It's been a highly tactical Euros to date, with teams coming out with game plans never seen before.

We saw the English defend and play like the Italians/Chelsea. We saw the Russians keep ball possession and try to pass it into the net like the Spanish have gotten us used to in the recent past. We saw the Germans play complete football and the Spanish try to show us just how high a number of midfielders they can fit into a team of 11 players.

So far certain attributes have to be dished out to certain individuals and teams. See what you think of them, so far:

Best Goal: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunner against France.

Best Coach: Italian Cesare Prandelli, for the way he has been able to redefine Italy's playing style to be more offensive and enterprising.

Biggest Deception: The Netherlands.

Brightest Flash in the pan: Russia - their first-game victory over Czech Republic made the world expect too much from them. The problem? They thought they were the 'new' Spain!

Best Midfielder: Andrea Pirlo of Italy at the "young" age of 33. How could AC Milan have let this man leave for Juventus?

Best Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas of Spain.

Best Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Best Team: Germany.

Best Defender: Germany's Mats Hummels.

On Wednesday the semis kick off and something tells me we are not through with surprises just yet.