Turkish Delight

Woke up at 4 plus to check on the match between Croatia and Turkey. On TV, surprised that Croatia was held at bay by the Turkish. With 5 minutes remaining to penalty shoot out, Croatia kept attacking. Croatia's Ivan Klasnic broke the dead lock on 119 min. Turkey hit by injuries and suspensions threw every trick they had and Semih Senturk's strike gave all Turkish fans something to cheer for. His strike was 120 + 2 min of added time.

Penalty shoot out time, Croatia to kick first. Tottenham's new signing Luka Modric put the ball wide. Turkish scored all 3 penalties and Recber Rustu, stand in keeper for suspended keeper Volkan Demirel, saved Mladen Petric's spot kick. Dark horse Croatia is out and a new dark horse was born.

Turkey will face Germany in the semi final next thursday, 26 June.

Netherlands vs Russia

Tonight we'll see Guus Hiddink's Russia taking on his birth country, Netherlands. With attacking talents on both sides, it will be tough for the defenders. The Oranje will be fresher since they kept most of the players in the last group game, while the Russia had a hard fought with the Swedish.

My pick, Marco van Basten's side to advance into the semis and Wesley Sneijder to be on the score sheet.

3-1 9.00