TIPSTER'S VERDICT ON THE SEMI-FINALS

Rid yourself of preconceptions
There have been a number of surprise results in the tournament so far, with the likes of Germany, France, England, Italy and Spain all going home early. You want to take this into account when you look at the semi-final games on Wednesday and Thursday. The unexpected does happen in football, and you should base your semi-final predictions only on how well you think the four teams have performed in the competition so far, comparing strengths and weaknesses, not basing yourself on traditional views as to how good these teams are.

Home support
If the first semi-final between Portugal and the Netherlands lives up to expectations, it should be a display of technical wizadry and attacking flair. Both teams possess the players and skill to progress to the final and predicting a winner is by no means easy. The Tipster, however, will back the hosts to qualify. They have improved drastically since losing the opening game of the tournament against Greece and will have the advantage of playing on home ground. Although the Dutch have looked impressive, they were unable to score against Sweden, and obtained only one victory in the group phase, scoring three against Latvia, drawing against Germany and losing against the Czech Republic.

Defensive discipline
The Czechs, on the other hand, have convinced all observers of just how good they are. They will be favourites to reach the big game on Sunday when they take on Grece in the second semi-final on Thursday. They are the only team to have won all their games so far, and have done so in style. That does not mean, however, that you should necessarily write of the Greeks. Coach Otto Rehhagel’s team have demonstrated that they are a well-structured team, and that they have a defence sufficiently gifted and experienced to keep the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry at bay. If they can perform as well against Jan Koller and Pavel Nedved, then there could still be a surprise in this game.