Surprises Galore!!

Best Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas - Had a very solid game for Spain, and just like in South Africa, he has kept Spain in the game when they play poorly. One of the best goalkeepers to every play the game. I also considered Pletikosa, Isaksson and Cech.

Best Defender: Joao Pereira - Defended well against Sneijder, who didn't look good enough to dribble past Pereira. He was a threat down the right when he ventured forward and provided Ronaldo with a pass that Xavi would be proud of. This could also have gone to Pepe or Papasthathopoulos.

Best Midfielder: Giorgios Karagounis - Perhaps my favourite performance of the whole tournament so far. I should be giving this to Ronaldo, but I feel like Ronaldo should have scored more goals. Karagounis showed the passion that is necessary to lead your country, something I have always been critical of Steven Gerrard. He scored a goal, should have had a penalty and ended up nearly being sent off. The substitution was a wise one but I expect he will play a huge part in Greece's progression throughout the knockouts. Fully deserving of his record-equalling 120th cap.

Best Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Just a classy striker. Scored a phenomenal goal and played some great touches across the pitch for Sweden on a day when they dominated a very flat and average French team. It is a shame that he is going out because clearly this Sweden team has more drive than their French counterparts. 

Best Match: Portugal 2 - 1 Netherlands - This was a spectacle from the Portugese who did not lose faith when Rafael van der Vaart scored a wondergoal but instead responded with an attacking force which on this day blew the Dutch away. Blistering counters with Coentrao, Ronaldo and Nani killed a defence which was there for the taking especially as van Bommel had been dropped. A very entertaining game.

Worst Match: Italy 2 - 0 Ireland - I did not think that any of the matches were boring but this match had the feel of a dead rubber. Hopefully Italy perform this badly against England.

Surprise Player: Lars Bender - I did not know that the defensive midfielder could play at right back so comfortably, but he was able to fill in Jerome Boateng's boots quite easily. He won every single aerial duel and was able to captalise on a rare wayward pass by Mesut Ozil to cap his performance off with a good goal.

Underachieving Player: Robin van Persie - Another awful performance. I think he should seriously consider his international future after confirming that he is a player who just seems as if he will never produce within the pressure of international football.

Best Manager: Slavan Bilic - I think this is the first time that I am giving this award to a losing manager, especially one that is being knocked out after this loss but Croatia played to a high level and perhaps deserved to go through. He was unlucky as a manager after making every single decision correctly, that Iker Casillas put in a great performance and his team were wasteful in front of goal. I hope Bilic does well at Locomotiv Moscow so that he can move to a good team and showcase his talents across Europe.

Team of the Round:

--------------------------Casillas-------------------------

Pereira-------Pepe---------Papasthathopoulos----Selin

Larsson-----Karagounis--------Modric------------Ronaldo

-----------------Ibrahimovic---------Cassano------------------

Honourable Mentions - Isaksson, Bender, Agger, Melberg, Coentrao, Pirlo, Kallstrom, Nani, Samaras

Predictions

Golden Boot: Mario Gomez (Previously Cesc Fabregas) - Gomez is the only player with three goals who remains in the competition and with the likes of Ozil and Schweinsteiger behind him, he looks set to add to his great goalscoring season. Also he is playing Greece next whom Germany should be able to rip apart. Obviously if Ronaldo hits top form he could end up scoring by the bucket load but I think Gomez might run away with it.

Player of the Tournament: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Unchanged) - He did not have the best of games against Denmark but I still think he is a shoe in for this award. If he performs like we all know he is capable of he might be able to lead a losing generation of Germans to victory. Normally the group stages do not affect decisions towards awards of this nature.

Winners: Spain (Unchanged) - It is difficult to see Spain playing worse than they did against Croatia yet they still won and ended up topping the group. This seems to set them up for a relatively easy route to the final, firstly against France and then most likely against Portugal in the semi finals.

Surprise Team: Greece (Previously Croatia) - I am shocked that they were able to defeat a talented Russian team but it was like travelling through a time tunnel all the way back to 2004. Hopefully they will able to produce a similar display against the Germans.

Overperformers: Greece (Previously Poland) - Ditto

Underperformers: France (Previously Ireland) - This was a display that lacked enthusiasm or pride. I cannot believe that they allowed themselves to be overrun by a Swedish side which is quite average. The Dutch were abject at times but played well enough in spurts that I gave this award to the French. In hindsight, they were very lucky to get through the group stages.