Watching Greece beat Portugal left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was good to see that the playing field had leveled so considerably. Yet, on the other hand, what I really want to see in this tournament is the big boys going at it in the latter stages. Not a repeat of the Champions League final which, though romantic in its own way, didn’t exactly capture my imagination.

Seeing the team fondly remembered as the whipping boys of WC98 beat the host nation so comprehensively also forced me to reassess Italy’s chances of finally lifting the trophy this time round. The Azzurri are notoriously defensive, preferring to hold on to one goal leads rather than securing the result with a second goal. The squad that Trapattoni has assembled this time seems to reflect that again. The defence looks waterproof with Cannavaro and Nesta in the center and the likes of Gattuso, Zanetti or Perotta likely to provide additional cover just in front of them. All three are defensive minded midfielders and old Trap looks set to field a combination of any two of these. Attack wise, the team has only two world class goalscorers. Francesco Totti is arguably the best attacking midfielder in Serie A and he is the one the Italians will look to both for supply and goals. The focal point of the attack will of course be Christian Vieri. Italy simply don’t have anyone else quite in his class.

However, that said, the Italians do look distinctly toothless at times, which is worrying. After watching Greece play such flowing football and just right now Russia bringing it to Spain, being able to score more than one goal per game seems to be a requirement rather than a luxury. Whether Vieri’s claims that the Italians are not gonna play defensive this time are true, only time will tell. All that I dare expect right now is safe passage through to the quarter-finals.