I’ll talk about another fantastic performance from the Celtic keeper in a minute, but first a word for one of the games of the tournament so far – Turkey v Czech Republic. What a turnaround. Czech Republic were in cruise control at 2-0. If anything, they looked likely to add to their lead. However after Artur Turan scored to make it 2-1, you could tell it was going to be a tense finale.

The nerves were obviously too much for Petr Cech. The Chelsea man made a huge mistake by dropping a cross to allow Nihat to score. 2-2. In what would have been bizarre circumstances for a group game, penalties then seemed on. That was until Nihat scored again for Turkey in the 89th minute to complete the comeback of all comebacks. It was amazing viewing. That wasn’t the end of the drama though. There was still time for Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel to get sent off after pushing Jan Koller.

Middlesbrough striker Sanli Tuncay had to go in goal for the remaining few moments and was untroubled as Turkey recorded a famous victory. They join Portugal to qualify from Group A and will meet Croatia in the quarter-final on Friday. As far as Euro 2008 betting goes, that will be a tough one to call. How much will Turkey have in the tank after Sunday’s epic?

Moving onto Group B and I have to say that it was the Artur Boruc show yet again. In contrast to his Poland team, he has had a remarkable tournament. They lost 1-0 to group winners Croatia to end their faint hopes of making the quarter-finals. I seem to be repeating this phrase but – it would have been a much bigger losing margin had it not been for the Celtic keeper. Croatia dominated from start to finish and it was only Boruc who kept them in the game. He produced a string of saves just before the break, including the denial of Ivan Klasnic twice after the Croatian striker had burst through a disorganised Polish defence.

Just after half time though, Klasnic finally found the back of the net. He latched onto a pass before firing the ball into the corner of the net. There was nothing Boruc could do. This came shortly after Michael Ballack had scored a decisive goal for Germany in their victory over Austria – meaning there was no chance of Poland making it to the last eight. It was another man-of-the-match performance from Boruc though and Celtic fans can be very proud of his achievements during Euro 2008.

In Group C, or the ‘group of death’ as it has so often been labelled, Italy defeated France 2-0 and in doing so, eliminated the French. The match was decided on two key moment which worked against France. First, their star player, Franck Ribery, was strechered off injured inside the first few minutes. Then Eric Abidal conceded a penalty and was sent off after bringing down Luca Toni inside the box. The referee got this one right I think. There wasn’t much contact, but Toni was clear on goal. The penalty was converted and the Italians never looked back. The game was sealed mid-way through the second half as Thierry Henry deflected a Daniele De Rossi free-kick into the net.

Speaking of Henry, he hasn’t half lost a bit of pace and aggression. He would burst forward all the time for Arsenal – now he looks scared of doing so. Very strange. The whole French team looked lethargic though and there have been calls for a ‘changing of the guard’. I expect to see a very different French side lining up in the World Cup in two years time.

So it is the Italians that join Holland in the quarter finals from this group. The Dutch made it three wins out of three after beating Romania 2-0, killing off their opponents hopes of qualifying with relative ease.

However, forget David Villa’s hat-trick, forget the Turkey comeback and forget the amazing football Holland have been playing. My favourite moment of Euro 2008 so far occurred after 82 minutes of the Holland v Romania game. What was it? Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink made his first appearance of Euro 2008! The Celtic striker replaced Klaas Jan Huntelaar inside the last ten minutes. I’m personally disappointed that he didn’t start or at least get more of a game from the bench. Huntelaar did look classy though and managed to get on the scoresheet, so I think it’s another man ahead of Hesselink in the pecking order. At least he will be fit and ready for the start of pre-season for Celtic.

The only Quarter final place that hasn’t been decided yet is from Group D. Giorgios Samaras will be looking to finish on a high as his already eliminated Greece side take on already qualified Spain. The key game though involves Henrik Larsson’s Sweden and Russia. With a point enough for the Swedes, Russia need to win the game to get the chance to face Holland in the quarter-finals.

You would bet on Holland to win whoever the opposition at the moment, but that won’t be on the minds of either team. I hope Sweden get the point they need and Larsson gets on the score sheet – he has performed well in the first two games and deserves a goal. I’ll be cheering him on tonight.

On Sunday, by the time of my next blog, three of the four semi-final places will be decided. Spain take on Italy in the pick of the quarter-finals later that evening and that is sure to be an fascinating encounter. This tournament is really starting to hot up and I’m enjoying every minute.