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The brand new trailer for new Bond flick Quantum of Solace, courtesy of Grid Crasher

Do Newcastle really want money for someone who isn’t even contracted to them?
[Caught Offside]

Lucky number 12 offers Murray hope against Nadal
[chickendinner]

Why the Premier League Needs Deco More Than Cristiano Ronaldo
[The Offside]

Top ten John Motson quotes
[Pies]

David Beckham ensures DC United’s Luciano Emilio’s won’t be having kids anytime soon
[Kickette]

Four nations battling to be the new Greece

Jens Lehmann has told the press he would ‘give his life’ to reach the final of Euro 2008: “I don’t want to go out in the semis again,” said the grumpy shot stopper. So if Die Deutschen make it through tonight and a certain Stuttgart keeper gets struck by lightning, we’ll know a deal with the devil went down.

Favourites Germany are just a few hours away from taking on Turkey in the first Euro 2008 semi, so it’s as good a time as any to ask you all who you think will win the tinny little Henri Delaunay trophy. Votes and comments below, please folks.

Also appearing on a computer near you…

The Offside catch Germany coach Joachim Loew forgetting about the thousands of people and cameras surrounding him

Paul Ince is in contention to take Fergie’s throne at Old Trafford
[chickendinner Bet Blog]

Why supporting Croatia is just like supporting England
[UK Football Finder]

Car Porn: The world’s first electric/ solar/ petrol hybrid
[Grid Crasher]

Marcus Bent and Gemma Atkinson hit the beach
[WithLeather]

David Pleat’s mispronunciation XI
[Pies]

Big Rog takes on Dominik Hrbaty from 1pm BST today, bet here

It has been a tough old year for Roger. Apparently Grand Slams don’t come quite so easily anymore and maybe, just maybe, he’s about to surrender his Wimbledon crown. Rafael Nadal tops the list of the young pretenders ready to step into Federer’s flashy gold shoes and cream blazer, and the young Spaniard can’t possibly lose a third successive Wimbledon final. Here’s why…

Why Federer won’t make it six in a row

* Federer is having a disappointing year by his standards, losing in the semi final in Australia and enduring a crushing straight sets defeat in the final at Roland Garros.

* Rafael Nadal will head to Wimbledon in fine form, having won his fourth successive title at Roland Garros prior to his first victory at Queen’s club.

* The Spaniard convincingly beat Federer in the French Open, sealing a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 victory in just one hour and forty eight minutes.

* Nadal’s victory over Federer at the French was the most one sided men’s Grand Slam final since Jimmy Connors

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The Offside Rules document the ridiculous fuss made over some half-naked man in San Fransisco

Euro 2008’s best fan costumes
[Fan IQ]

Bastian Schweinsteiger’s WAG Sarah Brandner gets into the spirit of things at the Portugal game
[The Offside]

Jenson Button: almost as good at driving as he is at triathlons
[Grid Crasher]

On205th dub Danielle ‘full of hate’ Lloyd an ‘uber-WAG’
[On205th]

Cristiano Ronaldo’s brilliance & athleticism are no match for his vanity & petulance
[Pies]

Zoo’s Euro 2008 Strip-off reaches the quarter-finals - Sweden must be favourites (NSFW)
[Zoo Today]

And the Wimbledon men’s singles winner will be…
[chickendinner]

Euro 2008 quarter-final, 7.45pm, BBC1, bet here

Having successfully avoided a quarter-final clash with Germany, the most successful side in Euro history, the Turks now face in-form Croatia. Unfortunately, this looks to be the end of the road for the Eurasians, as the Croats, powered by Slaven Bilic’s powerful rocket sauce, will make the semis. Oh well, at least they got to make Petr Cech look like a clown before bowing out.
Why Croatia will win

* Croatia have never lost to Turkey.

* Turkey have faced Croatia once before at the European Championships, in 1996, and Croatia triumphed 1-0.

* Croatia have won all three games so far at the European Championships.

* Turkey have never led a match with Croatia, on the two times they drew they have come from behind.

* Turkey may have excelled against Switzerland and Czech Republic but they have won just four of their last eight.

* Croatia have lost just one of their 17 competitive games since losing to Brazil at the World Cup - a 2-0 loss in Macedonia after they’d already secured Euro 2008 qualification.

But it might go to penalties…

* Two of the three previous Croatia/Turkey clashes have

German aerial strikes too much for Big Phil’s side

If you listened to chickendinner’s astute advice, you would have come away from last night’s quarter-final match a little richer. As the betting genii predicted, Ballack’s men were far too strong for Portugal, and as I predicted, Ronaldo waited less than a few minutes after the final whistle to start harping on about Real Madrid.

chickendinner make an excellent call on Holland’s run so far

Apart from that whole thing about Paul McCartney dying in the sixties and being replaced by a doppelganger, The Spoiler isn’t one to believe conspiracy theories. However, we couldn’t help but take notice of the chickendinner bet blog, which correctly called the second Group C games, last Thursday night:

Picture this perfectly plausible scenario for a second. Tomorrow, buoyed by victory over Italy in the opening game, Holland defeat a France side struggling to find their feet.

In the other Group C game, Italy are low on confidence after their shock loss and Romania are able to take a point by “playing to their strengths” as they did against France.

That would create a situation where Holland would have the group sewn up with six points, Romania would be second with two points and Italy and France would be struggling with one point.

At first glance, it’s hard to imagine Romania beating Holland, which would mean a straight shootout for the final place between Italy and France, with the winner qualifying.

But what if Holland, already having the group won, gave Romania

Czech Republic/ Portugal, 5pm BST, ITV1, bet here

Yes, the Czech Republic looked awful in their opening game and Portugal barely needed to break a sweat to overcome Turkey. But the Czech Republic almost always get the better of cocky Portugal, and they have a great opportunity to do so again tonight - here’s why:

1. Portugal have failed to win any of their last four encounters against the Czechs.

2. Euro 96 was the only time the pair have met at a major tournament and Czech Republic won the quarter-final 1-0.

3. The Czech Republic haven’t lost a competitive game away from home since the last World Cup two years ago

4. Czech Republic may not have looked too impressive in their opener, but they have lost just one of their last 13 matches (a friendly against Poland).

9. Portugal have won just two of their last five games.

For the other five reasons and plenty more betting information on Euro 2008, visit chickendinner

Cold, hard evidence of who will walk away with the Henry Delaunay Cup

The bookies have been frothing at the mouth about Germany, everyone always says it will be Spain’s year - even though it never is - while the World Cup was all about France and Italy. But forget all that. Using just hard stats, the boffins at chickendinner have already worked out the winner.

Drink in the facts, people. Drink them in.

The chickendinner ten step guide to Euro 2008 victory

1. Only one of the last nine winners have been a host nation - that counts out Austria and Switzerland

2. The last eight winners had all qualified for past European Championship tournaments - that counts out Poland

3. The European Championship has NEVER been retained - say goodbye to Greece

4. And Germany are the only country to have ever bounced back from losing