An All-European Fight for the World Cup

The favorites entering the World Cup 2006 -- five-time winner and defending champ Brazil and high-flying two-time champs Argentina -- have been knocked off their thrones. Coming to Germany with the hope of keeping the title on their home continent, the Selecao and the Argentineans must watch how Europe will reclaim the trophy that has been bouncing back and forth between the continents of South America and Europe since Brazil's victory in Chile in 1962.

Four European countries, hosts Germany, three-time victors Italy, 1998 winners France, and surprising Portugal, have gained the right to fight for soccer's most prestigious prize, an improbable possibility just over three weeks ago before the Cup's opening match between Germany and Costa Rica.

It will be the first time since 1982 that four European teams stand alone in the semifinals of the World Cup. Then in Spain, Italy defeated Germany 3-1 in the final. To get there, the two teams beat Poland and France respectively.

A chance for retribution

The 1982 champs, Italy, are the only team that people had on their lists of favorites entering the tournament. Marcello Lippi's Azzurri also were the only side to breeze through to the final four with their 3-0 victory against Ukraine. Yet, the Italians have had little luck against host countries at the World Cup. Of the seven matches the Squadra Azzurra have been forced to face the hosts, they have won just once, a 1-0 win against Argentina in the group phase in 1978. The Italians hope to improve on that unimpressive series against Germany on Tuesday.

Speaking of series, Germany ended one of their darkest by beating Argentina on penalties to go through to the semifinals. That victory put a stop to a winless series against the so-called "big" soccer nations that extended back six years.

Jürgen Klinsmann's squad has been a freight train gaining speed at this World Cup. The next match against Italy will give the Germans the opportunity to defeat another "big" soccer country -- and atone for an embarrassing 4-1 defeat dealt to them by Italy in March.

"The humiliation of that defeat is still painful," said midfielder Torsten Frings. "But we're so fit now, so well prepared, that we know it is not going to happen again."

The surprises keep coming

What many people thought would never happen again was seeing France's Zinedine Zidane just one game away from another World Cup final. Yet, "Zizou", who will be retiring after this tournament, has risen to the occasion, proving to be the key player in their two knockout stage victories over Spain and Brazil.

"We fought closely together for a well-deserved victory. Now we'll try to win a place in the final. We don't want to stop now. This is so beautiful, we want to carry it on," he said after the win over Brazil.

Zidane and Les Bleus will have to defeat surprise team Portugal to carry on. No small task considering that their coach is Luiz Felipe Scolari, the man who led Brazil to their 2002 World Cup title. Scolari has instilled what he has called a "warrior spirit" in the Portugal squad that is trying to better their best World Cup performance, a third-place finish, 40 years ago.

"We have a good team and can go even further as we advance," the man known as "Big Phil" said after the penalty shootout win over England.

That's more than can be said for pre-tournament South American picks Brazil and Argentina. They will only be moving on to the nearest airport for a flight home.