The Strike II

We're all back and booming at the radio station. It doesn't feel any different. But why should I expect that?

It was a good strike for me.

The German footballers are back and booming. Clearly their players had something of a strike during the match against Croatia which they lost. They were all on message during the quarter final against Portugal and won.

So the Germans into a semi final. What a surprise.

You want someone new to win. The Turks say.

As for someone new winning. The draw was made at Wimbledon today. All round super hero Roger Federer is due to meet the rising young gun slinger Novak Djokovic in the semis.

Everyone has got a theory on who will win. Bjorn Borg winner of five Wimbledon titles was holding forth at the French Open - which he won six times - and said that Rafael Nadal would win Wimbledon if he survived the first two or three rounds.

The soothsayer also said Federer would push Nadal close in the Roland Garros final. Well the following day we all witnessed a Federer catastrophe - a straight sets loss - which did nothing for Borg's clairvoyance.

Well if you set yourself up on the pundit's pedestal, you're going to get it wrong once or twice.

But anyone who'd been watching Nadal and Federer at the French would have known that Nadal was the likely lad.

My theory is that I'll have to see who looks more likely.

The Guardian football podcast pundit Sid Lowe, who's based in Spain, says the Spanish are nervous because they're playing Italy in the quarter finals at Euro 2008.

This is their worst nightmare because the Italians always find a way to beat the Spanish, he asserted.

So far the Spanish have been going great guns and the Italians only scraped through because the Roumanian's fluffed a penalty chance and the French were utterly abject in the final group game.

The Italians can't be that bad again whereas the Spanish are due a dodgy performance.

The same for the Dutch who've been destroying all foes in their path.

What would have been the odds two weeks ago on a Russia v Croatia final?

That would have been a good bet. But I'm not a betting man.

And rightly so, I need to save my pennies.

We could be all out on the street fairly soon.