Tonight’s first Euro 2008 semi-final sees a German team seemingly steadied after a shaky group stage (the narrow 1-0 against Austria seeming almost as big a shock as the loss against Croatia), pitted against a Turkish side who just keep on delivering in the final seconds of games.

The key, though, might be down the right flank for both teams. A fresh from suspension Schweinsteiger dominated Germany’s last game, scoring one and providing the other two, whereas the player once bought for his club by a fan who’d won a soft drinks promotion might be forced to make the running for the Turks (Colin Kazim-Richards, for anyone who doesn’t know). The heat maps from the Castrol Index show how right-sided these two players are, and as we all know, wide play in this competition makes a heck of a difference. So which wide guy will make the headlines tonight? And which team has the best left back capable of handling the attacking threat?

Whoever is put in charge of keeping the German back four awake for the first 80 minutes had better be good at his job, because if they are a bit sluggish come the last ten, their defence may well have a problem as the Turkish ‘it’s not over until it’s over’ mentality sees them charging forward in ever-increasing numbers. Turkey have scored only one first half goal in their championship history, and with 8 of their 9 goals coming in the second halves of their matches, odds on this occurring again must be fairly short.

Tom thinks this might go all the way, with Turkey providing a massive end of game push to tie the game at 2-2.

Jack reckons that the Teutonic maestros will triumph 2-0.

Stats powered by Castrolindex.com