All the build up to the Spain v Russia game was about Andrei Arshavin but it was our very own Cesc Fabregas who lit up the semi-final with a sensational display, alongside an in form Spanish side.

Barcelona target Arshavin was the man people looked to before the match started to make something happen but it would be fair to say he was completely anonymous tonight. He’s also been linked to Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League but to be honest if he was any good Arsene would have snapped him up years ago. He does seem to have a temperament problem too, and was sent off in the qualifying campaign against Andorra which was the reason why he was suspended for the first two games of this summers championships.

Two good games? Barcelona can have him. Along with Hleb.

Fabregas was only introduced tonight as a substitute, after David Villa had to come off with an injury on 34 minutes. Since he came on though he changed the game and put in a real Man of the Match performance.

After coolly sending home the World Champions in the last round with a pressure penalty Fabregas was instrumental in sending Spain into the final to face the Germans. To be fair Spain were excellent all over the pitch and Cesc was a star amongst stars. But playing almost as a second striker he adapted well and linked up play sensationally. You couldn’t have asked any more of the kid.

Spain looked so confident tonight and will give the Germans a run for their money on Sunday evening, which is all you can ask for in a major final. The Spaniards opened the scoring on 50 minutes and were in cruise control from then on. A shot from Iniesta from the left side came into the path of Xavi, who slotted in from 5 yards. As Russia opened up Spain just passed circles around them and Fabregas was literally running the show. His sumptuous pass for Daniel Guiza made it 2-0 and he also rounded off a fantastic display with the assist for David Silva’s goal and Spain’s third with only 7 minutes remaining.

So the big question is will Cesc start the final?

Well in every game so far Spain have started with Torres and Villa up front, with a midfield of Silva, Senna and the Barcelona boys Xavi and Iniesta in the centre. Will Aragones break up the Barca link?

The problem is it seems that although Fabregas played alongside Xavi and Iniesta tonight, it was at the expense of David Villa. We don’t know how serious his injury is but if he’s fit for the final or Aragones wants to play with two strikers then there’s only room for two from Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas. Senna is the holding midfielder and David Silva is the playmaker so they are certain to start.

Even when Fabregas has been introduced into the action throughout this tournament (except for tonight) it has been at the expense of Xavi and Iniesta. Cesc has usually come on with another midfielder (Xabi Alonso or Santi Cazorla for instance) replacing both Xavi and Iniesta.

Clearly Aragones doesn’t think Fabregas can play alongside Xavi or Iniesta, or just doesn’t want to seperate the Barcelona midfielders.

Luckily though tonight Spain showed that all three are more than capable of playing well with each other in an effective midfield.

I personally don’t think Cesc will start the final even though he probably derserves to. Politics and player power is more and more influential these days and with 10 of tonight’s starting 11 playing their football in Spain (Torres being the exception) I just can’t see Fabregas cracking into that alliance. Can you imagine what the Spanish press would say if Iniesta or Xavi didn’t start despite starting all of the games so far?

I can’t see it happening.

Cesc will have to make do with being on the bench for the final but will more likely than not be the first substitute Spain will use. I would be shocked if he didn’t make some kind of appearance in the game.

P.S. I’ve just realised I spelt ‘Arshavin’ wrong in the title of this piece, but it can’t be changed now for the anally retentive among us.

What an amazing game.

How on earth did the Germans reach the final? I am completely flabbergasted. Only one team was playing good football and Turkey deserved much more from the game tonight.

In the first half, it was all Turkey’s and they hit the bar twice and scored the opening goal which was thoroughly deserved. The only problem was for all their attacking play they didn’t capitalise on it and find the crucial second goal which could have really killed the game.

Did Germany have 3 shots all evening?

Before the game I was reading various preview write ups and some people were talking about a massive German-bias, with a Franco-German UEFA with its Franco-German Axis apparently like the EU. Some points were made about how Turkey’s suspended goalkeeper Volkan received a two-match ban and Schweinsteiger only got a one-game ban for a very similar offense.

Although I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the said offenses happening in the Group Stages and Knockout Rounds and therefore hold different punishments?

Then people pointed out that in Euro 96′ Germany were granted special dispensation after having a similar injury crisis to Turkey in this years Championships. I personally can’t remember any of that, although the only real thing I remember was Gareth Southgate f*cking up that penalty. And that Pizza Hut advert.

I’m sure all conspiracy theories, but interesting going into the game.

Because I saw some dodgy refereeing tonight. How some of the Germans didn’t get yellow cards was pretty shocking, and when Senturk made a forwards tackle he got a booking when Germany had committed far worse fouls throughout the match!

And no, I didn’t forget the tackle on Lahm - and replays showed that initial contact was outside the penalty area anyway.

Yet again in this competition Turkey were excellent and deserved much better fortunes tonight. Even at 2-1 down you know they might do something and on 87 minutes Senturk scored a well-earned equaliser which looked to take the game into extra time.

But then the Germans nicked it. Literally.

On the luck-o-meter this result was one the luckiest I have ever seen. They played so badly and only fashioned 3 real chances and scored them all. What a shame that Rustu is such a sh*te goalkeeper, because the mistake for the Klose goal was shocking.

Think I’ll be cheering on Spain or Russia on Sunday night.

Last week I asked if any Arsenal fan wanted to see Hleb in an Arsenal shirt again.

The response was surprising really, with the majority saying they would like to see Hleb next season. I found that confusing because while I have been one of his biggest fans over the last 3 seasons (and would always back him when others would slate him) the shenanigans he and his agent are getting up to are just completely unacceptable. His agent is obviously hoping to cash in on Hleb’s last big money move and the player himself is doing nothing to stop it. Which to me is as good as sticking two fingers up to Arsene Wenger, the man who put Hleb in the spotlight.

What happened to players like Bobby, Henry and Dennis eh? Obviously you can’t buy loyalty these days.

And now we come to Emmanuel Adebayor.

AC Milan have officially confirmed that Adebayor is their sole transfer target this summer, and if they can’t get him then they won’t be bringing anyone in at all. I find statement complete b*llocks to be honest but whatever.

Arsenal have been quoted as “unwilling to sell” but with Milan making it official and public like they did a few weeks ago then obviously they just want to unsettle the player and see if Adebayor makes any favourable comments towards them. To his credit though, the Togan has always committed his future to Arsenal.

But you wonder what’s going on with all the speculation around Adebayor and Hleb. It’s been going on for months and the fact is you just feel something might happen. Why aren’t big players from other clubs being speculated about? Is there smoke without fire? I’m not sure.

Would selling Adebayor be that much of a loss for Arsenal?

He’s had one good season and if AC Milan offer a fantastic price then I’m not sure if Arsenal would turn it down. But at the moment although there seems to be some sort of conversation between the Italian club and Adebayor then obviously the offer from Milan is far too low.

Why don’t we ask for Kaka’ in return?

He’ll want to play Champions League football, he obviously likes playing at the Emirates (remember that awesome goal for Brazil against Argentina?) and Arsene Wenger is one of the best coaches in the world to play under. We also play the beautiful game like it’s meant to be played and the Premier League is far more exciting that Serie A.

Thinking about it, we should start some rumours of our own for a change instead of always having our players being linked to other clubs!

We should also swap Hleb for Ronaldinho. If anyone can get the best out of him again it’s Arsene.

Although a player who will be with us next season is Samir Nasri, but you already knew that.

Okay, I tried a pun on ‘Arsene’s Magic Hat’ and failed miserably. What was I thinking? So moving swiftly on…What a stunning game.

Even before the game kicked off there was hype already as it could have gone down in history as the first group game in a major international tournament to go to penalties after 90 minutes. Both sides had won one game, lost one and had a goal difference of minus 1 (with both scoring 2 and conceding 3) and therefore had exactly the same record. So a draw would result in a penalty shootout at the final whistle with no extra time.

And the game kicked off 5 minutes later than scheduled as a Turkish player apparently didn’t have the right boots or something (I missed the first few minutes so didn’t see what actually happened).

The first half was cagey and Turkey didn’t really offer any kind of goal threat despite playing with two strikers. The Czech’s on the other hand had started with Jan Koller up top and looked the more inventive side.

The Czech Republic deservedly took the lead on 34 minutes, from a fine Koller header into the top corner.

But it was the second half where all the action took place.

Turkey came out of the blocks the far better side with neat passing and excellent movement but didn’t really put Petr Cech under any real pressure - it was reminiscent of Arsenal sides of old, which would play pretty football but couldn’t offer any real killer instinct.

And against the run of play, the Czech’s scored what looked like the killer second goal.

A quick freekick and break from the Czech Republic saw Sionko released on the right hand side and his cross was brilliantly converted on the volley from the other winger Plasil. There was a bit of controversy surrounding the goal as Turkish defender Gungor was taken off by a stretcher and the Turks couldn’t get the replacement centre back on the pitch. To be fair though, there didn’t seem to be any real breaks in play for the substitution to be made.

After conceding the second goal Turkey looked all over the place, seemingly dejected from Plasil’s goal. And with this the Czech Republic were unlucky not to score a third, when Jan Polak hit the post with a right-footed effort and almost connected with the rebound before being kicked in the head.

But to their credit after that Turkey got their act together and didn’t cave in. They didn’t panic and continued their passing game and tried to break down the Czechs.

And with 15 minutes left they got a lifeline.

Hamit Altintop (who looked really impressive all game) sent in a wicked cross which missed everyone in the middle and landed to the last man Turan, who sent a shot into the near corner passed Petr Cech. It looked like the Chelsea keeper really should have done better but the bottom line was Turkey had some hope.

Turkey were urgent in their play and sent in cross after cross after cross and piled the pressure on the Czechs but couldn’t create any clear cut chances to score that valuable equaliser.

And then with 2 minutes left it happened.

Altintop sent in a fantastic cross with pace and bend but Cech looked favourite to make a comfortable catch. But as time stood still the overrated* Petr Cech fumbled the ball and it landed to the feet of Nihat Kahveci who didn’t need a second invitation to slot into an empty net.

Turkey had equalised, and penalties where coming!

The watching world (well, Europeans anyway) were preparing for a historic penalty shootout to decide who would join Portugal in the second round but before anyone could take in the equaliser Nihat was played in and sent a stunning strike passed Cech and right into the top corner off the bar.

What a turnaround!

Unbelievable. Turkey had come from 2 goals down and stolen qualification at the death! What a fantastic end to possibly one of the best second halves of football in a major international tournament.

I haven’t seen anything like it.

Is anyone else starting to love the European Championships?

* Look at William Gallas’ goal against Chelsea at the Emirates last season. That’s right, I went there.

Because I tell you what I don’t.

The guy is pathetic, and I would be more than happy if Hleb wasn’t in the Arsenal squad for next season.

But unfortunately for all his (and his agents) games which quite frankly have been hugely disrespectful to Arsene, Arsenal football club at the supporters my worse fears maybe realised and Hleb might actually stay.

Because no-one wants him!

To be linked with Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan and teams of that quality beggars belief. His agent must be a f*cking genius (or a brilliant salesman) to get those sides interested. For a midfielder who doesn’t shoot, hasn’t won any honours and has scored 11 goals in 3 years at a team like Arsenal who create more chances than most is astounding.

It really is.

Why would those teams want Hleb? Well the truth is the probably don’t, because for all this speculation nothing concrete has actually come out.

Wenger should shove this fool in the reserves for his antics.

He thinks he’s better than he is. If he wants to leave then that’s fine by me. Arsene should tout Hleb out to the highest bidder and see how much he can get. I would be surprised if any side would pay more than £13 million for him. And that kind of money is worth so much more in the hands of Arsene Wenger.

We’ve had so many better players leave Arsenal so why would anyone care about Hleb leaving?

Even when players like Vieira, Henry, Pires, Overmars, Petit (who were past their peak) and even Reyes (yes, even him) left Arsenal they were more effective for Arsenal than Hleb is. When the hell was the last time Hleb scored a big goal for Arsenal? Hell, when did Hleb actually score a goal for Arsenal?!

The only (slight) concern I have about Hleb leaving Arsenal is his friendship with Fabregas. The midfield combination of Rosicky, Flamini, Cesc and Hleb were reportedly very close and with Flamini gone then you wonder how Hleb’s departure would effect Fabregas.

Despite that though I’m just praying someone takes Hleb off our hands.