Lets take a look at this tournament for a second. Why the heck are the semi-final matchups not switched. It doesn't make sense. What I mean is, the way that the tournament is set up, teams in groups A and B will play each other all the way into the semis without a sniff of either of the Group C or D teams. This would seemingly give them a much easier road to the final, but lets ignore that fact.
Why would a tournament structure not encourage different matchups, but potential rematches of group games in the semis and not the final? I guess there is a case to be made there, that the teams who meet in the final shouldn't have played yet, but when there is an obvious group that is superior to the rest, it significantly reduces the chances of those teams of reaching the final and kills the parity of the tournament. For example, if France and Italy (World cup finalists, need I remind you) do escape the group of death, and win their subsequent quarterfinals, they are rewarded with each other yet again in the semis. Where as Portugal for example, will avoid playing the likes of Spain, France, Italy, or Holland to the final. Portugal and Germany must fancy their chances, at least on paper. But I guess you have to beat everyone at some point, so THATS WHY THEY PLAY THE GAME!
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