The cream will rise to the top

AFTER a brief pause to draw breath and, as the first day of the quarter-finals dawns, it’s strange to think back to June 14 in Leipzig and recall Spain running riot against the Ukraine in their opening game of Group H.

That was only a fortnight ago but it seems like a whole World Cup away.

A 4-0 drubbing suggested that Andriy Shevchenko and company would find little glory in a tournament which, by contrast, Spain’s blazing tyros looked supremely well equipped to ignite. Well, rejuvenated France comprehensively hosed down that little theory, while Ukraine went on to make the last eight by, quite literally, penalising Switzerland’s chronic aversion to being put on the spot. (A curious postscript: the Swiss depart as the only team not to have conceded a single goal from play).