Bodog Beat

Euro 2008 is down to four countries, two of them big favorites to advance. (AP Images)

It's two modern-day powerhouses versus two up-and-comers in the semifinals of Euro 2008.

In Basel, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Germany, a three-time World Cup winner and three-time European champion, takes on Turkey, which finished third in the 2002 World Cup but hasn't done much else on the international stage. Oddsmakers are pretty certain that the Germans will advance, making Joachim Low's side a big -750 favorite to play in Sunday's final.

That said, if you believe in things like teams of destiny (remember Greece in 2004), you might just consider a longshot wager on the Turks. Everyone knows about their miracle win over Croatia in the quarterfinals, but Turkey also staged a comeback for the ages over the Czech Republic in the group stages. Down 2-0 with two-thirds of the game in the books, the Turks bulged the old onion bag three times before the fulltime whistle went.

"I said that people would remember this team in years to come and I still believe that now," Turkish coach Fatih Terim said at the time, looking even more the sage after the Croatia affair.

For bettors looking for a different way to wager on the semifinal games, consider the alternative lines being offered in the Bodog Sportsbook. For example, if you think Germany will beat Turkey by more than two goals, you'll get paid +180 if it happens.

Moving on to Thursday's semifinal in Vienna, Austria, Spain is also a fairly significant -225 favorite to beat upstart Russia. Spain is the fourth-ranked team in the world by FIFA, the highest still alive in the tournament. While the Spaniards have historically failed to deliver despite a rich pedigree (they've won just one big tournament, the 1964 European Championship), Sunday's victory over the defending World Cup champion Italians showed that they can play with and beat the best on the planet. In fact, Spain is now considered the favorite to win the tournament. Oddsmakers doing the numbers for the Euro 2008 futures board have Spain at 11/8, followed by Germany (13/8), Russia (7/2) and Turkey (14/1), but don't be surprised if those odds jostle around a bit in the early part of the week. Germany was the pretournament favorite in many sportsbooks and surely has the easier match to make the finals.

Read the rest of "Place Your Bets: Davids vs. Goliaths" in Bodog Nation today!