Euro 2012 Germany vs Italy: Will results go German way, or history will repeat

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Euro 2012 Germany vs Italy semifinal match is set for today and people wonder if results will go German way or history will repeat itself

It is not a FIFA World Cup but the frenzy is not less in anyway as three times Euro Cup holders Germany face an inspired Italy at the National Stadium Warsaw, Poland in the second semi final of the tournament’ 2012 edition on Thursday.

Germans might have won all their Euro 2012 matches but everybody is talking of past record, as they take on Italy on Thursday in the second semi final match of the tournament.

In fact the talk of record is being used as a mind game by the Italians. Italy’s star player Andrea Pirlo has attacked the Germans by saying that they are scared of their record against Italy.

So much so that German coach Joachim Loew has to issue a statement that it is time to forget history of past past disappointments.

At a championship of this intensity drawing a match is sometime no less important than winning. So, while Germany has won all of their three league stage matches at UEFA EURO 2012, Italy has managed to reach the same spot with just one win and two draws. In fact Germany won their fourth match too, which was the quarter final against Greece by 4-2.

Italians referred as Azzurri were locked to a goal less draw in the quarterfinal match against England, finally winning it in penalty shootout.

Germany face this peculiar record of never beating Italy in a competitive match. The Germans have lost three times and have managed the same number of draws in World Cup finals and European Championships

For the record Germany have lost just one semi final of UEFA European Championship out of six semi finals it played. The Germans have won their last 15 competitive games, a new world record, according to UEFA.

The Azzurri have been victorious won four out of seven contests that includes the 2006 FIFA World Cup semi-final held in Germany and the 1982 World Cup final.

Germany coach Loew has said that they can’t turn back time and the past doesn’t play a role in their planning because the situation is entirely different now.

Loew thinks that though the Italians have performed well during this tournament, but they know the difficulties and problems of the Azzurri.

Loew’s final statement is that though the Italians are quite a good size but if they play as they can they would beat Italy.

So, playing to their strength and not thinking of the opposition seems to be the strategy.

For Germany the good news is that Bastian Schweinsteiger has been declared fit. Schweinsteiger was having treatment on his ankle injury. Loew is quite impressed with his ‘fantastic stamina’ and hopes to get a good performance from him.

Loew thinks as a midfielder Schweinsteiger has matured tremendously over the last few years and he consider him as one of his leaders.

Striker Miroslav Klose is another good hope for Germany who plays in Rome for Serie A side Lazio. Klose kids with this fact and says that he’ll try to be a bit of a spy and pass on any bits he hears.

Lukas Podolski is another player to watch from Germany who can unsettle the Italians. His movement is a strong aspect.

On the other hand Italy relies heavily on midfielder Andrea Pirlo who has been outstanding in recent times. His speed and ball possession can cause a lot of problems for the Germans. Pirlo’s passing is also very dangerous.

Similarly full-back Ignazio Abate is an invaluable attacking player for Italy. His speed too is tremendous who loves to run down the flanks.

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Posted by on June 28, 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
  • Aditya Mookerjee

    I don’t know anything about the Italian team, or the German team. I guess, international teams are only important in international big event tournaments, organized by F. I. F. A. I feel, the Italian team was perhaps not supposed to be in the news, in the present time. That is why, the team was not in the news in the near past. Italy is my favorite team, and then is Germany, in Europe. England has a good team, but the team was not supposed to have gone the distance, and didn’t. They lost 4-2 in a penalty shootout, after the score was 0-0 in normal play. This doesn’t have to do with ability, and England have never been lacking in that department. The reason why Italy has one four F. I. F. A. World Cups, is because their international team is important, and their club competition isn’t equally important. I remember how Italy won the World Cup, immediately after when one of their most important coaches and domestic clubs were found to have won the national championship, because of match fixing.
    England has a domestic championship, more important, or so it seems, than their international matches. Individual international matches are friendlies, mostly to rehearse for big international tournaments.