Italy 2-1 Germany
Germany were favorites to meet the defending champions Spain on Sunday for the finals. They were the only team to come out with a perfect record in the group stage and were largely pegged to be the strongest team in the competition. This would have been a chance at revenge after an older Spanish team had them running around in circles in the World Cup semi-finals in 2010.
The chance would never come, just like Cristiano Ronaldo never having a chance to shoot his penalty kick. An inspired Azzurri outclassed and outplayed the Germans.
In the first half, the Germans hardly had a chance to hold the ball and set up an attack. When they got the rare chance, Gianluigi Buffon was always beyond brilliant and kept the ball out.
On the 20th minute, Italy went ahead with a well-placed header by Mario Balotelli that left Manuel Neuer lunging in the opposite direction as he watched the ball glide in just out of his reach.
This fired up the Azzurri even more and only 18 mins later, they broke through the German defense once again. Balotelli left Lahm to eat his dust as he received a beautiful pass from half-German Montolivo. He wasted no time and shot from distance and hammered it in leaving Neuer completely helpless. Neuer was quick to admit the brilliance of the goal as he applauded the opponent's effort.
Ozil and Khedira dug deep from their tried and tested Real Madrid partnership and challenged Buffon several times in the game but the Italian captain was simply inspired. In stoppage time, a penalty kick was awarded to Germany and Ozil finally found the net but it was merely a consolation that didn't really offer any real hope.
It was a decisive win and one that the tournament needed after the last two fixtures were decided on penalties. Spain will defend their title against Italy on Sunday in Kiev and attempt to be the first team to defend their european title.
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