Italy looks to extend proud record

WARSAW – Italy coach Cesare Prandelli will be looking for his side to extend its proud record of never losing to Germany in a major finals when they meet in Thursday’s Euro 2012 semifinal here.

Germany – which is seeking its first trophy since lifting the Euro ‘96 title – will be by contrast hoping to end that run in what is their eighth meeting at either a World Cup or a European championship finals.

“There is no such thing as an invincible side,” said Prandelli.

“Germany has that sense of knowing what they need to do. They are also physically strong and have players who have tasted international success at club level, so they are a side with the ingredients to go all the way. But we will study them closely and work on the few weak points they have.”

Italy needed a penalty shoot-out to beat England 4-2 in Sunday’s quarterfinal in Kiev with the Azzurri failing to hit the net in normal play despite 68 percent ball possession and 35 shots compared to England’s nine.

Prandelli has said the Italians will have to be daring in order to beat Germany, which is on a 15-match winning run in competitive matches since losing to Spain at the last World Cup.

Germany’s forwards shone in Friday’s 4-2 quarterfinal win over Greece and Prandelli is mindful of the risk of pushing too far forward against a German side with the pace to punish on the counter-attack.

Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli is one player the Germans have admitted they will pay close attention to after he spearheaded an Italian attack which had periods of impressive form against the Three Lions. With only a three-day turn-around between the quarter and semi, Prandelli has injury concerns over midfielder Daniele De Rossi and right-back Ignazio Abate, while Italy’s other right-back Christian Maggio is suspended.

Aside from a 1-1 draw in a friendly in February 2011, the last time the teams met in competition was the 2006 World Cup semifinal when the Italians won 2-0 after extra time as they went on to win the title. But Germany coach Joachim Loew was defiant when asked about the lack of German success against the Azzurri over the years.

“We can’t turn back time, forget about about it, the past doesn’t play a role in our planning,” said the 52-year-old. “Another stat is that Germany has never won against Italy in a major tournament, but so what? The situation is entirely different now and this is not an issue for us.”

But Italian playmaker Andrea Pirlo believes the Germans are running scared and the 33-year-old believes that history will give Italy the edge.

“Germany are definitely scared of us, they know we can create difficulties for them given what’s happened in the past and they will have to be careful to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2006,” said the Juventus midfielder.

Loew has developed a habit for pulling surprises at this tournament highlighted by changing three of Germany’s six-man attack against Greece in axing striker Mario Gomez, plus forwards Lukas Podolski and Thomas Mueller.

It means competition is fierce for places in the starting line-up and Borussia Dortmund-bound Marco Reus looked sharp against the Greeks on his tournament debut before scoring Germany’s fourth goal. — AFP