Germany 1 Italy 2: Magic Mario makes his mark as Azzurri extend tournament hoodoo
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UPDATED:
21:08 GMT, 28 June 2012
Mario Balotelli wrote another remarkable chapter in his amazing career as he fired Italy into the Euro 2012 final with a two-goal salvo against Germany in Warsaw.
The Manchester City man rose to power home Antonio Cassano's 20th-minute cross to put the underdogs in front.
Then he smashed an unstoppable shot past Manuel Neuer to double Italy's lead and take him joint-top of the Golden Boot standings.
Centre of attention: Mario Balotelli rips his shirt off and poses following his crucial second
Final countdown: Italy celebrate a famous win over Germany to set up a Sunday showdown with Spain
Fury: Thomas Muller shows his frustration as Germany crash out
Match facts
Germany: Neuer, Boateng (Muller 71), Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Khedira, Kroos, Ozil, Podolski (Reus 46), Gomez (Klose 46). Subs not used: Wiese, Gundogan, Schmelzer, Howedes, Schurrle, Bender, Mertesacker, Gotze, Zieler.
Booked: Hummels.
Scorer: Ozil (pen) 90+2.
Italy: Buffon, Balzaretti, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo (Thiago Motta 63), De Rossi, Balotelli (Di Natale 69), Cassano (Diamanti 58). Subs not used: Sirigu, Ogbonna, Abate, Giaccherini, Borini, Giovinco, Nocerino, De Sanctis.
Booked: Balotelli, Bonucci.
Scorer: Balotelli 20, 36.
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (France).
Attendance: 58,500.
Mesut Ozil's last-minute penalty was
not enough to prevent Germany's suffering their first defeat in a
competitive game since their World Cup semi-final loss to Spain two
years ago.
Indeed, it was their third semi-final
loss in their past four tournaments, one of which, in the 2006 World
Cup, came against tonight's opponents, who have still never lost to
Germany in a competitive game, and now face Spain in Kiev on Sunday.
Germany had started the match as favourites, mainly thanks to their world record run of 15 successive victories.
Having seen how hard England had found it to subdue Andrea Pirlo, it was anticipated they would deal with him much better.
Instead, it was worse.
Sitting deep on the halfway line,
Germany allowed Pirlo the time to pick out returning full-back Giorgio
Chiellini with a brilliant pass to the touchline.
From there, it went downhill rapidly for Joachim Low's side.
1-0: Balotelli beats Holger Badstuber to Antonio Cassano's tempting centre, beating Manuel Neuer
Hands up: Neuer was uncharacteristically slow, letting Balotelli's header past
Chiellini nudged the ball onto Cassano, who swivelled past Mats Hummels with the minimum of fuss.
Balotelli immediately got himself
some space behind Holger Badstuber and when the cross came, he rose to
power the ball home from six yards.
If that was efficient in its execution, Balotelli's second was brutal.
Advancing from deep inside his own half, Riccardo Montolivo could scarcely believe the room he was given.
Not a prayer: Ballotelli latches on to Riccardo Montolivo's through ball to give Neuer no chance with the second
Not a prayer: Ballotelli latches on to Riccardo Montolivo's through ball to give Neuer no chance with the second
Booked: French referee Stephane Lannoy had no option
Twice he looked up to see if anything was on.
On the second occasion he spotted Balotelli making his run, exploiting Philipp Lahm's failure to maintain the offside line.
It took Balotelli a bit of time to get himself into a shooting position.
However, as the ball sat up nicely, he smashed it past Manuel Neuer.
The Germany keeper had set himself to
make a save. In the end, there was nothing he could do but stick out a
limp hand and fall to the ground, powerless to do anything to prevent
his goal being breached a second time.
Consolation: Mesut Ozil beat Gianluigi Buffon from 12 yards to set up a nervy finish
Balotelli was booked for removing his shirt as he attempted to celebrate with a moody pose.
He could not keep it up though and broke into a broad smile as he was engulfed by ecstatic team-mates.
It was a performance that put English efforts – and Ireland's for that matter – into some kind of perspective.
Germany though were a shadow of their normal selves.
What happened Mats Hummels and Bastian Schweinsteiger (below) reflect on another German defeat at the hands of Italy
What happened Mats Hummels and Bastian Schweinsteiger (below) reflect on another German defeat at the hands of Italy
Twice in the opening stages Gianluigi Buffon had fumbled close to his own line but they could not take advantage.
Sami Khedira did launch a volley
towards goal in between Balotelli's brace, but on that occasion Buffon
was able to make the save.
Low took decisive action at the
interval, introducing Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus for Mario Gomez and
Lukas Podolski, whose fitful contribution cannot have impressed watching
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
The change brought some much-needed life into German ranks.
Solid defence: Germany were thwarted by the Italians
However, their efforts at hauling themselves back into the contest were repeatedly thwarted.
Lahm failed to hit the target after
running onto Toni Kroos' return pass before Buffon pushed Reus'
free-kick against his own bar and away to safety.
A disappointing Ozil surged to the
by-line but, with hardly any room, Khedira needed to react far quicker
than he did to the near-post cut-back.
Balotelli's exit with cramp meant he
was denied the opportunity to become the first player to score a
semi-final hat-trick since Gerd Muller did it in 1976.
The difference: Balotelli remonstrates with Cesare Prandelli after being substituted for cramp
His replacement, Antonio Di Natale,
should have wrapped up victory when he found himself in acres of space
inside the box, but dragged his effort wide of the far post, much to
Balotelli's frustration.
Federico Balzaretti's handball in the final minute did provide a few nerves for Italy as Ozil fired home from the spot.
But Prandelli's men were able to reach the final whistle and celebrate their triumph.
