Epical battle between Germany & Italy in the 2nd semifinal of EURO 2012

                
           Regarding their current side Germany are the big favourites in the second semifinal encounter of EURO 2012 against Italy at National Stadium in Warshw tonight. But we have to remember that Italy have never lost to Germany in any kind of big competitions, lasttime these two European giants met in the semi stage of the World Cup 2006 in German soil where the homeside had to concede a defeat in front of their homecrowd & Italy became through to their way towards fourth World Championship triumph.
             Yes, this is not Italy 2006 edition (vintage, brilliant, organized) but it is also not Italy 2010 edition (poor, slow, lacking attacking prowess). This Italy team is somewhere in between. Italy are injured, and though they controlled the game for long spells against England, they lacked the cutting edge.
             German coach Joachim Loew has shown the luxury of dropping three of his first eleven players in the quarter final match against Greece. Although Germany have never beaten Italy in a competitive game, I think it’s important to point out here that the only side the Azzurri has completely dominated in Euro 2012 has been the Republic of Ireland—a side many think shouldn’t have been in the tournament.
             Italy have not lost in the tournament yet either, with 1-1 draws against Spain and Croatia and a penalty-kick shootout win over England on Sunday, but the Italians will surely be put to the test in Warsaw against a very deep and very motivated German squad.
            Against England, Andrea Pirlo (Juventus) played a superb game for La Nazzionale, which completely dominated time of possession and shots in the match.

            Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) has allowed just three goals in four matches so far—one coming on a penalty kick—and has been his usual incredible self for Italy. And if you ever wondered how Juventus went so long last season without losing a game in Series A and bested AC Milan.
           This is going to be a battle between renowned Italian defence & renowned German forwardline, Germans have some quality mix of youth & vintage players in the forwardline. They can outrun any side by their pace within 90 minutes. German side have the player like Lukas Pododloski who also have scored 100^th goals for his country in the age of 27 only, Thomas Muller who is known for his pace, hitman Mario Gomez who have an accuracy of scoring & the vintage Miroslav Klose, who is full of experience knows his duty very well.
          German side also have some speedy midfielders like Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Bastin Schweinsteiger & they also have a very good & handy captain like Philip Lahm who might play in the right back position but always lead his team from the front, showed his utility in the German side by breaking the deadlock against Greece in the quarter stage.
         German side only have few defensive problems because all of their defender often leave for the upfront instead of covering their own arena even if we watch throughout the tournament we often saw that goalkeeper Manuel Neuer have the knack of playing with the opponent forwards, sometimes he tries to come nearby the centre line even.
       Joachim Loew only will face the problem of selecting first eleven regarding whom should he keep in bench & whom should be in playing eleven from the beginning, he has one injury problem regarding Bastin Schweinsteiger who has an ankle injury since February 2012 & still now suffering from that.
         Whatever its going to be an epic semifinal the match of the tournament between two exciting, dynamic sides that will determine the rightful finalist & possibly the ultimate winner of these European Championship.

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