Italy edge past Germany in 2 -1 margin in the second semifinal of EURO 2012 to set up an encounter with Spain in the final on Sunday

            

        Italy edge past Germany in 2 -1 margin in the second semifinal of EURO 2012 at National Stadium Warsaw & swings into the final where they will take on Spain on Sunday. Italy once again proved to be Germany's nemesis after Mario Balotelli struck two handy first-half goals in 19^th & 36th minutes in the other hand  Germany remain failure once again to cross the hurdle of Italy in any kind of major competitive game.

         If we go through the result it might seems that Germany fought equally & lost a close match but that was a different story in real, according to the chances Azzuris created throughout the game, if they became successful to convert half of them then they should win the game in half dozen margin & could be a shame for this German side.

          Joachim Low's side came into the semi-final full of confidence having swept all before them in Poland and Ukraine, but perhaps lingering at the back of their minds was the fact that Germany had never beaten the Azzurri in seven competitive meetings. That tally is now eight after Italy produced a wonderfully measured performance with Manchester City man Balotelli at its heart.
           The entire dynamic approach of this youth German side have been completely neutralized & rinsed by the strategy of Cesare Prandelli also found Mario Balotelli  in clinical form. The striker headed his side in front midway through the opening period and doubled the advantage nine minutes before half-time.
          In the early stages of the game, Andrea Pirlo's torso stopped Mats Hummels giving Germany the lead, and then Andrea Barzagli watched helplessly as Gianluigi Buffon's parry ricocheted off him and just past the post. Italy soon found their stride, though.
         In the 19th minute, Pirlo, ever the instigator, swung the ball out to left-back Giorgio Chiellini who fed Cassano. The No10 tricked Hummels and delivered an inviting cross. With the door was wide open Balotelli merely needed to put his head on it as it flashed past Neuer. It was Italy's first UEFA European Championship semi-final goal on their fourth appearance. The new AC Milan recruit Montolivo sent a through ball to Balotelli once again over the top of evading German captain Philipp Lahm who tried to trap Baloteeli in an offside trap but Balotelli sped away to rifle a shot into the top corner of the post in the 36^th minutes, Manuel Neuer didn’t have anything to do apart from watching the ball.

        The Manchester City man was booked for ripping his shirt off  in a passionate celebration, but there were no such signs of desire from Germany, who were showing none of the verve from their entertaining win over Greece in the previous round.

         German coach Joachim Loew introduced Marco Reus and Miroslav Klose in the beginning minutes of the second half, Reus's first involvement was an effort on goal and then Lahm could only lift his shot over when well placed. Ozil got to the byline, but Khedira got in a tangle.
          Buffon's fingertips just did enough to send a Reus free-kick on to the bar and away to safety, yet Balotelli was still a menace at the other end and Claudio Marchisio nearly made it three on two occasions. As German belief ebbed away, Antonio Di Natale had a clean run on goal only to fire wide.

         Mesul Ozil finally scored a consolation goal from the spot for his side in the dying minutes of second half while Balzaretti handled the ball inside the box & the French referee aimed towards the spot but it merely offered forlorn hope. However, there was nothing left from Low's side despite an even later surge forward, giving Italy a nervy, but deserved victory and setting up a second meeting with Spain in this European Championship.

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