TZMPAKAAU

SAUER KRAUT VS SPAGHETI SIMPLY  MEAN GERMANY VS ITALIA

EURO 2012 SEMIFINAL REVIEWS

Italy reached the final and will face Spain for the second time this tournament. It happened three times before that two teams played their opening match and the final against each other at the European Championship, namely Netherlands vs Soviet Union in 1988, Czech Republic and Germany in 1996 and Greece vs Portugal at 2004.  

> Italy will play their third ECh final. They won against Yugoslavia in 1968 (they won the replay 2-0 after a 1-1 draw in the first match) and lost against France in 2000 (2-1).

> Italy stayed unbeaten in 8 competitive encounters against Germany (5 WC & 3 ECh): 4 wins and 4 draws. 

> Italy are qualified for the Confederations Cup next year, because Spain was already qualified as World Champion.

> Germany lost their first competitive match since the semifinal against Spain in the 2010 World Cup. Between these two matches, they stayed unbeaten in 15 competitive matches.

> Germany scored 10 goals at Euro 2012, equaling their tournament record set in 1996 and 2008.

> Germany scored at least once in each of their last 21 encounters (includes all matches), still the longest active streak of all countries.

> Miroslav Klose sets the record as player with the most semifinals in major tournaments (ECh & WC): 5.

> Mario Balotelli became the first Italian player to score three goals in a single ECh tournament.

> Balotelli scored his third and fourth goal for Italy and scored all his goals on Polish soil.

> Balotelli became the 9th different player to score at least two goals in a single match at Euro 2012, equaling the record from Euro 2000.

> Mesut Özil was the 8th player to score for Germany at Euro 2012, a new tournament record. The previous record was 7 different players held by: Netherlands (2008), Spain (2008), Portugal (2008), France (2000), Italy (2000) and Czech Republic (1996).

> Antonio Cassano was substituted for the 7th time at the ECh after beginning in the starting line-up, equalling Dennis Bergkamp’s tournament record.

> Gianluigi Buffon became the player that played the most minutes for Italy at the ECh (1140), surpassing Paolo Maldini (1095).

> Joachim Löw coached his 11th ECh match, equaling the competition record of Berti Vogts. 

> Philipp Lahm played his 14th ECh match, more than any other German player.
Sources:TZMPAKAAU,infostradalive and myzone