AFP IS CLOSING THIS LIVE REPORT AFTER Italy upset the odds as two goals from Mario Balotelli saw them beat Germany 2-1 in the second Euro 2012 semi-final in Warsaw.
The enigmatic Manchester City striker powered home a header from an Antonio Cassano cross after 20 minutes to send the Azzurri into the lead, before doubling their advantage with a resounding right-footed strike 16 minutes later.
"He (Balotelli) was excellent, just like the entire team were," said coach Cesare Prandelli after what was Italy's third win over Germany in a major tournament semi-final.
"I really believe that a team needs to have an idea in the way they play and he really subscribed to this playing style. He was high up the pitch and available and I think he put in a very good performance this evening."
A much-fancied Germany team struggled to contain Italy's attacks in the first half and found their defenders in miserly mood at the other end, despite an improvement when Marco Reus and Miroslav Klose were brought on at the interval.
A penalty converted by Real Madrid's Mesut Ozil two minutes into injury-time after Federico Balzaretti's hand-ball was scant consolation for Joechim Loew's side.
Read on to find out how all the action unfolded in the National Stadium in Poland's capital and join us again on Sunday as the Italians take on defending champions Spain in the final in Kiev.
2055 GMT: Scenes of unbridled joy amongst Italy fans - the famous Tifosi - are beaming in from Rome - flares have been lit, flags are being waved and they are looking forward to a shot at glory in Sunday's final.
2046 GMT: Italy's players are dancing with delight on the pitch, and why not -- not many people backed them to get past a Germany side that had won their last 15 competitive games.
That's now eight times Germany have played Italy in major championships and failed to win - what's the Italian for bogey team?
ITALY WILL PLAY SPAIN IN THE EURO 2012 FINAL IN KIEV ON SUNDAY!
90 + 5 mins: FULL-TIME: Germany 1 Italy 2
90 + 3: YELLOW CARD - Germany's Hummels in the book for dissent after a dramatic Italian dive.
More from Barnaby in Warsaw: "Loew's chewing his lips, Ozil's hanging his head, Neuer's coming up for corners with five minutes left. Germany have lost their heads and Italy are in total command? until they give away a penalty. Spanner, works??
90 + 2 mins: GOAL! Germany 1 Italy 2 - Penalty after a Balzaretti hand-ball and Ozil smashes it home! Lifeline for Germany!
90 mins: Germany's 'keeper Neuer went forward for a corner there - it falls to Ozil on the edge of the area but he can only fire wide.
88 mins: YELLOW CARD - Italy's Thiago Motta
85 mins: It opened up in the area for Germany's Reus there but Balzaretti gets across to block him. He punched the air with delight at that intervention.
82 mins: Surely Antonio Di Natale has to kill the game off now - Balotelli puts him through and he's one-on-one with Neuer but can only side-foot the ball into the side-netting. Wasteful.
Federico Balzaretti then thinks he has scored after curling it around Neuer but he's flagged offside.
YELLOW CARD - Italy's Danielle De Rossi in the book.
77 mins: This from AFP's Barnaby Chesterman at Warsaw's National Stadium: "Old habits die hard and Italy are taking no chances here. They've switched to a five-man midfield, taking off both forwards and trequartista Montolivo. They certainly don't intend to try to kill off this game."
And for those who don't know, a trequartista is a playmaker...
75 mins: Germany centre-back Holger Badstuber stumbles in the area and Claudio Marchisio has a chance to finish Germany off - but he drags his shot wide of Neueer's lefthand upright. Excellent chance.
71 mins: SUBSTITUTION - Bayern striker Thomas Mueller on for Jerome Boateng - Loew has gone for it with that change.
69 mins: SUBSTITUTION - Antonio Di Natale replaces Mario Balotelli. The striker had pulled up with cramp and was chuntering as he went off but he's put Italy in charge of this game.
67 mins: Claudio Marchisio plays it into Alessandro Diamante who returns the favour with a measured pass but the midfielder can only slice wide of Neuer's goal. That would have sealed it for Italy.
64 mins: SUBSTITUTION - Cesare Prandelli makes a change for Italy - defensive midfielder Thiago Motta on for playmaker Riccardo Montolivo.
62 mins: Germany are knocking at the door here - Kroos curls in a delightful right-footed free-kick from outside the area and forces Buffon to palm it onto the crossbar. Good effort.
60 mins: Balotelli has got the bit between his teeth - he cuts in from the righthand touchline and fires in a powerful right-footed shot but it's well wide of Neuer's goal.
57 mins: SUBSTITUTION - Italy's Antonio Cassano is replaced by Alessandro Diamante who is earning just his fourth cap.
52 mins: Another opening for the Germans - Ozil makes a thrusting run to the right-hand touchline and pulls it back to Khedira but he's crowded out by Italian defenders.
49 mins: Great chance for Germany's captain Philipp Lahm on the edge of the area... but he blazes over! He played a lovely one-two to set the chance up.
Joachim Loew's side have started this half with more conviction but can't afford to miss too many of those if they're going to get back into this.
46 mins: Promising early run at the Italian defence from Reus, who cuts in on his left foot on the edge of the area but can only mishit a tame shot.
1949 GMT: SUBSTITUTIONS - Two changes for Germany for the second half - Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus on for Lukas Podolksi and Mario Gomez.
We're under way again in Warsaw...
1945 GMT: Just to put the 2-0 scoreline into some kind of context, my colleague Ryland James at the game in Warsaw has sent me this little nugget:
"This is the first time Germany have been behind at a European championships game since the Euo 2008 final.
"That includes 10 qualifiers, three group matches and the quarter-final win over Greece."
1936 GMT: News from Berlin -- AFP's Raphaelle Logerot in the fan zone at the Brandenburg Gate: "Some German fans have stood up and walked out of the zone, disgusted by that second goal from Balotelli."
45 +2 mins: HALF-TIME Germany 0 Italy 2
36 mins: GOAL! Germany 0 Italy 2 - a screamer from Balotelli and Italy have doubled their lead!
A simple ball over the top from Montolivo splits the two German centre-backs and picks out Balotelli, who bears down on goal leaving Philipp Lahm in his wake before lashing a vicious shot past a stationary Manuel Neuer.
Joachim Loew on the Germany bench looks shell-shocked.
YELLOW CARD - Balotelli was booked for taking off his shirt to celebrate the goal but I doubt he's too bothered after that pearler...
34 mins: Big chance for Italy to make it 2-0... but Montolivo's wasted it! Cassano found him with a cunning pass into the area but he tries to cut onto his right foot rather than shooting first time with his left and is tackled.
28 mins: Italy are getting a good deal of possession in midfield - Pirlo is central to some tidy passing moves as he was against England in the quarter-final.
Forgot to mention that Lukas Podolski has come back into Germany's starting line-up on the left wing at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen's Andre Schuerrle, who played in their 4-2 win over Greece in last Friday.
26 mins: Powerful centre-forward play from Germany's Mario Gomez, winning a long ball which he controls and rolls to Mesut Ozil only to see the midfielder fire in a tame shot that doesn't trouble Buffon.
20 mins: GOAL! Germany 0 Italy 1 - a towering header from Balotelli and Italy are in front!
Italy worked it well down the left, Antonio Cassano beat two defenders before getting a good cross to Balotelli in the middle who rose highest to power a header home from six yards out.
Simple but deadly.
12 mins: Sami Khedira passes it out to Jerome Boateng on the right, who whips in a low cross and Buffon can only fumble it awkwardly against defender Andrea Barzagli - he is relieved to see the ball roll just past his righthand post.
More early uncertainty from the veteran Italian shot-stopper.
Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos fires in a powerful shot rom the resulting corner that Buffon parries away.
10 mins: A reminder that Germany have won their last 15 competitive games, a new world record according to UEFA. So the Italians are going to have to spring a real shock to get past them...
6 mins: Nervous moments for Italy there though - a corner is whipped in from the left and Mats Hummels knees it towards goal. It beats 'keeper Gianluigi Buffon but Andrea Pirlo is on the post to clear it. Lucky escape!
3 mins: Riccardo Montolivo steals possession in the Germany half and tries to slips it through to Mario Balotelli - but it's just out of the striker's reach in the area... Promising opening for the Italians.
1847 GMT: KICK-OFF: We're under way in Warsaw...
1844 GMT: Both captains, Gianluigi Buffon and Phillippe Lahm talk to the fans over the PA about the importance of UEFA's 'Respect Diversity' message, which is received to resounding applause.
1840 GMT: Both sets of players have filed out and are lined up for the national anthems - Italy's tub-thumping one first, 'Il Canto degli Italiani'...
1830 GMT: "As soon as he came onto the pitch, Mario Balotelli went over the corner of the stadium where his friends - and his brother Enoch - are sitting to greet them," my colleague Emmanuel Barranguet writes from the National Stadium.
Balotelli has friends? Remarkable (nb - I'm sure he's just misunderstood...)
1820 GMT: ...and this has just landed from AFP reporter Laurent Geslin in Berlin: "The atmosphere is building around the famous Brandenburg Gate as small groups of swap thoughts about the upcoming match as a few beers are sunk.
"Germany's fans seem certain that 'Die Mannschaft' are going to win... 'You have to be optimistic and ignore the statistics which point to an Italian victory,' says Dennis Schiller a 25-year-old Berlin-born entrepreneur, referring to the surprising fact that Germany have yet to beat Italy in seven meetings at major championships.
'Tonight it's Germany's turn as they have the better team - we've never had such a good team.'
1810 GMT: My colleague Françoise Kadri has sent me this little snippet about the atmosphere that's building among fans in Rome's Piazza del Popolo (or People's Square): "There are already hundreds of (exclusively) Italian supporters, mostly young men, getting excited in the build-up to kick-off.
"We're in the middle of a heat wave here and it's nearly thirty degrees at 8pm local time! There are lots of trumpets, Italian flags being waved and faces -- not to mention several torsos - painted in the red white and green of Italy..."
1804 GMT: The starting line-ups for the game are in - it looks like Mario Gomez has reclaimed his striker's spot from Miroslav Klose while Toni Kroos also comes in:
Germany (4-2-3-1)
Manuel Neuer; Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm (capt); Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Lukas Podolski, Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos; Mario Gomez
Coach: Joachim Loew
Italy (4-3-1-2)
Gianluigi Buffon (capt); Federico Balzaretti, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini; Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, Daniele De Rossi; Riccardo Montolivo; Mario Balotelli, Antonio Cassano
Coach: Cesare Prandelli
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (FRA)
1750 GMT: AFP's Emmanuel Barranguet has been in touch from Warsaw: "On the streets of the city on Thursday afternoon, hundreds of Germany fans have been teasing their Italian counterparts by singing "Arrivederci Italia!" to the Seven Nation Army tune ("Po popo po popo pooooo...")
In the face of such inventive musical mockery the 'tifosi' may as well pack up and go home...
WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT on the second semi-final of the Euro 2012 football championships which sees Germany take on Italy for the right to play Spain in Sunday's final in Kiev.
Kick-off at the National Stadium in the Poland's capital Warsaw is just over hour away at 1845 GMT - stay with us for all the team news and build-up with input from our reporters at the game Barnaby Chesterman and Ryland James. -- AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment