Germany were overwhelming favorites going into this match after winning all three of their group games and topping the so called 'group of death'. Greece have surprised plenty by reaching this stage after stunning Russia in their final group game, they were big underdogs going into this match but have shocked Europe before by winning the competition in 2004.
The game went pretty much how everyone thought it would, Greece sat back trying to catch the Germans on the break as the favorites had the majority of the possession, Germany had rested their tournament top scorer Mario Gomez and were beginning to regret it as they missed a hat full of chances. It took a fantastically curled strike in the 39th minute, from skipper Phillip Lahm to give the Germans the lead going into the break.
Greece needed to find a goal from somewhere in order to keep their dream alive and did just that ten minutes into the second half, Celtic's Georgios Samaras completed a sharp counter attack to stun Germany and draw his side level. The Germans were having none of it though as Sami Khedira restored their lead just six minutes later, Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus secured the game for Germany before Greece brought a bit of respectability to the scoreline as Dimitris Salpingdis converted a penalty a couple of minutes from the end.
Germany have surprised no one by winning this game and I fully expect them to go on and win the tournament as I believe they are best side in this competition. Greece worked very hard and will be happy with their tournament performance overall given that no one thought they would reach the knockout stage.
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