The Germans were favourites heading into the clash after winning all their games so far. Italy edged through their quarter final on penalties despite dominating their match against England. The Italian's dominance in that match gave them renewed optimism for this semi, however Germany have been hugely impressive and were expected to reach the final.
As the match began, the Germans appeared to be man marking Andrea Pirlo who is the vocal point of the Italian side, for some reason though they seemed to forget this plan in a matter of minutes. Early on Germany looked the better team but Italy seemed to get themselves together and took the lead on twenty minutes through a close header from Manchester City's Mario Balotelli.
The maverick striker doubled his side's lead with a fine finish after a swift counter attack sixteen minutes later. This period of play had left the Germans stunned as they had arguably been the better side, the team that had looked unflappable before the match went into half time trailing.
The second half saw Germany searching to get back into the game, despite a lot of possession they were really struggling to trouble Gianluigi Buffon. At the other end, Italy were squandering a number of chances to secure their victory. A 90th minute Mesut Ozil penalty gave the Germans hope however Italy held on to upset the favourites and secure their place in the final.
Not many people would have seen that result coming, Italy actually played very well and defended excellently. Germany will wonder how they didn't make the final with their current form, Spain haven't been at their best so the final should be a good game.
No comments:
Post a Comment