Germany, powerhouse of european football will be up against Italy, who beat defedning champions Spain 2-0 in their quarterfinal match on Saturday. The World Cup holders have now a chance to emerge victorious on the European stage as well. Although it is not an easy task at hand, as for German coach, Joachim loew, all of his team’s previous failures to beat Italy at a major tournament will surely be in his mind.
“We have no Italy-trauma, because it’s a different team now and there are always different factors at play,” loew said on Tuesday.
In his ten years in-charge of Germany, loew’s biggest disappointment came in semifinals four years ago, when Italy forward Mario Balotelli struck twice in Warsaw to knock his side out with a 2-1 loss. loew was also present as assistant coach to Jurgen Klinsmann when Italy knocked Germany out of its home World Cup in 2006.
Of eight meetings between the countries at tournaments, starting with a goalless draw at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, Germany has won none. Now Germans call Italy their “Angstgegner” or “feared opponent.”
Germany started off the 2016 Euro in slow pace, beating Ukraine 2-0. Things only got worse for them in the next match against Poland.
The ‘Die Mannschaft’ had trouble breaking strong the Polish defence and the match ended goalless. Germany again had a tough time against Northern Ireland, when they edged them 1-0 as Michael McGovern single handedly kept Ireland in the match by making saves after saves. But after that Germany got back to their best, easing past Slovakia 3-0 to make a statement to their critics.
There still remains question marks over striker Thomas Muller’s performance in the tournament. The Bayern Munich player who scored 33 goals in Bundesleiga 2015-16 season is not performing up to the mark and is yet to open his account in the tournament.