An Italian performance oozing class and confidence
saw a young but supremely talented Germany lose their one hundred percent record at these European Championships, on a night to forget for the three-time champions. It would be churlish to write off 2006 World Cup winners Italy before the game, even after a rather stifled display in their Quarter-Final match-up against a robust and dogged England, but it is fair to say that most wouldn’t have expected anything but a Spain-Germany conclusion to these Championships on Sunday. Instead, an altered tactical system that sought to counteract the Italian defence, in particular the flat back four employed by Cesare Prandelli’s side, found itself deficient across huge swathes of the pitch. Arsenal fans in particular will have seen little to excite them about Podolski, who, so often a consistent goal threat for his national side, was marginalised and saw so little of the ball in his 45-minute appearance that it was easy to forget he was even on the pitch. Toni Kroos, too, was ineffectual in his wide right forward role, normally playing far deeper and with more impact for both club and country. It says much for this system that those providing the greatest wide threat for this Germany side were the full backs Boateng and Lahm coming forwards on the overlap. Cheap errors ultimately Joachim Löw’s men the two goals they conceded, with lacklustre defending at the edge of the box leading to the first, while the otherwise reliable Lahm played Balotelli onside and was guilty of ball-watching for the second. That said, it shouldn’t take anything away from a superb exhibition from the Italians in intelligent play and confidence on the ball, and of course, the individual brilliance by Balotelli. Showing strength and skill, he climbed over centre back Badstuber as if he were not even there to cooly nod the ball past Manuel Neuer for his first after just twenty minutes. A quick release from Chiellini down the left looked like it had been played into a blind alley, however with verve and more than a touch of the Azzuri flair of old, Cassano received and kept the ball close to his feet, producing a delightful turn and pinpoint left-footed cross to the head of the eagerly awaiting Balotelli.
Joachim Löw’s Germany were left utterly frustrated by a classy display from the Italians.
Balotelli’s second was the result of an even greater build up, a careless German corner kick eventually falling to Ricardo Montolivo, who with a quick look upfield to the two strikers Italy had left at the halfway line, lofted a perfectly placed pass towards Balotelli, who breaking free of the German defense and pursued far too late by Phillip Lahm, took a quick touch before firing an absolutely sublime rocket of a shot from the edge of the box into the top left corner of Manuel Neuer’s goal, who could only stand and watch the ball rippling the back of the net. Germany were by no means tamed in this first half, though, with Gomez producing a quite brilliant first time strike destined for the top corner until being pushed round the post by the evergreen Gianluigi Buffon, and Özil always threatening. A change was needed, with Löw wasting no time and bring on Klose and Reus in place of the subdued Podolski and Gomez at half time, with the adjustment in strategy almost having the desired effect, with Marco Reus’ free kick drawing a fantastic save from Buffon, and Lahm wasting a golden opportunity to bring his side back into the game and firing wide. The Italians were still after more, with Di Natale again springing the German offside trap and powering through on the German goal, only for his inside-footed shot to graze the side netting. A last-minute Mesut Özil penalty following a rather tame handball call was little more than consolation, leaving the German team, supporters and manager pondering on a defeat which they believed was their game to win.
Pir-less (Sorry, had to be done)
So where did it all go wrong for the Germans? A convincing domination of their games so far in this competition is almost the complete opposite to the way the Italians imposed their own style of play upon the match. Had Germany scored early on, or even if Balotelli been kept at bay for longer, it is likely that the Germans could eventually have settled into this game. However, the way Italy’s midfield, the likes of the energetic De Rossi, the gifted Montolivo, and, of course, the age-defying veteran Andrea Pirlo maintained possession and slowed the pace of the game to their liking ultimately left the German team, in particular the forward players, frustrated and increasingly impatient. When players like Gomez and Kroos were drawn forward to try and engage with the more withdrawn Italian midfield, gaps were opened up which were frequently exposed with clever and incisive passing moves. Standing off of the Italian attackers did little better, with far too much time being allowed for intelligent runs to be made across the middle third of the pitch and passes played into Italian players down Germany’s flanks. It is telling that the most effective German players on the pitch were those playing in more withdrawn positions, Khedira having space to occasionally burst into forward runs, Lahm and Boateng coming almost to the byline and Özil having the freedom to find his own space across the pitch.
Joachim Löw is a talented young manager and will no doubt bounce back from this experience. He has at his disposal one of the most talented young national squads in world football, in particular Hummels, Khedira, Boateng and Özil who were so impressive in their U-21 European Championship-winning side of 2009, are really beginning to look the real deal, the latter in particular being almost impossible for the Italian defense to keep shackled. Now, the neutrals can look forward to a really interesting competition of two wholly different styles in the Final this weekend. In a competition that has thrown up few surprises until now, the best could still be yet to come.
Push And Run 