The Euro Four

Semi Final One

Germany Vs. Italy

4th July

# Deutschland :
Key Players :
Michael Ballack , Klose-Podolski pair, Philip Lahm , Frings, Klismann (their young enthusiastic Manager)
Strenghts :
Home nation, Efficient well organised attack, front two (Klose-Podolski in great form), All players fully fit and in form, Have tightened up their defence after intial hiccups, They have the status of the underdogs(so nothing to lose), Young team, Hungry for sucess, Klinsmann has given their nation a new hope and belief !

They are on a high right now , after beating Argentines, regrded by many as the best team in this tournament, in the quarterfinals.
Weakness :
Their only weakness so far (unless the Italians expose some other) has been their young un-experienced defence , but the Germans know their weakness as well as their strenths so you expect them to work on that !!

# Italia :
Key Players :
Buffon, Nesta, Cannavaro, Pirlo, Totti
Strenghts :
The good old italian defence is as strong as ever with Cannavaro-Nesta central defence bieng rock solid and Materazzi filling in for injured Nesta once in a while. Midfield is strong with Gattuso , Cameronesi doing the holding job and Pirlo providing the creativity.
Weakness :
The forward line is a bit weak so could find it tough to score goals sometimes. Del Piero and Inzaghi have the expirience but are too old to run around for 90 minutes while Toni and Gilardino have the energy but lack the experince and temperament.

The last time these two teams met in WC was the 1982 final when Italy won its only post-wars title. The Italian team that time was in deep controversy with their captain Rossi under match-fixing charges. Deja vu?? 13 italian players are involved in the biggest ever match-fixing scandal coming into this match including the likes of Buffon, Del Piero & Co. Anyways the Italian game plan is cleat , the eternal defend-counterattack strategy which has worked quite well for them this time around too. But they would like to avoid taking the game into penalties as Germans have never lost in a penalty shoot-out in a World cup match (the Argentines bieng their latest victims.)

The Germans have never lost in Dortmund, are on a high after that epic win against Argentina, won their world cup last time in Italy itself, won the last world cup held in Germany, all their players are fit and in form. They just need to break the italian deadlock and im sure they could reach yet another WC final. thats what they are good at. reaching finals. They have played in 7 (more than any other team.) They were there last time around in 2002, they made 3 consecutive times in 1982, 1986, 1990. They are GOOD !!