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On Thursday, the second semi-final match of the European Football Championship will take place at the National Stadium in Warsaw. The football powerhouses Germany and Italy will clash. We review the perspectives of the future opponents and provide the odds set by the bookmakers at "TonyBet".
Germany - 1.90; Draw - 3.40; Italy - 4.30
The last time these teams' paths crossed was in the semi-finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where Italy emerged victorious. Since their last encounter, Italian football has not been at its best, but it seems that now things are returning to normal.
With four wins out of four possible matches, the status of favorites of the championship has further increased for the Germans. They simply crushed the "Group of Death", where powerful teams like Portugal, the Netherlands, and Denmark had no chance against the Germans. Later in the quarterfinals, with a drastic change of attackers, the result was the same - a crushing victory over Greece. The team has now won a total of 15 consecutive international matches, showing how dangerous the most successful European Championship team of all time is. Joachim Low will have all his players at his disposal in the semi-finals, but it is interesting to see whether he will rely again on the most productive player of the team, M. Gomez, or leave him on the bench in such crucial matches.
Over the past four and a half years, Italy has experienced its darkest era in football in its entire history. The new team strategist, Cesare Prandelli, has rejuvenated the squad, not forgetting the fantastic playmaker A. Pirlo, and the team's performance is starting to give hope to fans. Only four goals conceded in the last 14 official matches - a testimony to the pressure felt by G. Buffon and the solid "Azzurri" defense. The main Italian strikers are like ticking bombs, but even they are united for the common goal of bringing back the great country to footballing elite. Throughout the tournament, they have not suffered a single defeat, and their stunning performance against the English team in the quarterfinals should instill fear even in the most powerful opponents.
The Germans will step onto the National Stadium in Warsaw trying to overcome the curse of the nation and defeat "Azzurri" for the first time. In this championship, the Germans are playing attacking football and will seek to dominate in the upcoming match as well. Italy is certainly not a defensive team, and in terms of shots on goal, they even rank first in Euro 2012. Most of the blame falls on M. Balotelli's shoulders, who is second in the tournament in terms of shots on goal, but knowing his abilities, it would be strange if he doesn't take the opportunity to score in the upcoming match.
