Here’s Daniel Taylor’s match report from Bordeaux:
Post-match reading
Here’s an Observer exclusive on the friction between Roy Hodgson and Gary Neville that undermined England’s Euro 2016 campaign.
Oh, one last thing: Manuel Neuer was magnificent in that penalty shoot-out. He isn’t a great keeper; he’s an all-time great.
Germany go on to play France or Iceland in the semi-finals. Patrick Battison could be a busy man in the next few days. Italy may have only reached the last eight, but this tournament has been a stirring triumph for their admirable team and their wonderful manager Antonio Conte. Thanks for your company, goodnight.
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There were some bizarre penalties, not least from Zaza, who looked like he was making a fitness video during his run-up, and then blootered it into orbit. That was one of the funniest penalties I’ve ever seen, not least because it was his first touch of the match and he’d been brought on as a penalty specialist.
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Dear me, where do you start with that? Buffon almost got to the last penalty. He dived the right way but it slithered under his body. Italy were so close at times during the shoot-out, and Germany took some awful penalties. Thankfully for them, so did Italy.
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Hector scores! Italy 5-6 Germany. GERMANY GO THROUGH TO THE SEMI-FINALS!
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Darmian misses! Italy 5-5 Germany
A rubbish penalty, saved by Neuer to his left!
Boateng scores! Italy 5-5 Germany
De Sciglio scores! Italy 5-4 Germany
It hit the underside of the bar, and that drum and bass song you can hear is De Sciglio’s heartbeat.
Kimmich scores! Italy 4-4 Germany
A brilliant penalty, especially from a 21-year-old.
Parolo scores! Italy 4-3 Germany
Italy have started smacking them all down the middle.
Hummels scores! Italy 3-3 Germany
Excellent penalty from Hummels. This is unbelievable stuff!
Giaccherini scores! Italy 3-2 Germany
Schweinsteiger misses! Italy 2-2 Germany
He smashed it over the bar! This is a shambles!
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Bonucci’s penalty is saved! Italy 2-2 Germany
He scored in the match, but he’s missed here! It’s a great save from Neuer!
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Draxler scores! Italy 2-2 Germany
Good penalty, and it’s effectively sudden death now.
Pelle misses! Italy 2-1 Germany
An awful penalty again, dragged feebly wide. Had it been on target Neuer would have saved it anyway.
Ozil hits the post! Italy 2-1 Germany
Buffon went right, Ozil went the other way and hit the outside of the post!
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Barzagli scores! Italy 2-1 Germany
He clipped it straight down the middle as Neuer dived left.
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Muller misses! Italy 1-1 Germany
An awful penalty and Buffon saves!
Zaza misses! Italy 1-1 Germany
After a bizarre run-up, in which he jogged on the spot for ages, the substitute Zaza screams it into orbit! Madon!
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Kroos scores! Italy 1-1 Germany
Another terrific penalty. Buffon went the right way, to his right, but it was too precise.
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Insigne scores! Italy 1-0 Germany
Calmly sidefooted to the right. Neuer went the wrong way.
Italy will go first, which is usually an advantage. Lorenzo Insigne will take the first penalty.
We knew it would be Neuer v Buffon onight, but we didn’t think Neuer would be taking a penalty at Buffon.
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In the 1990s Italy went out of all three World Cups on penalties, but their record since then is better. Germany’s is formidable - they last lost a shoot-out in 1976 - though a few of these players have missed vital penalties before. I have a hunch Italy might do this.
Full time: Germany 1-1 Italy
It’s going to penalties. It was far from a great game, but it was seriously intense.
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120 min Insigne almost scoots through the Germany defence, but the last man Howedes ushers the ball through the Neuer. With penalties in mind, Italy are bringing on Zaza to replace the immense Chiellini.
119 min After a great pass from Boateng and a lay-off from Schweinsteiger, Ozil’s rising drive from 20 yards is straight at Buffon.
118 min Germany are totally dominating possession in the last few minutes. Ozil finds Muller in the box, and he pokes a pass that hits an Italian defender. There was a slight appeal for handball, though I think it hit the chest. In fact it hit Barzagli on the head.
115 min Muller buys a foul from Chiellini on the right wing. Parolo heads the free-kick clear. With the Neuer incident, he actually kicked it at the referee, and it looped dangerously back into the Germany area. The referee then blew for an imaginary infringement just as Neuer was about to challenge Pelle. I’d like to see a replay of that.
114 min In 2006, Italy were so desperate to avoid penalties against Germany that they ended up with four forwards on the pitch. This time they look so shattered that it’s almost as much as they can do to hang on for penalties.
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113 min Insigne’s shot from a tight angle is comfortably held by Neuer. Then there is some kind of farce off-camera - I think Neuer kicked the ball straight into an Italian player, though it didn’t matter as the referee gave a foul.
112 min Schweinsteiger is booked for a hand off in the face of Insigne.
111 min “Funny how teams react to the pressures of tournament football,” says Matt Dony. “We were assured that, with youth coming through and a million striking options, this was the most exciting England team in years. Compare that with what we were repeatedly told would be the ‘worst Italian side in a generation.’ Also, how the hell is Buffon ‘only’ 38? He seems to have been a grizzled veteran since I first set eyes on him, a long time ago.”
109 min Germany break three-on-three through Draxler, who runs 50 yards but then overhits a fairly simple through pass to Muller!
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108 min The excellent Eder limps off to be replaced by Lorenzo Insigne.
107 min Schweinsteiger’s deep cross is headed up in the air by Barzagli, towards his own goal, and Draxler improvises an overhead flick just over the bar from a few yards. That was almost a very strange goal.
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106 min We’re off again.
Half time in extra time: Germany 1-1 Italy
We should have known it was going to be like this. Germany have a great record in penalty shoot-outs, of course, but they have never had one against Italy.
103 min That is ridiculous. Giaccherini is clearly fouled on the edge of the area, falls over and lands on the ball with his hands. The referee books him, either for diving or handball. Giaccherini was one of the few remaining Italians not on a yellow card, so it won’t affect his semi-final place if they get there.
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102 min A couple of corners for Germany, the second of which is played short and passed around until eventually, out of sheer boredom, Boateng drives a low shot well wide from 30 yards.
99 min The break has worked in Germany’s favour, and they’ve got their passing groove back. Italy still look relatively comfortable defensively, however, and penalties is the likeliest scenario.
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95 min “Turns out my presence isn’t nearly as interesting as I thought,” says Alys Barber-Rogers. “Mum’s left the room and Dad’s put the football on... At least his timing is good!”
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94 min Gianluca Vialli, who is a terrific pundit, made a really good point about Boateng’s handball. Basically Boateng had his hands high in the air to show the referee he wasn’t pushing Chiellini, but he hadn’t considered that this might leave him vulnerable to handball.
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93 min Chiellini and Muller have a full and frank exchange of views, with Muller accusing Chiellini of being a baby. Buffon calms him down, as you would expect of the nicest man on the planet.
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91 min Extra-time is under way, and Pelle is booked inside the first minute for planting his studs into Boateng’s achilles. He’ll miss the semi-final if Italy get there.
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That was apparently the first penalty of Bonucci’s career. He has some moxie, because it was magnificent.
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Full time: Germany 1-1 Italy
Just as in 1970 and 2006, Germany and Italy are going to extra time. See you in a few minutes.
90+2 min Chiellini takes Ozil’s cross off the head of Schweinsteiger with an outstanding defensive header eight yards from goal.
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90+1 min There will be three minutes of added time.
90 min Hummels is booked for a foul on the increasingly menacing Eder. He’ll miss the semi-final if Germany go through. They need the final whistle a lot more than Italy.
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89 min Eder flicks a classy pass with the outside of the foot to De Sciglio on the left. He attacks Kimmich, comes inside and drills a low shot just wide of the near post. It rippled the side netting, and some people thought it was in. I think Neuer had it covered either way.
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86 min Florenzi, who has put in an outstanding shift and looks totally spent, is replaced by Matteo Darmian. Those two Italian wing-backs are such admirable players.
85 min Germany can hear the Jaws music. They had total control 15 minutes ago and almost went 2-0 up, but now they are looking under the sauce to see if it’s pasta.
84 min Boateng had been superb until that point as well. What a thing to do.
83 min Now Italy look the likelier winners, though we all remember Romania 1998.
81 min A superb break from Italy involving Florenzi and the speedy Eder ends with Pelle’s mishit shot deflecting wide off Howedes. Muller heads the corner away.
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That was a bizarre handball from Boateng. He was marking Chiellini at the near post, and attacked the ball with his hands high in the air. It was a clear penalty.
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GOAL! Germany 1-1 Italy (Bonucci 77 pen)
A brilliant penalty from Bonucci, who stopped in his run-up and passed it precisely into the bottom-right corner. Neuer went the right way but was nowhere near.
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Florenzi’s corner came back to him, and he curled it back into the box, where Boateng was guilty of an absurd star-jump handball. That was ridiculous.
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76 min Italy, who looked beaten five minutes, have stirred into life. And now they have a penalty!
75 min “Italy’s defence may have switched off due to the sheer dullness of watching their own play,” sniffs Ian Copestake.
74 min Italy have their best spell of possession for a while. De Sciglio drags a low cross towards Pelle, who gets in front of Boateng but crashes his shot wide of the near post. He couldn’t wrap his foot around the ball.
72 min Gomez limps off; Julian Draxler replaces him.
70 min Italy haven’t had a kick since the goal. Having seen a replay, it wasn’t a backheel from Gomez at all; Chiellini, running back towards his own goal, tried to tackle Gomez and almost scored an own goal in the process. It was a majestic save from Buffon.
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68 min Great save from Buffon! The increasingly influential Ozil played a gorgeous chip over the defence to Gomez, who timed his run to beat the offside trap. The ball wouldn’t sit down for him, so he improvised an adroit backheel from six yards. Buffon had barely any reacftion time but dived to his left to tip it over. That is a brilliant save.
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67 min I’d need to see a replay, but I think Gomez might have been fractionally offside in the build up to the goal, when he attacked a long kick from Neuer at the start of the move. It’s hard to be sure without seeing a replay.
Gomez broke down the left, waited patiently for support and then played a fine pass infield to the underlapping Hector. His cross deflected off an Italian defender and Ozil, arriving late at the near post, swept a first-time half-volley past Buffon from eight yards.
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GOAL! Germany 1-0 Italy (Ozil 65)
Mesut Ozil has given Germany the lead!
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64 min “Somewhere,” says Hubert O’Hearn, “Lee Cattermole is watching this game of fouls and is thinking, ‘This is international football? Why haven’t I been called up?’”
63 min “Why can no side in this tournament take a decent corner or free kick?” says Gary Naylor. “Bring back Andrea Pirlo!”
Throw-ins are the new corners.
62 min A rare Italian break, and Giaccherini’s deep, inswinging cross is headed away well by the under-pressure Hector. Moments later, Parolo’s first-time shot from 25 yards bobbles well wide.
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61 min After a good start to the second half, Italy have been pushed back again by Germany’s smooth, confident passing. There isn’t a lot in it, and Buffon still hasn’t had a difficult save to make, but if you had to guess a winner now it would probably be Germany.
59 min After no yellow cards in 55 minutes, we’ve now had three in five. Parolo is booked for a high kick on Gomez. He wasn’t on a card before the game.
57 min De Sciglio is booked for a late hack at Kimmich, and he will miss the semi-final if Italy get there.
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55 min Sturaro is booked for dissent, the first yellow card of the match. He was in the minority of Italians who weren’t on a booking before the game.
54 min Florenzi makes up for his own error with a spectacular clearance off the line! He gave the ball away in his own half, allowing Germany to counter-attack. Eventually the ball came to Muller, who blasted a left-footed shot towards the left-hand post from just inside the box. Florenzi’s momentum took him past the line of the ball but he improvised brilliantly to produce a kind of flying kick to divert it wide of the post. It might have been going wide anyway, it’s hard to be sure; either way, it was spectacular defending.
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54 min “On the Horse of the Year Show criteria I make Neuer ahead on Elegance (nice chest-down and clearance) and Buffon down one for that near-post fumble,” says Charles Antaki. “Both equal on Hoofing.”
53 min Kimmich’s cross is headed behind for a corner by the diving Barzagli. Sturaro heads the corner clear.
51 min Italy are clearly determined to play higher up the pitch, particularly the wing-backs. De Sciglio has been involved a lot in the first few minutes of the half.
49 min “Tedious is spot on for that first half,” says Jamie Fox. “There is an emperor’s new clothes situation going on here with everyone afraid of being called out for being uncultured. . So far not a patch on the 2006 classic.” Some would argue it’s not a patch on the 1962 stinker.
47 min On the BBC, Thierry Henry made the point that Italy have been forced to play a 5-3-2, with De Sciglio and Florenzi pushed back for almost all of the half. They look most dangerous when the wing-backs get forward, as De Sciglio did there before putting in a good low cross to Eder. He tried to lay it back for Giaccherini to shoot first time but his touch was too light and Germany cleared.
46 min Peep peep! Italy begin the second half, kicking from left to right.
“Evening Rob,” says Alys Barber-Rogers. “I’m visiting my folks down in Devon. Mum’s not bothered about football, Dad and I both love it, we’re having a lovely evening and I don’t get down here very often. We’d turn the telly on if it was a cracker of a game... What’s your advice?”
Keep chatting about the good times; you’re not missing much.
“I can appreciate this is a game of rare skill and tactical discipline, but I’m watching with a fever north of 39 degrees,” says Kari Tulinius. “I just want someone to do a goal before I start hallucinating dolphins telescoping down the left wing.”
You’ve got serious problems.
“From a neutral standpoint,” says Ian Copestake, “it would be worth having Balotelli in the Italy side just to see his effect on Conte.”
“Anyone who thinks that half was tedious has serious problems,” says Mike MacKenzie.
A bit of half-time reading
Half-time: Germany 0-0 Italy
That was either an intriguing or tedious half of football; I’m still not sure which. See you in 10 minutes!
43 min Italy almost take the lead on the stroke of half-time. A wonderful long pass from Bonucci (I think) finds Giaccherini on the left of the box, a very similar ball to the one that led to the first goal against Belgium. Giaccherini almost overruns it but manages to cut it back across the face of goal. Eventually it comes to Sturaro, following up the play, and his first-time shot deflects off Boateng and just wide of the far post.
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42 min A sliced 20-yard shot from Kroos pinballs around the Italian box before coming to Muller, who gets neither power or precision on his first-time shot from 15 yards. He scuffed it into the ground, and Buffon had plenty of time to dive to his right and grab it.
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41 min Kimmich’s short-range cross finds Gomez, who gets a run on his man at the near post but powers a header well over the bar. It was a half-chance at best.
40 min “This match is reminiscent of the 2003 Champions League Final,” says Niall Mullen, landing the lowest blow of them all.
38 min I’m not sure there has been a shot on target. The game doesn’t feel like a stinker, however, probably because of the grandeur and the rare tactical intrigue. I may revise this view in an hour’s time, however.
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37 min “So it seems Uefa have been slightly more proactive than expected, with respect to the Italian team ending with 12 eligible for the semi,” says Brendan Large. “They just told the ref not to book anyone. He seems to be refreshingly lenient.” It’s 2006 all over again.
36 min Buffon fumbles an awkward, deflected cross from Hector, but manages to grab it off Gomez’s toe at the second attempt. We still haven’t had a clear chance.
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35 min Here’s Ian Copestake. “Am trying to imagine how Conte as Bond villain would deliver the line, ‘Come. come, Mr Bond. You take just as much pleasure in killing German tournament dreams as I do.’”
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32 min “Even Conte’s bench staff look like the Council of Evil,” says John Pitre. “I cannot wait (as a neutral) for MUN CHE next year.”
Not to mention all the other big games. Managercam will be a lot more entertaining than the actual football.
31 min Parolo’s crossfield pass slithers under Kimmich’s foot and through to De Sciglio on the left. He guides a low cross towards the near post, where Boateng does brilliantly to get in front of Giaccherini and clear.
29 min Pelle plays a nice one-two with Eder, whose return pass is fractionally underhit and thus allows Howedes to intercept. Then Chiellini ploughs through Muller on the halfway line without punishment. It’s starting to warm up.
27 min Schweinsteiger has a goal disallowed. It was the right decision. Hummels drove a long angled pass into the box, and Schweinsteiger shoved De Sciglio over before heading past Buffon. It was a good header but a clear foul.
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27 min Italy are really struggling to get out, although Buffon has had nothing to do so far. It’s almost like a training exercise, attack v defence.
25 min Sturaro puts Kroos up in the air and receives a lecture from the referee. The last 15 minutes have been very bitty, with lots of breaks in play.
24 min Eder has a nose bleed after an accidental elbow from Boateng. He’s back on the field, with tissue shoved up his hooter.
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23 min De Sciglio beats Kimmich to a loose ball and is clattered. For some reason the referee does not give a free-kick, a decision with which Antonio Conte is not entirely enamoured.
22 min “Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Proper major tournament football, this. 12 World and European Championships between them - Germany, Italy and Scotland. Incredible!”
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21 min Italy are missing De Rossi both with and without the ball, and Germany are starting to pin them back.
19 min Italy haven’t really got into the game as an attacking force. At the moment it’s on the cagey side of respectful, certainly from Italy.
18 min “If it gets dull, could they just turn it into a save-off between Buffon and Neuer?” says Charles Antaki. “I have in mind something like the Horse of the Year Show, with points for the equivalent of spectacular jumps, responsiveness and positioning. Penalty saves if tied.” Wouldn’t Buffon win by default for being the nicest man alive?
15 min Khedira off, Schweinsteiger on. Poor Khedira has had some dumb luck with injuries: he missed the World Cup final after doing himself a mischief in the warm-up.
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14 min Khedira signals to the bench that he can’t carry on, and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who came out of retirement for this tournament, is getting ready to replace him.
13 min Khedira is feeling his groin - outside his shorts - and is also having treatment on his leg after a collision with Chiellini. He’s going to carry on for now.
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12 min The right wing-back Kimmich is seeing a lot of the ball for Germany. When Hummels finds him with a marvellous crossfield pass, he tries to scoot round De Sciglio and into the box. De Sciglio does very well to get his body between men and ball and draw the foul.
9 min Another good spell of passing from Germany leads to their first corner. It’s played short to Kimmich, whose cross flicks off an Italian head and all the way across the box. This has been a fascinating start.
8 min Antonio Conte would make a magnificent Bond villain.
6 min Italy are into their work now, and have harassed Germany out of possession on a few occasions in the last couple of minutes. So far this is that rarest of things: the tactically interesting game.
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5 min Italy win the first corner of the match. Eder tries the Anderton/Sheringham near-post corner and the ball is half cleared to Sturaro, whose snapshot from 20 yards goes well wide. From the resulting goalkick, Italy leave four men on the edge of the German box so that Neuer has to kick long. When he does it soon comes back to Giaccherini, whose shot is deflected for another corner. Nothing comes of it.
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4 min “I have a feeling that facing this particular bogey, Jogi will not get a sniff,” honks Ian Copestake.
3 min Germany have started confidently, with some crisp, rhythmic passing.
2 min Germany are indeed playing a back three, with Boateng in the centre, Hummels to his left and Howedes to the right. I didn’t realise but apparently they played that system when they battered Italy 4-1 in March.
1 min Peep peep! Germany, in white, kick off from left to right. Italy are in blue.
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Before we start, there’s a minute’s applause for those who died in Dhaka last night, including a number of Italians.
There’s a terrific atmosphere in Bordeaux, and the kick-off is second away. Folks, it’s Germany v Italy.
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“Is Mario Gomez Germany’s Serginho?” says Gary Naylor. “Of course this German team do not have Brazil 82’s dazzling array of attacking options (no side has - before or since), but I think this Mannschaft has greatness in it. We’ll learn a lot about them tonight.”
“Hi Rob,” says Mark van Dijk. “To answer David Wall’s question about suspensions... You’ll remember the situation with Germany at Euro 96, where they went into the final with Kohler, Basler and Bobic injured; Klinsmann, Freund, Ziege and Helmer on the “maybe” list; and Reuter and Moller both suspended.
“They had both reserve keepers (Kahn and Reck) training as outfield players, just in case - until Uefa allowed them to call up an extra player (Jens Todt). In that case, it was a blend of injuries and suspensions - but to answer David’s question: Yes, Uefa do have a back-up plan!”
“Never mind the football, which can hardly fail to be anything but intriguing today…what about the managerial sartorial contest?” asks Justin Kavanagh. “I fancy Antonio Conte’s drop-dead-cool-couture to shade it over Joachim Löw’s casual-Friday-in-an-investment-bank look today. And 3-2 to Italy on the field.”
We all know where Conte and Diego Simeone got their sartorial inspiration.
An email
“Looking at that list of Italians one caution away from suspension, what would happen if they were all to be booked this evening, leaving them with only 12 players eligible for the next round if they won?” asks David Wall. “Would they simply have to bite the bullet and have just the third goalkeeper on the bench for the semi-final? And what if there were injuries to that eligible 12, and they weren’t able to field an eleven? Again, is it just tough luck, and they have to muddle through with an under-strength team, or do UEFA allow for emergency call-ups to avoid a farce?”
I have no idea, but I assume that, should the situation arise, Uefa have plans in place to make it up as they go along.
As you probably know by now, Italy are the bogeyman’s bogeyman, having never lost to Germany at a major tournament. Here’s a short history of this fixture by that Rob Smyth.
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All of these players will miss the semi-final if they are booked
Germany Hummels, Khedira, Ozil, Boateng, Kimmich.
Italy Buffon, De Sciglio, Chiellini, Pelle, Barzagli, Eder, Bonucci, Sirigu, Zaza, De Rossi, Insigne.
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Team news
Daniele De Rossi is not fit to start, which is bad news for Italy as Thiago Motta is also suspended. Stefano Sturaro comes into the midfield. Germany have had an interesting reshuffle, with Benedikt Howedes replacing Julian Draxler. That suggests they are going to match Italy’s back three.
Germany (3-4-2-1) Neuer; Boateng, Hummels, Howedes; Kimmich, Khedira, Kroos, Hector; Muller, Ozil; Gomez.
Substitutes: Leno, ter Stegen, Mustafi, Schweinsteiger, Schurrle, Podolski, Draxler, Can, Weigl, Tah, Gotze, Sane.
Italy (3-1-4-2) Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Parolo; Florenzi, Sturaro, Giaccherini, De Sciglio; Pelle, Eder.
Substitutes: Sirigu, Marchetti, Darmian, Ogbonna, Zaza, Candreva, Immobile, De Rossi, Insigne, Bernardeschi, El Shaarawy.
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Pre-match reading
Raphael Honigstein on Germany’s true nine ...
... and Daniel Taylor’s preview ...
Preamble
Folks, it’s Germany v Italy. This match requires not a single syllable of hype. These two countries are the aristocracy of European football: between them they have won 12 World Cups and European Championships, almost as many as the rest of Europe combined. It could soon be 13, as they have been the best teams in the tournament so far.
Germany, the world champions, are yet to concede a goal, while Antonio Conte’s side played with thrilling desire and organisation to beat Belgium and Spain. Germany tonked Italy 4-1 in a friendly in March, though that was a weaker Italy side. And while Germany are deservedly favourites because of their quality and status, Italy have been magnificent underdogs in this tournament so far. The only certainty is that this, surely, is going to be a dramatic feast.
Kick off is at 8pm BST, 9pm in Bordeaux. The winners face France or Iceland in the semi-final.
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