Day 14

Germany 4-2 Greece

Germany breezed through to the Semi Final's of Euro 2012 with a 4-2 win over Greece in Gdansk. Goals from Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus sealed the emphatic win for the German's, which also ended the dream of Greece.

German manager Joachim Low made four changes to the side which accounted for Denmark in their last game. Most notably, the entire front three was changed. Mario Gomez, the joint-top scorer at Euro 2012 so far, was left out alongside Thomas Muller and Lukas Podolski. The experienced Klose led the inclusions, and was joined by relative youngsters Reus and Andre Schurrle.

Greece's tactics were clear from the outset. They were in Poland to frustrate the German's to no end. They played with ten men behind the ball, allowing Germany to take control of possession, as long as they had no meaningful chances.

Unfortunately, that tactic backfired on 39 minutes when German captain Lahm put his side ahead. The full back found space 20 yards from goal, and opted to strike a ball which sat up perfectly for him. It seemed like it was headed straight for Michalis Sifakis, until late swerve took it out of his reach and into the back of the net.

Greece's witty manager, Fernando Santos, had already proven himself to be a master of comebacks at Euro 2012, and one seemed to be on the cards when Giorgos Samaras equalised ten minutes after the interval. Samaras was played in by a pinpoint cross from Dimitris Salpingidis, and had the simple task of touching past Manuel Neuer in goals.

However they were only level for six minutes, when Khedira restored Germany's lead. Jerome Boateng's cross from the right was met by a powerful Khedira volley, which flew into the roof of the net.

Germany sensed the opportunity to kill off their opponents, and did so when Klose took advantage of some poor goalkeeping from Sifakis. The Greek shot-stopper inexplicably came out to meet a corner, getting no way near the cross and allowing Klose to nod home into an empty net.

The German's then had a fourth moments later when Reus volleyed in off the underside of the crossbar after Klose's initial shot was blocked. It was an emphatic finish, and sealed an emphatic display from the German's, in which they scored three goals in thirteen minutes.

Greece got a consolation goal in the 89th minute when Boateng handled inside the area. Salpingidis sent Neuer the wrong way with his spot kick, coolly slotting it into the bottom corner to restore some pride to the score board.

But it was never going to be enough to mount a charge against a clinical German outfit. Their win proved they can make changes to an impressive side and come out the other end just as impressive.

While Greece packed their bags for the flight out of Poland and Ukraine, Germany marched on to the Semi Final's, where they'll meet the winner of England v Italy in two days time.