Joachim Loew hailed his team of “fighters” as Germany finally broke their Italy hoodoo by seeing off the Azzurri in a penalty shootout in Saturday’s Euro 2016 quarter-final.
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Three spot kicks were missed for the either but Hector got the decisive penalty as his spot kick nipped through the arms of the highly experienced Gianluca Buffon in the post; it 6-5 in favour of the Germans.
The shootout began with Lorenzo Insigne and Toni Kroos each converting. But Hector made no mistake after Manuel Neuer’s save from Matteo Darmian gave Germany another opening. He remained composed as the ball slipped under Buffon’s body and into the net for Germany’s first tournament win over Italy after eight failed attempts and a semi-final against hosts France or minnows Iceland. With so many players to shoot it was outstanding, it was a drama.
He believed this Italy side could go on to greater things.
Italy tactician Antonio Conte also made one adjustment to his side that outplayed two-time defending champions Spain 2-0 with central midfielder Stefano Sturaro replacing the injured Daniele De Rossi.
At that stage Germany were in the ascendancy, with Italy struggling to construct any meaningful attacks.
Substitute Simone Zaza had been sent on in the final seconds precisely for his penalty-taking ability but delivered such a stuttering run that he seemed to confuse himself and, with his first touch of the night, fired wildly over the bar.
The Germans shifted into a higher gear after the break and it took an acrobatic clearance from Alessandro Florenzi to deny Mueller in the 54th minute.
As world champions, Muller knows Germany are the team to beat.
Gomez looked set to settle the contest a few minutes later, but Buffon was perfectly positioned to make the save. Nevertheless the Azzuri did equalise in the 78th minute through Leonardo Bonucci’s calmly converted penalty, which was awarded after Jerome Boateng inexplicably handled the ball.
And Ventura will have more to work with than Conte, who took over after the disappointment of the 2014 World Cup.
The Azzurri may lack star quality, but they more than make up for in their strength as a group.
As Germany, as ever, won the battle of nerves from the spot.
Neuer was voted as the Man-of-the-Match.
“I hope that we can really leave a lasting mark in terms of love for the national team and for the shirt”.
“Of course I was prepared basically in the penalties”. “He had problems with his hamstring, I don’t know if it is serious”.
For now I’ll leave it to others to take them. What interests me is that I had an incredible experience with these lads, making Italy respected and feared by everyone.
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“When we arrived after the 2014 World Cup, the situation was a total disaster and there was no federation”.
