France had goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to thank for keeping a clean sheet as Germany threatened to break the deadlock on several occasions.
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Then came the controversy when Patrice Evra’s header from a corner hit the raised arm of a jumping Schweinsteiger and, virtually unbeknown to the teams and rest of the stadium, Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli awarded a penalty which Griezmann subsequently slotted home.
Fink was unconcerned about Germany’s weakened team facing France’s risky front line, led by tournament top scorer Antoine Griezmann.
Griezmann is the leading scorer at Euro 2016 with six goals in as many matches, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, Giroud and Dimitri Payet, who have all scored three.
The victor of the match plays Portugal in Sunday’s final.
France and Germany square off in a much-anticipated Euro 2016 semifinal match, pitting two of the best teams around against each other with a berth in the final on the line.
Griezmann sent Neuer the wrong way with a calmly struck spot-kick.
But that mistake didn’t prove decisive: Germany went on to beat Italy in a penalty shoot-out.
The host nation has a fully-fit squad to choose from with the return from suspension of Adil Rami and N’Golo Kante, who both served one-game suspensions against Iceland.
He warned that Deschamps’ side are not reliant on Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann, saying: “Griezmann is class, and one of their most important players, but they also have Paul Pogba, Olivier Giroud and their speedy wingers”.
Temperatures late afternoon hovered around 33 degrees Celsius (91F) at the Stade Velodrome, with the sun beating down from a almost cloudless blue sky on fans who sat in the shade of trees near the stadium.
Germany’s Thomas Muller in action during Euro 2016 Round of 16 against Slovakia at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille in France on Sunday, June 26, 2016.
The 62-year-old Daum has coached club teams to national league titles in Germany, Turkey and Austria.
Elsewhere, market traders used flags as sunshades and passengers waved the French tricolor from auto windows as they maneuvered traffic-clogged streets near the Stade Velodrome. Even though they have twice won the European championship, they have not beaten their German neighbours outside of friendlies since the 1958 World Cup.
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FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford said: “We feel this event is a great way of everyone celebrating what has been a historic period for Welsh football”.
