Nishad Vellur
Germany 4-2 Greece
Greece ended their run in the Euro 2012 after losing 2-4 against Gemany in a high-scoring second quarterfinal match on Friday. Germany found four different names on the score sheet after Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose, and Marco Reus gave Germany their 15th straight competitive win. Germany went ahead in the 39th minute through Lahm but a Samaras equaliser in the 55th followed a flurry of goals from the German camp to seal the semi-final berth. Salpingidis added another in the 89th from the penalty spot but it was only a consolation for the Greeks.
Match Report» I Match in pics»
90 min: Two added mins.
89 min:
89 min: Consolation GOAL for Greece. Salpingidis puts in the right corner, Neuer diving the wrong way.
88 min: Penalty awarded to Greece after a handball inside the box.Torosidis crossed from the left, ball hit Boateng's arm.
85 min: Sifakis denied Ozil again.
84 min: Samaras run towards German goal ended by Hummels with a sliding tackle.
79 min: Gomez came in on for Klose. Gotze for Reus.
75 min: Yellow card for Papastathopoulos after an Ozil challenge.
74 min: GOALS GALORE!! Reus netted their fourth with clinical finish. Greece GK Sifakis came out to save Klose's effort but Reus scored into an empty net from close range.
68 min: GOAL!! Klose header found a goal in the subsequent corner.
67 min: Free kick on the right for Germany after a challenge by Papastathopoulos. Muller came in on Schurrle.
65 min: First corner for Greece in the second half.
63 min: Counter attack from Greece but Gekas shot wide from inside the area.
61 min: GOAL!! Germany took the lead through Sami Khedira via a close range shot.
55 min: GOALLLLLLLLL for Greece. Giorgos Samaras equalises. Brilliant counter attack.Fanis Gekas' low cross to the far post found Samaras, who slotted home beating Neuer with a sliding effort.
47 min: Klose scurried up right but shot deflected off a Greek defender. No goals from the following corner.
45 min: Two changes for Greece after half-time.
Germany kept passing and pressing before a classic Lahm found the breakthrough. However, a confident Greece managed to keep the Germans at bay for a long time until the 39th minute goal. Germans, as usual, enjoyed a major chunk of possession (70%) in the first half but wasted plenty of scoring chances. They had 13 attempts at goal against Greece's 2 before taking the lead.
45 min: Three minutes of added time.
44 min: Corner to Germany. Ozil took the kick no result though.
39 min: GOAL!! from Philipp Lahm through a long range shot. Beating Michalis Sifakis he scored with a curling shot towards the top right corner of the net.
36 min: Free kick for Greece for an Ozil challenge on Katsouranis.
35 min: Testing times for Greece GK Sifakis.
34 min: Corner kick for Germany. Cleared off from the danger area.
32 min: Neuer impressive in front of the German goal after a Ninis (Greece) long range effort was stopped by the German guard.
30 min: Germany yet to find a goal.
27 min: Free kick awarded for Greece after a challenge by Reus.
25 min: Impressive Reus nearly scored after winning ball back from the half line but shot wide.
23 min: Lovely exchange of passes between Reus and Klose didn't result in a goal after Özil was denied by Sifakis.
20 min: Klose not any closer to a cross from Özil, who passed into the area from left.
18 min: Sound defending by the Greeks so far, but a German goal looks inevitable.
15 min: Exchange of words among players in Greek box.
14 min: First YELLOW of the match. Samaras (Greece) booked for a challenge on Schweinsteiger.
13 min: Free kick for Germany, thanks to a Samaras (Greece) challenge. No result.
11 min: Germany came close to scoring but Reus (Germany) shot wide.
8 min:Germany dominating possession.
7 min: Greece attack but shot wide upfront.
4 min: Off side decision gone against Germany after finding the back of the net through Khedira.
1 min: Match underway at Gdansk on a chilly evening. Greece in all blue with black arm band.
Germans are with major changes with Mario Gomez, Lukas Podolski and and Thomas Mueller dropped. Gomez makes way for veteran Miroslav Klose. Podolski and Mueller gave way for Andre Schuerrle and Marco Reus.
Players lined up for their national anthems.
Welcome to our live coverage of the second quarterfinal match between Germany and Greece.
Following is the line-up:
Germany (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Boateng, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm; Khedira, Schweinsteiger; Reus, Özil, Schürrle; Klose.
Greece (4-3-3): Sifakis; Torosidis, Papadopoulos, Sokratis, Tzavellas; Makos, Maniatis, Katsouranis; Ninis, Salpingidis, Samaras.
BENCH: Germany: Wiese (GK), Zieler (GK), Schmelzer, Höwedes, Mertesacker, Gündogan, T Müller, Bender, Kroos, Götze, Podolski, Gomez.
Greece: Chalkias (GK), Tzorvas (GK), Malezas, Fotakis, Fortounis, Fetfatzidis, Liberopoulos, Mitroglou.
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First Published: Friday, June 22, 2012, 18:46