Germany vs. Italy: Italians' Offense Must Ignite to Advance to Euro 2012 Final

Italy is playing with fire.

On Sunday, they defeated England on penalty kicks to advance to the Euro 2012 semifinals against Germany. But unless the Italians increase their offensive effort, their European Championship dreams will be shattered.

Germany and Italy will both enter their match on Thursday undefeated. The two football clubs have found success, though, in two extremely different ways.

Italy prides itself in its defense. They haven’t surrendered more than a single goal in regulation since the group stage began. On the flipside, Italy has scored just four total goals, and that’s resulted in two draws as well as forced their shootout against England.

Germany launched home four goals against Greece in the quarterfinals alone. They’re an offensive juggernaut. Only once have they failed to record multiple goals in a match.

Mario Gomez is one of only four footballers to score a trio of goals since the start of the group stage. Italy doesn’t have a single player who’s scored multiple goals.

Mesut Özil is one of only four footballers to record three assists. Bastian Schweinsteiger also has a pair. If you’ve recognized the pattern, you already know that Italy doesn’t have one player who’s recorded multiple assists.

Of course, Germany has also surrendered four goals compared to Italy’s two in Euro 2012. But while the Italians have the defensive edge, if you can’t score, you can’t win…unless you force a shootout. And with a gun to your head, would you really bet on Italy shutting out the Germans?

You would have to be clinically insane.

Italy’s best bet to match an expected German onslaught is Mario Balotelli. He fired seven shots on goal against England—he just wasn’t able to sneak any past Joe Hart. Balotelli did manage to score in the shootout, and according to ESPN, he’s 10 for 10 on penalty kicks in official matches.

Italy is a talented football club, but it’d be shocking if they outscore the Germans in regulation. If they force a draw and another shootout, though, Italy would be well on their way to a Final berth.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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