Germany vs. Italy: Players Who Must Step Up for Germany in Semifinal Match

Germany has proved themselves to be a first-class club in these 2012 European Championships through their flawless offense and defensive fortitude.

Italy is coming off a thrilling shootout victory over England in their quarterfinal match, and will be looking to continue their run against the powerhouse that is the German team.

Joachim Low's side is definitely the better one in this matchup, but that doesn't mean they will get off easy against the Italians.

If Germany wants to continue their dominance in the upcoming semifinal match against Italy, there are a few players who need to step up.

Here are three of those players.

Mesut Ozil

Ozil is certainly one of Germany's most talented midfielders, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say the he's the most valuable footballer in the middle of the pitch on either side in this semifinal matchup.

He has notched three assists in his last two games, tying him for first in the entire tournament with Russia's Andriy Arshavin. While his assists have certainly helped the Germans get to this point in the competition, helpers haven't been the most important aspect of his game.

His possession has been masterful through four games in Polkraine so far. The 23-year-old midfielder has registered a performance rating of 7.67, good for fifth among all participants and second among players whose teams haven't been eliminated (h/t to whoscored.com)

Ozil has proved that he is up to the challenge, but will need to take his play to the next level to see his team on to the final match.

Mario Gomez

Gomez has been Germany's best goal-scorer in the first four games of the 2012 European Championships, but he didn't get the starting nod against Greece.

Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller and Gomez were replaced by Miroslav Klose, Andre Schurrle and Marco Reus. The latter three were better suited to play against Greece's thick defense, and Low came out of the match looking like a genius for his decision to mix up the lineup.

The only thing that concerns me about Gomez riding the pine for all but 10 minutes of Germany's quarterfinal match is his confidence. He showed supreme poise through his team's first three games, finding the back of the net three times, including a pair of tallies against the Netherlands, but could his benching upset his psyche?

At 26 years old, Gomez should have the maturity to realize that certain players make more sense against certain teams, but the verdict won't be in until June 28 at full time.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Schweinsteiger is the leader of this Germany team. He has played every minute so far in this tournament, but his lingering ankle injury is a cause for concern.

He looked in top shape through the first three matches, especially against the Netherlands when he played a hand in both German goals, but his play fell off against Greece.

The Bayern Munich midfielder made some ugly passes that are out of character for the usually careful veteran. I can imagine that it's pretty tough to kick a ball with an out of whack ankle ligament, but Schweinsteiger can't be doing that against the Italians.

Italy's middle third is much more a cause for concern than that of Greece. Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio and Riccardo Montolivo are better passers and catalysts than what the Germans saw against Greece.

It has been reported that Schweinsteiger is indeed ready to compete on Thursday, but we'll need to wait and see what kind of performance he turns in.