Germany vs. Italy Euro 2012: Die Mannschaft Will Cruise into Finals

Germany's streak of futility against the Italians is about going to come to a screeching halt in their semifinal match on Thursday at the 2012 European Championships. 

In their long history, Germany has yet to take down Italy in any match. In 2006, these two met in the semifinal of the World Cup. Italy won easily, 2-0. They have met just one time since. That came in 2011 and ended in a draw.

That was just a friendly match and it can be dangerous to read too much into the result of a friendly, but the writing was on the wall: Germany had closed the gap. 

Well, they haven't just closed that gap, they have flipped it on its head. Germany is the clear favorite to take this matchup, and they will not let that favorite status down. 

Germany has looked dominant. This started with their undefeated run through the "group of death" and it was wildly apparent in their quarterfinal trouncing of Greece. 

In that quarterfinal matchup with Greece, despite their success on the group stage, German coach Jogi Löw made three lineup changes, which included Miroslav Klose subbing in for Mario Gómez. 

Gómez had been playing fantastic, but Klose came in and raised the bar even higher. It was a clear sign of just how firmly Löw has his finger on the pulse of this team, and he will have them ready to take on Italy. 

The Italians had gained a reputation for focusing on defense, to the point of the detriment of their offense. This is a different Italian squad—one that likes to, and is good at, attacking.

They will test the Germans' slightly inconsistent defense, but Germany's Manuel Neuer will be there to save them in goal, and over the course of this match, Germany will begin to control possession more and more. They simply have too much firepower to be stopped when this happens. 

I expect this one to hit halftime tied at one, but the second half will be all Germany and they will win, 3-1.