Germany edged out Turkey in an entertaining semi-final to reach the Euro 2008 Final where they will face the winners of the other semi-final that sees Spain facing the much improved (since losing 1-4 to the Spanish in their opening Group game) Russians…
In many ways the Germans were fortunate to win. Turkey had by far the better of the first half and although Germany were much improved in the second period, over the ninety minutes the Turks were the more adventurous team and had posed far greater threats. The German defence was poor; in goal Lehmann had a bad game and was at fault to some extent for both Turkish goals. In midfield Ballack and Hitslesperger disappeared for long periods and up front Klose and Podolski were largely ineffective. They were gifted a second goal when the Turkish keeper made the all-too common blunder in this tournament of coming out for a cross and failing to even get contact on the ball (never mind not catching it) thus allowing the striker to send the ball tamely towards goal where there was nobody to prevent it from crossing the line. The Turks fought back and equalized for a second time but a sweet move ending in Hitslesperger’s excellent through pass and Lahm’s splendid shot ensured Germany’s passage into the Final…
It finishes 3-2 but make no mistake about it, this is a very average German side. They struggled to beat a severley undermanned, albeit extremely determined Turkish team. I believe the winner of the Spain/Russia match can certainly capture the trophy at the expense of Ballack’s Boys…
For anyone who cares about my predictions….Spain 2 Russia 1…
