HISTORY is against Germany when they play Italy tonight in the Stade de Bordeaux because, believe it or not, the Germans have never beaten the Azzuri in a major finals.
Indeed, Italy have won all four of their games in the knockout stages – that great World Cup semi-final in Mexico in 1970, the World Cup final in 1982, the semi-final of the World Cup in 2006 and the semi-final at Euro 2012.
Yet the World Champions are on a fabulous roll. They have not conceded a goal in major finals since the semi-final against Brazil in 2014 – and that was a consolation, given that Germany hammered seven past the host nation.
It has to be said they have had a charmed run, not least of which was a draw that put them into an easy group – though Northern Ireland and Poland gave them a game, at least.
Thomas Muller has been largely posted missing, and Mesut Ozil and Toni Kroos have also been poor by their standards. By contrast Italy have been performing above their level, particularly against Spain.
The defence that Italy showed against Spain was of the stonewall variety, but they had power and penetration in attack as well.
It all makes for a terrific quarter final, and a semi-final against the winner of France v Iceland. What a prospect for either team.
The mind games have been fascinating, with Italy manager Antonio Conte up to his mischievous tricks.
“For me, Germany are on a higher level to everybody,” Conte said earlier this week. “We’re going to need something super-extraordinary for that game, not just extraordinary.”
Mmmm … they are not that good, but Conte was still at it yesterday.
“Germany are the best team in the world but no-one is beaten at the start of a game,” he said.
“They can hurt you when they attack; they’ve quality, talent and a great team ethic. It’s a potent mix."
“We’ve looked to find out how we can limit them and play the cards in our hand instead by knowing their strengths and weaknesses. We have to do something extraordinary: I tell the players that we live and train to play in matches that make you feel great.”
And then Conte let slip his real feelings: “We started with very low expectations. We’re showing we can overcome insurmountable obstacles.”
For his part, German manager Joachim Low was all about tactics: “We will try to bring our strengths to bear, to try to put our football on the pitch. You can do that with three at the back or four at the back, the differences aren’t too big.”
Low’s world champions versus Conte’s resurgent Italy. Anything like the Mexico semi-final of 46 years ago will be a triumph for football.
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