Germany and Italy vie for place in final

By Paul Radford

BERLIN (Reuters) – If Germany are to realize their World
Cup dream, they have to overcome their nightmare opponents
Italy on Tuesday in the semi-finals.

Few neutral observers saw the hosts as favorites to reach
the final at the start of the tournament but the German team
has been riding on a wave of patriotic World Cup fever and has
begun to look as if they may just have a date with destiny.

But the omens do not look quite so good. In six competitive
meetings with Italy, Germany have not won a single match and
that includes four previous meetings at the World Cup finals.

Germany are also weakened, and angered, by the loss of
hard-working midfielder Torsten Frings, suspended for throwing
a punch in the fracas which took place after their penalty
shootout victory over Argentina in the quarter-finals.

FIFA originally said no German player was implicated but
images of Frings throwing the punch shown on Italian television
and published in Italian papers forced the sport’s governing
body to investigate and Frings was banned on Monday.

The Germans have painful memories of past World Cup defeats
by Italy, notably in the 1970 semi-finals in Mexico when they
lost 4-3 in a dramatic extra time period in which five goals
were scored.

They also lost the 1982 final in Spain 3-1 to the Italians,
a match in which they were totally outplayed.

Germany’s key men in Dortmund, where the national team has
never lost to foreign opposition, are likely to be playmaker
Michael Ballack and striker Miroslav Klose, top scorer at the
finals with five goals.

DORTMUND CROWD

“The Dortmund crowd is a phenomenon,” said midfielder Tim
Borowski, the player tipped to replace Frings in the team. “The
spectators will be the 12th man for us.”

Just as important may be their ability to win penalty
shootouts. Their victory over a more elegant and more gifted
Argentina side was their fourth win in four World Cup penalty
shootouts, a statistic which gives them a clear psychological
edge.

Italy, by contrast, have lost all three World Cup shootouts
they have taken part in and go on to the Westfalenstadion pitch
knowing an away win is essential.

Italy are without their suspended midfielder Daniele de
Rossi but should have central defender Marco Materazzi back
from his one-match ban.

Their key men are likely to be striker Luca Toni, who
netted twice against Ukraine in the quarter-finals and
Francesco Totti, the most gifted Italian forward of his
generation but who has yet to prove himself on the biggest
stage of all.

Italy beat Germany 4-1 in a friendly in Florence on March 1
but the Italians are not taking that too seriously. “It will be
completely different,” said defender Gianluca Zambrotta. “This
is the semi-final of the World Cup in Germany. They are doing
very well, they have got to the semi-finals and I am sure they
will want to go all the way.”

The winner will go on to play in the final in Berlin on
Sunday against either Portugal or France, who meet in Munich on
Wednesday.