The build-up to the match had a very political significance with most people calling the match as the 'Battle of the Bailouts' as Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel was criticised for sticking to the austerity plan as Greece look for payments to save their economy. Germany boss Joachim Loew made four changes to the side that beat the Netherlands with Miroslav Klose, Andre Schürrle, Marco Reus and Jerome Boateng replacing Mario Gomez, Thomas Müller, Lukas Podolski and Lars Bender respectively. The changes were a surprise to many however the gamble from Loew would see his side begin with a flourish with their wayward attacking style. After only four minutes, the Germans were denied the opening goal of the match as Sami Kherdira’s 20 yard effort was saved by Greece ‘keeper Sifakis and Miroslav Klose tapped the ball home however he was narrowly offside.
Greece had their first opportunity of the game from Gregoris Makos whose 20-yard tame attempt caused no problems for Manuel Neuer in the Germany goal. Youngster Marco Reus had a terrific opportunity to put his side after Khedira put him through on goal however Reus squandered his attempt wide. Reus was involved in Germany's next attack as he and Khedira combined passes to set up Mesut Ozil who had his low shot saved by Sifakis. Despite there wasn't an end product from the resulting corner, Ozil found Reus on the edge of the area and Sifakis had to tip Reus' strike away for another corner. The 23-year-old was in acres of space after he was found by Khedira but once again, Reus couldn't capitilise by shooting wide of the goal. The Greeks had a rare attempt on goal mid-way through the half from Sotiris Ninis' 20-yard effort which was spilled by Neuer however he held the ball soon after.
Mesut Ozil was ripping the Greek defence apart running past two players and finding Khedira on the edge of the box who forced another save out of Sifakis. On 39 minutes, the Greece defence would soon be breached as captain Phillip Lahm controlled the ball with his chest to take it away from the defender and unleashed a terrific right-footed outswinging strike to give Germany a well-deserved lead. It could have been 2-0 in first-half stoppage-time as Andre Schürrle's strike hit the side netting from long range.
Half-Time: Germany 1-0 Greece
Greece made a double substitution at half-time bringing on Fanis Gekas and Fotakis for Ninis and Tzavellas and Gekas was involved in a counter-attack moments into the second-half however it came to no ovail. Ten minutes later, the Greeks went on the attack again when Fotakis played a superb through ball for Salpingidis who strided towards the German area and slided the ball across for Celtic striker Giorgios Samaras to give Greece an unlikely equaliser despite Neuer's attempt to keep it out.
Germany had to respond and they did just that after 61 minutes where patient build-up from the left wing to the right landed right-back Jerome Boateng to deliver the cross for Sami Khedira to volley the ball into the roof of the net from eight yards. Greece then replied with an attack of their own with some good passing towards the left wing and the ball was played for Gekas who turned away from two German defenders on the edge of the box however he blazed his shot into the stands. On 68 minutes, Mesut Ozil won a free-kick for Germany after he was tripped on the right wing by Sokratis Papastathopoulous which Ozil took himself whose left-footed inswinging delivery was met by the head of Miroslav Klose as he scored Germany's third to give them some breathing space. Klose's header was his 64th international goal in 120 caps and is now only four goals behind the all-time German goal-scorer Gerd Müller.
If Greece felt that they had a big task ahead of them to get back into the match, they soon saw the match beyond them as Germany added a fourth after 74 minutes when Marco Reus latched onto the rebound from Klose's blocked effort to thump the ball into the empty net to score his second goal for his country. Knowing that their stay at Euro 2012 was coming to an end, Greece attempted to increase their goal tally with Fokatis' long-range effort which was comfortable for Neuer to handle after a deflection from Bastian Schweinsteiger. The Greeks were awarded a penalty two minutes from time when Torosidis' side-footed attempt was blocked by the arm of Boateng even though replays show that it was a harsh decision against the former Manchester City defender. Salpingidis took the penalty and slotted the ball home to the bottom right corner of the goal sending Neuer the wrong way giving Greece some consolation. It was an emphatic win for Germany overall who qualify for their second consecutive European Championship semi-final where they will face either England or Italy in Warsaw on Thursday.
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