WARSAW - A touch of star quality from Mario Balotelli plus a familiar mixture of experience and canny defending saw Italy quash a young Germany side 2-1 on Thursday and book a place in the Euro 2012 final against holders Spain.
The unpredictable forward struck twice in 16 minutes to silence critics with a glorious performance that snapped Germany's 15-match winning streak in competitive games. The semi-final victory thanks to Balotelli's first-half double extended Italy's unbeaten run against Germany in major tournaments to eight games. The victory sets up an unexpected final in Kiev on Sunday with the world and European champions with whom the Italians drew 1-1 in the group stage of the tournament.
Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil converted a penalty in added time after Federico Balzaretti had handled in the area but Italy held on for the victory. The distraught Germans are now without a win against the Italians in all eight of their tournament meetings since their first half a century ago.
"I'll say only that when one talks about Italy everyone needs to be very careful," said Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli. "We have played an extraordinary game. We have given an example of how to show grace and an attachment to the shirt." Asked about Balotelli's performance he added: "He's brilliant, but this was a team effort. We played a fantastic game against a really good side. We did those things that put the opponents in difficulty. The career of Mario Balotelli has only just begun."
"Can we just not enjoy this evening?" Prandelli told reporters when asked about the final at the post-match news conference. "Let's not talk about Spain because we'll get worked up. They're a terrific side."
Germany coach Joachim Loew said: "We had two goals against us in the first half and it was difficult. The team showed a lot of heart after that. We had our chances in the second half, if we had got the goal sooner it would have been a different match. It's very difficult against a team like Italy to fall behind 2-0. They defend with everything they have. The disappointment is huge for everyone but we shouldn't make the mistake and question everything. We've got to see how we can do better in the future."
"Mats shouldn't have speculated like that," Loew said. "If he had just stood there Cassano couldn't have turned on him like that. The cross shouldn't have been allowed either." Germany had almost fallen behind in the opening minutes when a Sami Khedira back header found Antonio Cassano who slipped it through for Balotelli but he was caught by keeper Manuel Neuer. Cassano, whose career was in serious doubt after heart surgery late last year, was back to his creative best, slicing open a Germany defence with pinpoint passes while also causing constant problems for Germany right back Jerome Boateng.
Andrea Pirlo rescued the Italians in the fifth minute when Mats Hummels met a Bastian Schweinsteiger corner only to see his effort cleared by the Italy playmaker almost on the line. The Italians, as their coach Cesare Prandelli had assured, did not give up their offensive game in favour of a more conservative approach and kept going forward.
They forced two good saves from Neuer before Balotelli struck in the 20th minute. Cassano swirled past Boateng and Hummels to glide over a smooth left-footed cross and the 21-year-old Italy striker drilled in a header top open the scoring. Balotelli, long criticised for not realising his full potential and for his off-the-pitch antics, stepped up again in the 36th when the German defence was caught napping by a deep Riccardo Montolivo cross and the forward thundered in an unstoppable shot after a deft first touch.
Germany coach Joachim Loew decided to add some pace to his team with Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus coming on at the start of the second half and they quickly took control of the game. Fired on by constant chanting from the more than 15,000 Germany fans in the National Stadium they poured forward and came close when Buffon, at full stretch, tipped a Reus free kick onto the bar.
With time running out, however, the Germans grew impatient and mistakes started to add up as Italy lurked on the break with Claudio Marchisio twice seeing his efforts sail narrowly wide and substitute Antonio Di Natale also wasting a good chance. With time running out Germany pushed players forward and put the Italian defence under more and more pressure with their efforts finally paying off as Balzaretti clumsily handled in the box but Ozil's goal from the spot came too late.
Meanwhile, Italy's press on Friday celebrated the national side's 2-1 Euro 2012 semi-final victory against Germany and in particular the double by "stratospheric" striker Balotelli.
"A strong Italy and a stratospheric Balotelli sunk Germany and took Italy to seventh heaven," the Corrierre dello sport said in its online edition, reminding readers that Germany had been favourites to win Thursday's tie in Warsaw, Poland.
The daily added that the Azzurri had put in a "mind-blowing performance" while Balotelli's two first-half goals were "splendid". Gazzetta.it, in particular, hailed a masterful performance from midfield playmaker and official man of the match Andrea Pirlo, saying that he "directed operations and was, as usual, the lynchpin of the side".
La Repubblica called the match "a masterpiece", particularly in the "perfect" first-half "which showed everyone who thought that Balotelli couldn't play at centre-forward or that (coach Cesare) Prandelli had problems that they were wrong".