It is hard to believe that the Euros are finally all over. Ten qualifying matches. Months of anticipation and buildup. Then, just over three weeks of football, extracting every last emotion and shredding every last nerve. Especially if you were
So here we are: another fine team performance, and yet another major tournament semi-final. Fifteen competitive victories in a row, and two away from a record-extending fourth European Championship title. The worst thing now will be the waiting.
Following the Nationalmannschaft’s third group phase victory against Denmark, there would be much talk about the eleven would start the quarter-final against Greece. Most of us expected the same team that had taken to the field against both Portugal and
Three games, three times the same line up – Jérôme Boateng’s one match suspension aside – and everyone expecting more of the same for this evening’s quarter-final against Greece.
At the end of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, Germany beat Uruguay 3-2 to clinch third place. Since then, they have played a further thirteen competitive matches, winning them all. Ten from ten in qualifying for the
Three wins from three and maximum points in a European Championship group phase for the first time – easy. Or not, given that this was yet another tough match that could very easily have swung in the opposite direction.
After the lovely refreshing glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice on Wednesday, we can now add to that a rather nice Danish pastry – though at times it did taste a little half-baked.