Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, 02.07.2016
6-5 PSO (0-0, 1-1, 1-1 aet)
Özil 65. / Bonucci pen 78.
Penalties: Insigne 0-1; Kroos 1-1; Zaza MISS; Müller SAVED; Barzagli 1-2; Özil MISS; Pellè MISS; Draxler 2-2; Bonucci SAVED; Schweinsteiger MISS; Giaccherini 2-3; Hummels 3-3; Parolo 3-4; Kimmich 4-4; de Sciglio 4-5; Boateng 5-5; Darmian SAVED; Hector 6-5.
Germany and Italy have provided some classic encounters over the years, and this nerve-shredding meeting in Bordeaux was but the latest in this long-running epic saga. After years of playing second best to the Azzurri in international competition, Germany finally, after two hours of football and a heart-stopping penalty shootout, would put the Italian curse to bed.
The game looked to have been won five minutes after the hour mark when Mesut Özil gave the Mannschaft a deserved lead, but as always the Italians managed to find a way back into the contest. After Jérôme Boateng was penalised for an unfortunate handball, Leonardo Bonicci tucked the resulting spot-kick away to level the scores and take the match into extra time.
After the painful World Cup semi-final defeats in Mexico City in 1970 and Dortmund in 2006, it was third time lucky for Germany. Both sides erred on the side of caution in an edgy half an hour, and the first-ever penalty shootout between the two teams could easily have been taken from a horror movie.
After some horrible misses from both sides and excellent goalkeeping from Manuel Neuer and Gianluigi Buffon, Jonas Hector was the hero for Germany – his winning kick squeezing under the unlucky Buffon. The hex was broken, and Germany were in another major tournament semi-final – their sixth in a row since Euro 2008.
Minute-by-minute Match Report »
Match Analysis & Player Ratings »
Germany: Neuer (c) – Höwedes, Boateng, Hummels – Kimmich, Hector – Khedira (15. Schweinsteiger), Kroos – Müller, Özil – Gómez (72. Draxler)
Italy: Buffon (c) – Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini (120. Zaza) – Florenzi (86. Darmian), Sturaro, Parolo, de Sciglio – Sturaro, Giaccherini – Pellè, Éder (107. Insigne)
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Assistants: György Ring (Hungary), Vencel Tóth (Hungary)
Goal Assistants: Tamás Bognar (Hungary), Ádám Farkas (Hungary)
Fourth Official: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Reserve Assistant: Paweł Sokolnicki (Poland)
Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)
Yellow Cards: Hummels / Sturaro, de Sciglio, Parolo, Pellè, Giaccherini
Red Cards: – / –
Ball Possession: 61% / 39%
Attempts on Target: 6 / 6
Attempts off Target: 6 / 4
Corners: 7 / 5
Fouls Committed: 14 / 8
Attendance: 38,746
Man of the Match: Manuel Neuer (Germany)