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There's been plenty of focus on injuries at Spurs in recent weeks and ahead of tonight's Europa League game, there are many questions about the potential make up of our team. Meanwhile, hosts Lazio have suffered an injury problem of their own as veteran striker Miroslav Klose misses the game but how much will the German's absence affect the home side?

Two brilliant goals from Mario Balotelli destroyed Germany on Thursday and set up a final showdown with Spain in Kiev on Sunday.

This was the best we have ever seen of Balotelli — and the Germans could not handle him.

Much was made of the fact the Germans had two extra days rest following their quarter-final win over Greece while Italy had to go on extra time and penalties to beat England.

It seemed like a monumental shock was on the cards. Against the run of play in the 55th Georgios Samaras had equalized for Greece and the Germans, despite dominating possession found themselves level with 25 minutes to go. Would the Germans cave under the pressure of expectations?

Not a chance!

This evening, as we have been reliably, repeatedly and at great length informed over the last few days, is more than a football match. This evening, apparently, is all about geo-politics and economics. While this not true, of course, the presence of Angela Merkel at the PGE Arena in Gdansk an appearance which is either saying something quite profound about discretion being the better part of valour or will one day be used in dictionaries alongside the definition of the word "chutzpah"- has added a frisson of tension to a match which otherwise would probably be considered little more than a stroll in the park for Germany.

Denmark stunned tournament favorites Holland on Saturday, winning 1-0 and throwing the "Group of Death" wide. In the group's other match, an unimpressive Germany side beat Portugal 1-0 as Portugal failed to take advantage of their scoring opportunities late.

Michael Krohn-Dehli scored against the run of play when he picked up a loose ball close to the penalty area in the 24th minute, left two defenders standing and shot through the legs of Maarten Stekelenburg from a tight angle.

Good morning to you. It's Friday. The sun is shining and I didn't drink nearly as much wine as I did the night before. That's because I drank gimlets instead, but who's going to be pedantic at this time of the morning? You, wise guy? Didn't think so.

So, last night at the Euros Italy went through to the final, beating Germany 2-1 with two goals from Mario Balotelli, the kind of player who would make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.

By Alan Duffy

It had all been going rather swimmingly for Jogi Loew's gifted German side, with a much predicted final clash against Spain in the offing. However, a stunning first-half display from Mario Balotelli for Italy tore Germany's hopes of glory apart as Cesare Prandelli's side outplayed a turgid looking German team.

They have clicked into gear

Spain plays tonight with a challenge thrown to them. They are joint favourites with Germany and the nationalmannschaft throws down the gauntlet with a dominating display which sent Greece home. The 2004 winners tried to compete but once the Germans clicked into gear, there was ever only going to be one outcome.

Glückwünsche! After a 4-2 win over Greece tonight, the Germans are through to the semi-finals of Euro 2012, although admittedly, they were a shadow of themselves in the first half. Lackluster finishing, passing (Ozil's fish diet clearly doesn't hide his exhaustion) and poor defending almost cost them dearly, as did Joachim Low's unexpected decision to field Miroslav Klose, who hardly touched the ball in the first half.

It rained at the PDE arena in Gdansk yesterday, which made it rather tricky for both the Germans and the Greeks to conduct their obligatory open training sessions. Luckily, for Thomas Mueller, the weather didn't get in the way of his special risotto-making session with German national team chef, Holger Stromberg.

Germany remained perfect in Euro 2012 with 2-1 victory over Denmark. The win makes Germany group B winners while Denmark finish in third place.

Germany took a 1-0 lead on a 19th minute Lukas Podolski goal but Denmark quickly replied with a 24th minute Michael Krohn-Dehli goal. Podolski was a great finish from close range while Krohn-Dehli's was a header following a corner kick.

We know that the Frenchies haven't stopped complaining about the Ukrainian heat since their arrival two weeks ago they've even devised cooling jackets and ice packs to help them sleep at night ("ingénieux!

The Euro 2012 favorites, Germany, opened the group stage with a 1-0 victory over Portugal. It was a close match with Germany have the better chances early but Portugal making a late surge.

After about 70 minutes of scoreless action, many thought striker Mario Gomez would be subbed up for Miroslav Klose but that didn't happen.

This article titled "Euro 2012: Germany v Portugal as it happened" was written by Scott Murray, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 9th June 2012 20.44 UTC

You only have to take one look at the last few European Championship mascots to see that Uefa are nothing more than a sorry shower of cultural thugs, with little or no interest in art, beauty, or indeed anything that isn't a big teeming pot of cash.

France are one of the last few teams in the Euro 2012 to make their way to Ukraine, and following their 4-0 win over Estonia in a friendly last night, Laurent Blanc's squad are expected to officially 'migrate' to their competition grounds in Donetsk today.

France are one of the last few teams in the Euro 2012 to make their way to Ukraine, and following their 4-0 win over Estonia in a friendly last night, Laurent Blanc's squad are expected to officially 'migrate' to their competition grounds in Donetsk today.

The German national team cycled to their Euro 2012 training ground of Gdansk, Poland for the very first time yesterday to familiarise themselves with the area spanning their hotel and Die Mannschaft's headquarters. Among the squad's resident "Lance Armstrongs" were Mats Hummels, Lukas Podolski, Mario Goetze, Marco Reus and even team manager Oliver Bierhoff!

Soothing hearts the immediate task

Yesterday I kicked off the Euro 2012 theme on the blog and started with the favourites, Spain. Moving on, today we'll have the joint favourites, Germany (in the eyes of the bookmakers, at least).

Germany

In terms of the top 6 teams earmarked with the best chance to win the tournament, Germany has the lowest average age in their squad.