Germany crush Greece 4-2 in Euro 2012 quarter-final

Germany crush Greece 4-2 in Euro 2012 quarter-final

PanARMENIAN.Net - Germany crushed Greece 4-2 in a one-sided Euro 2012 quarter-final on Friday, June 22, and set up a last-four clash against England or Italy with their 15th successive win in competitive matches, Reuters reported.

The Germans, who will have to wait until Sunday to find out their semi-final opponents, have won all five European Championship quarter-finals they have played and they have reached the final on the four previous occasions.

In a one-sided contest, Germany took the lead through captain Philipp Lahm late in the first half and survived a scare 10 minutes after the restart when rank outsiders Greece leveled with a breakaway goal from Giorgos Samaras.

But the three-times European champions, who had never previously scored four goals in a match at the tournament, were in no mood for an upset and three goals in 13 minutes kept them on track for their first title in 16 years.

Greece cut the deficit with a late Dimitris Salpingidis penalty.

"We made it unnecessarily difficult for us," said Lahm, who has scored for his country once every two years since 2004 to take his tally to five. "We had huge chances to go into the lead in the first quarter hour. We got into the lead but gifted it away. We were too slow at times and made too many easy mistakes but the important thing is that we are in the semi finals.”

For the Greeks, shock 2004 European champions, it was an expected end to their campaign after advancing to the last eight with a surprise 1-0 win over Russia.

"We could have held the ball more and maybe taken a few more chances," said Greece coach Fernando Santos. "But we did not manage to breathe. We did not have the space to breathe. They pressed us all the time."

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