Germany reach semis after thrilling win over Portugal
Thursday, 19 Jun 2008 21:43
Goals from Miroslav Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger put Germany on the road to victory
Germany have reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008 with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Portugal in Basel this evening.
Goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and a controversial effort from Michael Ballack were enough to see off Portugal, who scored through Nuno Gomes and Helder Postiga.
Joao Moutinho has a great chance to give Portugal the lead after 20 minutes when Jose Boswinga found him in the box with a precise cross, but the Sporting Lisbon midfielder could only knee the ball over the bar from a couple of yards out.
Portugal were made to pay for their poor finishing when Germany exploded into life and scored two goals in the space of five minutes.
The first was a brilliantly-worked move as Lukas Podolski shared passes with Ballack on the left-wing before speeding down the flank and he managed to muscle off Pepe and Boswinga before putting in a low cross into the box for Schweinsteiger to slide in and score.
A couple of minutes later Germany got a free-kick from 30 yards out. Portugal were expecting a shot on goal from Schweinsteiger, but the midfielder decided clip the ball into the box and the Portuguese defence stood still as Klose ghosted in to head home.
As Luiz Felipe Scolari sat miserable in his seat, Portugal pulled themselves together and started the fight-back.
They had the majority of possession for the rest of the half and were deservedly back in the game on the half-hour mark. Ronaldo found space on the left-wing and though his shot was saved by Jens Lehmann, the rebound fell to Gomes who scored.
Portugal were inches from being back on level terms in first-half stoppage time, but Ronaldo saw his shot from just outside the penalty area go agonisingly wide with Lehmann completely beaten.
Pepe should have scored at the start of the second-half when a corner was flicked on and found the Portugal defender inches from the Germany goal-line, but he somehow managed to head over the bar.
Despite all their possession, Portugal were once again undone by a set-piece. Another Schweinsteiger free-kick was this time headed in by Ballack, who seemed to get away with a push on Paulo Ferreira.
Postiga grabbed a headed goal back for Portugal on the 87th minute mark, but it was too late and it was Germany who became the first team to reach the Euro 2008 semi-finals.