European heavyweights sizing up

Italy v Germany
UEFA European U21 Championship
Semi-Final
7.45pm, Friday 26 June 2009
Helsingborg, Sweden

Following the disappointment of the senior team at the Confederations Cup in South Africa, the Azzurini will look to restore pride in Italian football when they meet fellow European heavyweights Germany in their European Under-21 Championship semi-final.

For the young Italians, they hope to follow in the footsteps - or more accurately hair styles - of Marcelo Lippi's World Champions as they aim for success.

Just as many Italians shaved their heads in 2006, so some members of Pierluigi Casiraghi's young Azzurini team have been heading for the clippers.

So far it seems to be working, as the crew-cut Italians won Group A finishing with two wins and one draw from their games, although all inside their camp expect a sterner challenge from a young German team.

"Germany will not be easy in the next round, and in my opinion, they are even stronger than England," said Inter Milan's striker Mario Balotelli, available again after suspension.

"It will be a difficult match," agreed strike partner Robert Acquafresca, Italy's top scorer so far with three goals in the tournament.

"But for us it's a unique chance. The fact we won the Group gives us even more confidence, at this point it all depends on us, although we know that all the best teams are still in the tournament."

Their confident mood is a polar opposite to a so-far disappointed German camp. Like the Italians they too were unbeaten after finishing second to England, although an unhappy coach Horst Hrubesch has criticised his team.

"The only thing I'm happy about is reaching the semi-finals; I can't live with the way we did it," said the frustrated German coach.

His views are echoed by his players, with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer also expressing his displeasure at their performances. "We wanted to reach the semis no matter what and now we have achieved that we have to be happy, although I'm not happy with how we did it," said the Schalke stopper.

Although as the tournament reaches the business end, like German teams of old, Amis Ben-Hatira has warned the Azzurini they will improve. "We can play much better," insisted their attacking midfielder.

"Considering the potential of this team and the individual players, we haven't shown what we're capable of yet."

Germany and Italy have surprisingly never met in a competitive Under-21s fixture, but come Friday evening only one nation will be following in the path of their senior team. Will it be the shaven-headed Italians, or a ruthless German team with an uncanny ability to grind out results when it matters most?

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