Post Mort-em : 5 reasons why Germany lost

WARSAW, POLAND – JUNE 28: Mesut Ozil (R) of Germany with his team-mate Mats Hummels (L) after the UEFA EURO 2012 semi final match between Germany and Italy at the National Stadium on June 28, 2012 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Joern Pollex/Getty Images)

After a fantastic campaign , having a 100% win record until now, the heavily fancied Deutschland were expected to go all the way in their quest for European glory last achieved in 1996, but rather unexpectedly, the crazy, talented “Super Mario Balotelli” decided to gun them down, along with the others in the Italian gauntlet.

“The career of Mario Balotelli has only just begun. He’s brilliant, but this was a team effort,” said Italy coach Cesare Prandelli.

“We have played an extraordinary game. We have given an example of how to show grace and an attachment to the shirt.”

I’m not a sports analyst or a statistician to comment on the reasons regarding why the Germans failed to progress yet again , but i put forth these reasons from a fan’s perspective who feels the Mann-shaft underachieved crashing down in the semis.

There maybe a plethora of reasons to pin point what was the fallacy with their pseudonymous tactics and display , but my reasons include the following :

Tinkering with formation and the team

The biggest mistake by Joachim Löw was tinkering with the formation. Not starting with a 4-2-3-1 because of Italy’s ball winning strength in midfield and switching to a 4-3-3 abruptly ( that too in semis) and playing Ozil on the right diminished the attacking returns from the central attacking midfielder. Also the solid foundation of their defense got filled with loopholes which the Italians exploited with aplomb. Andre Schurrle , Reus , Miroslav Klose had arguably put German’s best performance in the Euros in the last match , why were all of them directly dropped to the bench ? Neither Podolski , Muller had been their best so far and the fluidity and the energy that the young duo of Reus , Schurrle brought to the play was fascinating.

It was too late to salvage anything when the likes of Reus , Klose were brought on, after all the Italian defense was a solid nut to crack.

Toni Kroos who played as a central midfielder failed miserably with his constant urge for shots on goal and failed to justify his inclusion looking highly inexperienced against the deadly duo midfield of Pirlo and De Rossi.

Emergence of potential fulfilling Balotelli

Everyone knew he had the potential and the immense talent , it was just a matter of keeping cool ; and he did it with a class performance that single handedly dumped the German machine in disarray. It was a night that Balotelli announced himself as a more destructive footballer than just self – destruct and threatened like never before with some deadly play. Produced a class act with some clinical lethal finishing combining power , intelligence , selfless running with smart runs guiding the Azzuris to have a crack at the Spanish Armada. He was superior in causing problems to the German defense

Poor display from the likes of Hummels, Podolski, Gomez

So ineffective was Gomez that he was eventually replaced by Klose just after HT. Gomez lacked sharpnes , mobility and was easily contained by the Italian defense . Gomez is the traditional target man , devastating but often reliant on the service around him whereas Klose just suits the attack better improving the overall play and having better understanding with Ozil with his creativity and mobility balancing with the experience. Thus , to play Gomez ahead of Klose was a controversial decision.

Hummels by far produced a shocking performance, was outfoxed with the build up to the first goal and seemed frustrated when he was barely able to cope with balotelli. Fluffed a brilliant late chance which may have given them a slight opportunity.

Podolski was lost in the wilderness. He was worse than a shadow of his own. Had no trickery, pace and lacked incisiveness. Reus proved to much more effective within minutes after coming on.

Inspirational Pirlo , Buffon , De Rossi

Italy midfielders orchestrated the midfield with a smart balanced display with controlled aggression with resilience after the initial jitters and a goal line clearance from Pirlo.

Pirlo especially was never sloppy and occasionally inspired. Was hardly given given as much space as England did , but did manage to carry the calm attitude along with occasional pulling the strings.

Buffon was jittery , but the Germans failed to put much pressure to exploit the Italian defense and test him. Also made a string of fine saves in the first half and touched Marco Reus’s rasping second-half free kick onto the bar.

De Rossi displayed a trademark dynamic performance.

Mental fragility in the team

Last but surely not the least , The nerves were starting to show after Italy pressing better and the misplaced passes by Neuer confirmed it’s ascension. Both the goals that were scored were a result of lapse in concentration .

The likes of Lahm and Schwiensteiger gave a awful performance in such a big game and thus proved costly for the Germans. Bastian had so many moments of slackness and was entirely by passed in first half.

Lahm exemplified the sluggishness and was responsible for playing Balotelli on-side for the second goal.

All in all it was a letdown for the fans that served as a cruel reminder of their inability to win in crunch situations and exceed the longevity to win a major title.

Italy delivered a fantastic performance and surely have the class to swathe through the Spanish juggernaut in the final. Can the ferocious intelligence and silkiest touches of Pirlo , alongwith the likes of other Azzuris mark a Italian victory fiesta ?

Buona fortuna for the finale.