karlpejera: Euro 2012: Germany confident they can end their hoodoo against Italy

Germany have not beaten Italy in seven competitive fixtures, but Joachim L�w's young team believe they can reach the final

The question rather ambled towards its inevitable conclusion, touching upon encounters staged from Dortmund to Madrid, Mexico City to Buenos Aires with each a reminder that, for once, the history is weighted against Germany. Joachim L�w listened intently to the interpretation on his head-set, then, as his inquisitor concluded by wondering if the national coach was worried Warsaw might soon be added to the list, delivered the curtest of responses: "Nein, nein."

So much for a mental block. The Germans have their own hoodoo to banish on Thursday night as they attempt to secure a first competitive victory over Italy at the eighth attempt. There have been finals and semi-finals of World Cups and European Championships lost in that sequence of four draws and three defeats, with the disappointment of late elimination from the last four at the Westfalenstadion in 2006, when L�w was J�rgen Klinsmann's assistant, still raw. Yet such is the unswerving belief within this set-up, even with a confrontation against canny opponents ahead, that these sorry statistics can be dismissed out of hand.

Instead, the Germans take to the National stadium on Thursday convinced they will buck that trend. The youngest squad at Euro 2012, with its gloriously fluid attacking style and jaw-dropping strength in depth, believes it will succeed where England succumbed against the Azzurri and force passage to Kiev for Sunday's final. Then they can dismiss any notion that they tend to choke. In the last decade this team has succumbed in two finals and three semi-finals, but they will be nearly men no longer. "Since 2005 the standard has been going up and up," said the captain, Bastian Schweinsteiger. "We don't have the 'crown' yet, but we're getting closer and closer.

"We have a philosophy and we've stuck to it. We're tactically and physically very strong, have good individual players and we work well as a team. We should be positive about this match. There'll be respect for Italy, but not fear even with the record they have against us. If you don't have that respect, you're dumb because they're a great nation who have won a lot in the past, and have made big steps forward themselves in the last two years. But we've beaten Argentina, Brazil, England and Holland recently, and the point has come for us to beat the next big opponent. That next one, we hope, will be the Italians."

The resources at L�w's disposal are mouth-watering, with the coach considering recalls for Lukas Podolski and Thomas M�ller or the retention of the precocious Marco Reus as his team attempt to secure a 16th consecutive competitive victory. Their 15 is already a record. Up front he may select Mario Gomez, who already has three goals in the finals, or Miroslav Klose, whose 64 international goals represent 14 more than the entire Italian squad have mustered combined. The coach can recall watching the semi-final defeat to the Azzurri at Mexico 1970 on the television, and the loss in the World Cup final in 1982.

"But 2006, when they scored so late at the end of extra-time, was a bitter pill," said L�w. "Reaching that final would have been a dream. But those disappointments will not affect this squad, because they are fresh. Our team is perfectly capable of beating any team in the world, so we have to take confidence from that. We're at a level where we don't need to hide from anyone. We will play our game, try to dictate the rhythm, and we won't let Italy show us how we have to play. We have to be cheeky, strong and brave."

Given the destruction the Germans inflicted upon England in Bloemfontein two years ago, Schweinsteiger might have been hoping to confront Roy Hodgson's team in Warsaw. The locals appear to have been somewhat presumptuous in their preparations, hastily removing the "England" transfers from the roof of the away dug-out with the Italians en route to the stadium. But, if the English were outclassed, a different challenge awaits Cesare Prandelli's team. "People are saying Germany are younger, score more goals and are fitter than us," said the manager. "But we want to take them on. We'll play our own game and not try and change anything that got us here. It would be a shame to waste the work of the last two years; you must risk a bit to be true to your professional philosophy."

While blanket defence is not an option, the Azzurri do have their own issues. They endured 120 minutes in Kiev's muggy heat against the English, and have had two days fewer than the Germans to recuperate since. Giorgio Chiellini will require a fitness test on his injured thigh, Daniele De Rossi is struggling with a back strain, and Prandelli must consider whether to select Alessandro Diamanti from the start, for only his fourth cap, for the weary Antonio Cassano.

But, yet again, they will seek reassurance in the mastery of Andrea Pirlo in midfield. "When you have a genius of a player like him, the opposition will always keep an eye on him," added De Rossi. "We can benefit from that. We must keep the ball because that is the best weapon we have. We'll need to have a wonderful game, but everyone thought we would lose to them back in 2006. Now we hope for another historic night."

Dominic Fifield