Germany has qualified for the semi-final of the Euro 2016 championship in France after a nail biting, but thrilling match with Italy in Bordeaux.
The World champion edged out Italy 6-5 on penalties, after the match had ended 1-1 in extra time.
Mesut Ozil scored first for Germany in the 65th minute after a pass into the box by Jonas Hector, who had collected a deflected ball from a Mario Gomez pass behind the Italian defence. Ozil smashed in the ball at close range that gave Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon no chance.
Twelve minutes after Jerome Boateng mistakenly handled the ball inside the German box, following pressure by Italy.
Leonardo Bonucci scored from the penalty spot for Italy.
There was no other goal produced by the two sides in the next 42 minutes, more so for Germany that had 59 per cent of possession and made five shots on target to Italy’s three.
Matters thus had to be resolved with penalty kicks. Toni Kroos, Mezut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger all missed their shots for Germany. Simone Zazza, Graziano Pelle and Leonardo Bonucci missed for Italy i in the first five shots. Both the Germans and Italians became flawless in the next three extra kicks.
But while Matteo Darmian missed the ninth shot for Italy, Jonas Hector beat Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon, handing over victory to the Germans.
Germany will now await the winner of Sunday’s match between France and Iceland to know their semi-final opponent on 7 July.