Euro 2008- Germany Becomes First Team to Reach European Championship Semis
Jun 20
Germany overpowered Portugal 3-2 to reach the semifinals of soccer’s European Championship for the first time since 1996. Bastian Schweinsteiger returned from suspension last night to score one goal and set up two in the first quarterfinal in Basel, Switzerland. Germany will face either Croatia or Turkey in its first semifinal since winning a record third European title 12 years ago. Schweinsteiger missed Germany’s last game after getting a red card against Croatia. He returned to open the scoring in the 22nd minute, then provided free kicks which Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack headed in for goals. Nuno Gomes and Helder Postiga scored for Portugal, which was attempting to reach its third straight semifinal. The loss ended the five-year reign of Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who will take over English Premier League club Chelsea on July 1. Scolari’s counterpart Low was serving a one-game suspension after being sent to the stands during the win over Austria in Germany’s last match.
Portugal had the first scoring chance yesterday in the 15th minute as Deco sent a pass to Simao, whose shot was saved by Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. Joao Moutinho was then undecided whether to head or kick a cross from Jose Bosingwa and the ball went off his thigh and over the crossbar. Germany took the lead in the 22nd minute when Lukas Podolski took Ballack’s return pass down the left side before centering a ball that Schweinsteiger slid inside the near post. Less than five minutes later, Schweinsteiger lofted a freekick into the area which an unmarked Klose headed in for his first goal of the tournament. Portugal made it 2-1 five minutes before halftime after Lehmann came out to block Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot. The rebound went to Gomes, whose left-foot effort evaded defender Christoph Metzelder on the goal line.
The Germans increased their lead 13 minutes into the second half as Schweinsteiger sent another freekick into the area and Ballack appeared to push off a defender before heading it in. Scolari said Ballack, his future player at Chelsea, should have been called for a foul. Postiga, who entered the game in the 73rd minute, headed in Nani’s cross with three minutes left make it 3-2. The Portuguese, runners-up to Greece at Euro 2004, pushed on during four minutes of injury time though couldn’t get a clear shot on goal.
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