Germany reached the European Championship semifinals for a record seventh time after a dominant 4-2 win over Greece in Gdańsk.
Joachim Löw's side were frustrated by Greece until Philipp Lahm opened the scoring a few minutes before half-time, firing home a swerving effort from outside the area into the corner off the hand of Greece goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis.
The Greeks looked better at the start of the second half, and even equalised when Georgios Samaras poked home at the far post on 55 minutes.
Greece were level for only six minutes, though, as Sami Khedira timed his run from deep perfectly to volley home from Jérôme Boateng's cross.
Germany doubled their advantage in the 67th minute when Miroslav Klose powered home a header from a corner kick as Sifakis came but got nowhere near the ball.
Marco Reus made the game safe when he lashed home a volley off the underside of the crossbar after Sifakis had saved from Klose.
Dimitris Salpigidis scored a late penalty for Greece after Boateng's handball, but it was too late for the underdogs to mount what would have been an improbable comeback.
Germany will now await the winner of the meeting between England and Italy in the semi-final, which will be played in Donetsk next Wednesday.
Lineups:
Germany: Manuel Neuer; Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm; Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Marco Reus (Mario Götze, 80), Mesut Özil, André Schürrle (Thomas Müller, 67); Miroslav Klose (Mario Gómez, 80)
Greece: Michalis Sifakis; Vasilis Torosidis, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Georgios Tzavelas (Georgios Fotakis, 46); Grigoris Makos (Nikos Liberopoulos, 72), Ioannis Maniatis; Sotiris Ninis (Theofanis Gekas, 46), Kostas Katsouranis, Georgios Samaras; Dimitris Salpigidis
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| Germany forward Miroslav Klose heads the ball to score against Greece Photo: Getty Images |
Joachim Löw's side were frustrated by Greece until Philipp Lahm opened the scoring a few minutes before half-time, firing home a swerving effort from outside the area into the corner off the hand of Greece goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis.
The Greeks looked better at the start of the second half, and even equalised when Georgios Samaras poked home at the far post on 55 minutes.
Greece were level for only six minutes, though, as Sami Khedira timed his run from deep perfectly to volley home from Jérôme Boateng's cross.
Germany doubled their advantage in the 67th minute when Miroslav Klose powered home a header from a corner kick as Sifakis came but got nowhere near the ball.
Marco Reus made the game safe when he lashed home a volley off the underside of the crossbar after Sifakis had saved from Klose.
Dimitris Salpigidis scored a late penalty for Greece after Boateng's handball, but it was too late for the underdogs to mount what would have been an improbable comeback.
Germany will now await the winner of the meeting between England and Italy in the semi-final, which will be played in Donetsk next Wednesday.
Lineups:
Germany: Manuel Neuer; Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm; Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Marco Reus (Mario Götze, 80), Mesut Özil, André Schürrle (Thomas Müller, 67); Miroslav Klose (Mario Gómez, 80)
Greece: Michalis Sifakis; Vasilis Torosidis, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Georgios Tzavelas (Georgios Fotakis, 46); Grigoris Makos (Nikos Liberopoulos, 72), Ioannis Maniatis; Sotiris Ninis (Theofanis Gekas, 46), Kostas Katsouranis, Georgios Samaras; Dimitris Salpigidis
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