WARSAW, POLAND (AP) - In the second quarterfinal at Euro 2012, Germany plays Greece on Friday. Here’s the best of the action and match-day excitement. All times are local to Poland.
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2119: Germany coach Joachim Loew looks furious on the sideline at how wasteful his side has been so far, after Reus fires another effort wide from the edge of the penalty area. Is he worried that his decision to drop Podolski, Gomez and Mueller will come back to haunt him?
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2111: This could be a long night for the Greeks. They’re pinned back in their half and the Germans are coming forward in waves but just can’t hit the target. Klose comes very close to scoring but can’t quite stretch far enough to connect with a cross right in front of goal. Merkel, in the stands, has her hands over her mouth looking at that latest missed chance.
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2105: gdunbarap: Torrential rain this morning in Gdansk and most seems to have fallen in the Greece penalty area. Slippery and cutting up badly (via Twitter).
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2102: Giorgos Samaras has become the first player to be shown a yellow card tonight after three robust challenges. He ploughed through Khedira twice before clipping the ankle of Schweinsteiger, and he is eventually booked by the referee with the German captain down and in pain.
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2059: Reus now goes close for Germany. Khedira picks out his forward with a neat first-time through ball and Reus lets fly with a left-footed shot, but drags it wide of the near post.
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2053: The ball is in the back of the net already for Germany, but Klose’s effort is ruled out for offside. Khedira hits a low shot at goal from far out and Sofakis spills it out to the midfielder running into the area in anticipation of a mistake, but the flag is raised as the German captain pokes the ball in. Sofakis got clattered as he tried to claim the ball back and is down for a few minutes, but will be OK to continue. Very bright start from Germany, who are passing the ball around nicely.
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2045: And they’re underway. Both sets of fans respectfully listen to the national anthems. Tension? What tension?
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2035: Derek Gatopoulos, AP’s reporter with the Greek team: “The Greek fans were first to appear in force, a block of about 500 arrived chanting ’Hellas, Hellas’. The atmosphere is overwhelmingly friendly. Again, many Greek fans appear to have traveled from Germany and there were loud boos from them as the German players ran onto the pitch to warm up. They unfurled a giant flag but it was upside down, so they rolled it back up again.”
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1955: German coach Joachim Loew must be confident of getting a result tonight! He’s dropped his three main forwards, including leading striker Mario Gomez who is replaced by veteran Miroslav Klose. Loew also drops Lukas Podolski and Thomas Mueller, giving Andre Schuerrle and Marco Reus their first starts at the tournament. A fourth change sees Jerome Boateng return as right back after serving a one-match suspension, with Lars Bender returning to the bench.
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1950: Tonight’s teams:
Germany: Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Holger Badstuber, Phillipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinstiger, Mesut Ozil, Andre Schurrle, Marco Reus, Miroslav Klose.
Greece: Michalis Sifakis, Giannis Maniatis, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Vasilis Torosidis, Giorgos Tzavellas, Konstantinos Katsouranis, Grigoris Makos, Sotiris Ninis, Dimitrios Salpingidis, Georgios Samaras.
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1930: German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in the stadium tonight, sitting next to UEFA chief Michel Platini. I wonder how the Greek fans will react when her image is _ inevitably _ beamed up onto the big screen. The new prime minister of Greece, Antonis Samaras, won’t be traveling. “The prime minister is a football fanatic and will be watching the game on television,” government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said. He is also due to undergo eye surgery on Saturday.
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1900: Less than two hours to go until the most politically-charged match of Euro 2012 _ and it couldn’t have been scripted better. Greece, whose economy has imploded, is up against Germany, which has insisted on deep austerity cuts in return for bailout funds. So much to play for tonight in terms of national pride. The Germans are overwhelming favorites, but the Greeks will be raring to go.
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1845: There is a huge German contingent in Gdansk, but the Greeks are making some serious noise. And the build-up to the match has been peaceful and vibrant around the city.
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1830: The Berlin Morgenpost runs the headline: “Dear Greeks, we’re not helping you today!” Inside, there’s a cartoon showing a Greek player wearing a German shirt with Germany written across the chest, saying “We’re Greece - They’re just our sponsors.”
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1820: In Germany, the best-selling daily Bild led with: “Bye bye Greece; we can’t rescue you today.”
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1815: The Greek press is in overdrive for tonight’s match. Sports paper ’Derby’ shows an ancient Greek warrior clad in full armor and clutching a spear in mid-stride as if charging at the reader, with the headline ’Molon Lave’ meaning ’Come and Take it’ _ Spartan king Leonidas’ famous retort to Xerxes’ call to surrender in the battle of Thermopylae.
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1800: From AP’s Graham Dunbar in Gdansk: “On Friday, thousands of fans from the two nations at opposite ends of the Eurozone financial crisis are converging on neutral Polish turf for a European Championship quarterfinal match. For Greece fans, Friday’s clash in rainy Gdansk inevitably mixes sports and politics, Euro 2012 and the euro currency. They seek respect for their country after its humiliating economic collapse _ and the German government’s role in imposing austerity measures.”
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