Greece? No problem for Germany

Russia-killers Greece scored twice in their Euro 2012 quarterfinal against Germany, but it wasn't enough to overturn Die Mannschaft as they breezed past the Hellenes, 4-2.

­Joachim Loew surprised his counterpart Fernando Santos, leaving his main striking force Mario Gomes, Lucas Podolski and Thomas Muller on the bench, but the German attack didn’t lack creativity with the likes of Miroslav Klose, Marco Reus and Andre Schurrle up front.

The Germans hit the ground running and had a couple of good goal attempts early into the match, and even scored once – but Schurrle’s netting was ruled out due to offside.

The Greeks entrenched themselves in the box, absorbing the game, and the Germans had to wait until the end of the first half to crack the defensive puzzle. Captain Philipp Lahm received the ball on the left from Sami Khedira, chested it down, skipped forward and released a swerving shot from outside the penalty area into the far corner of the net. Michalis Sifakis touched it slightly, but the shot was too powerful for him to face off the threat.

The Greeks equalized early into the second as Georgios Samaras punished the Germans in a rapid counter-attack. But hardly had the fans felt some intrigue in the game when Khedira restored Germany’s lead thanks to a ferocious strike.

German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (C) watches as Greek forward Giorgios Samaras (R) scores during the Euro 2012 football championships quarter-final match Germany vs Greece on June 22, 2012 at the Gdansk Arena (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

­A few minutes later, Klose scored his 64th international goal heading home after a well-played free-kick flavored with Sifakis’s blunder. And Reus put the final result beyond any doubt 16 minutes from time, adding a cherry on the pie.

A late penalty kick by Dimitrios Salpingidis sweetened the pill for the Greek fans, but couldn’t spoil the fest for Germany and their most important fan, chancellor Angela Merkel, who attended the match in Gdansk.

The Germans now await either England or Italy in the semis.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel celebrates after Philip Lahm scored against Greece during the Euro 2012 football championships quarter-final match Germany vs Greece on June 22, 2012 at the Gdansk Arena (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)