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Mario Balotelli was the star for Italy as he scored twice in a 2-1 win over Germany in their Euro 2012 semi-final at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw.

The mercurial Manchester City striker doubled his international goal tally with two first-half strikes that eliminated the joint-favourites for the title and booked his own side’s place in the final against Spain in Kiev on Sunday.

Mesut Ozil pulled one goal back from the penalty spot in the second minute of injury time, but it was too late for Germany to complete a comeback and salvage their hopes of winning a first tournament since 1996.

The victory extends Italy’s unbeaten record against Germany in competitive games to eight matches, and it was a performance fit to sit alongside some of the other classic instalments of this fixture between Europe’s two most successful teams.

Reaching the final is made all the more remarkable for Italy when taking into account that they finished bottom of their group at the last World Cup below Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand.

The evening began in nervy manner for the Azzurri. In the first 15 minutes Andrea Pirlo had to clear Mats Hummels’s instinctive effort from a corner off the line and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon spilled a low strike from Toni Kroos that rebounded off Andrea Barzagli and trickled wide of the goal.

Gradually Cesare Prandelli’s side became more enterprising. Antonio Cassano and the half-German Riccardo Montolivo both tested Manuel Neuer from range, but it was Balotelli who broke the deadlock with 20 minutes played.

Cassano managed to roll his way through two Germany players on the left wing after good build-up from Pirlo and Giorgio Chiellini and his dinked cross was headed past Neuer by Balotelli, who celebrated in uncharacteristically joyful fashion. That goal, only the striker’s third senior international strike for his country, was Italy’s first ever in a European Championship semi-final.

Germany responded well after going behind for the first time in a competitive game since their third place play-off at the 2010 World Cup. Ozil’s attempt to pass the ball past Buffon from 20 yards was unsuccessful, before Lukas Podolski was only denied a free shot at goal by an excellent tackle from Federico Balzaretti.

Sami Khedira connected well with his half-volley from range and Buffon conceded a corner from his save, but it was from that Germany set piece that Italy broke to score the killer second.

After defending and clearing the set piece, Montolivo sent Balotelli away with a pinpoint ball over the top. The striker’s control set the ball up perfectly for him to fire an unerring strike into the top corner just as Philipp Lahm made a despairing lunge in vain.

Balotelli was booked for removing his shirt in another celebratory outpouring of emotion, but nothing could dampen his or Italy’s spirits at that moment.

Germany made significant changes at the break, introducing Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus in place of Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski. Reus made an immediate impact, having a shot saved before playing his part in the move which culminated with Lahm firing over the bar.

Prandelli methodically made substitutions at regular intervals throughout the second half, including removing the indefatigable Montolivo, and by the 70th minute both sides had made all three of their allotted changes.

As Germany pushed harder for a goal that would get them back into the game, the game really began to open up. Reus forced a good save from Buffon with a wickedly dipping free-kick soon after Balotelli had fired low across the face of goal. Claudio Marchisio spurned two great chances to give Italy an unassailable 3-0 lead, while Balzaretti denied Reus a clear shot at goal with a wonderfully-timed tackle that he celebrated as though he had scored at the other end.

However, Balzaretti was culpable for giving away a spot-kick that gave Germany just a sliver of hope after he handled inside the area. Buffon guessed the right way from Ozil’s kick, but the playmaker’s shot was hit out of his reach.

It proved to be too little, too late for Germany, and even Neuer’s repeated forays forward for set pieces were not enough to avert yet another defeat to their bogey team.

Germany coach Joachim Loew was rewarded for a risky selection policy as his side rode roughshod over Greece to complete a 4-2 win in their Euro 2012 quarter-final at a sodden Arena Gdansk in Poland.

Goals from Phillip Lahm (39), Sami Khedira (61), Miroslav Klose (68) and Marco Reus (74) were enough to complete an overwhelming win with Georgios Samaras scoring an unlikely equaliser for Greece early in the second period.

Dimitris Salpingidis netted a penalty for Greece on 89 minutes after Jerome Boateng was harshly penalised for a handball, but Germany were convincing winners on the night.

Loew caused some consternation before the match when he opted to bring in Andre Schuerrle, Reus and Klose for three of his more established players - certainly at these finals in Poland and Ukraine - of Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez, men who had helped them reached the last eight with wins over Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark in the group stages.

It mattered little as Germany camped out in the opposition half for large swathes of the match. They could and should have won by a greater margin on their way to a 15th straight win - a record for the German national side.

Germany will face England or Italy in the second semi-final in Warsaw on Thursday. They will be difficult to hold in this mood.

Watched by their country's chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany basked in 76 percent of possession and totted up 26 shots at goal compared to only ten from Greece.

Germany headed for half-time holding a one-goal lead when captain Philipp Lahm bounded beyond Sotiris Ninis to sink a volley beyond Greece goalkeeper Michail Sifakis from 20 yards out on 39 minutes.

Schuerrle had the ball in the net in four minutes, but the goal was disallowed for offside after Sifakis had spilled Khedira's shot. The chances came and went for Germany as Mesut Ozil, Reus, Khedira and Schuerrle all had opportunities to put the game beyond the besieged Greece side, whose policy of defend deep and counter attack was doomed to failure by the technique and ongoing energy levels of Germany.

It was difficult to believe a match could be more one-sided than Portugal's 1-0 win over Czech Republic on Thursday, but they certainly managed it as Greece seemed to be playing a nine-man back line at times.

Greece somehow drew level with their best move of the match and the tournament as Samaras forced the ball under Manuel Neuer from a lovely ball across goal by Salpingidis on 55 minutes. It was a only a brief reprieve as it became clear Greece lacked the quality to emulate their rise to the trophy at Euro 2004.

Indeed, Samaras's goal only seemed to further aggravate Germany who reclaimed the lead when Khedira thumped Jerome Boateng's cross into the net from 12 yards to establish a 2-1 lead before the creaking Sifakis missed the outstanding Ozil's free-kick as Klose rose above Kyriakos Papadopoulos to head his 64th goal in his 12oth appearance for his country.

He is only four goals adrift of Gerd Mueller's record of 68 for Germany in 62 matches for West Germany. Reus clubbed a volley into the vacant net with 16 minutes left after Sifakis had smothered a Klose effort with Ozil again leading Greece a merry dance in the middle of the park.

Greece scored their second of the night when Salpingidis sent the underworked Neuer the wrong way from the penalty spot after Boateng was deemed to have intentionally blocked Vasilis Torosidis's shot with his hand.

It enabled Greece to score a second goal on the night yet the scoreline flattered them.

Germany reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 as winners of Group B and sent Denmark crashing out after beating them 2-1 at the Arena Lviv.

Right-back Lars Bender's first international goal won the game for Joachim Loew's side on the night with 10 minutes remaining after Michael Krohn-Dehli had cancelled out Lukas Podolski's early opener.

There were some appeals for a Denmark penalty with 15 minutes remaining when Nicklas Bendtner appeared to have his shirt tugged by Holger Badstuber but referee Carlos Velasco Carballo - usually so liberal with his cards - did not take any action.

On an evening in which possession of the much-coveted second place in the group changed hands four times but failed to deliver the nail-biting finish the many group permutations had promised, a combination of Danish defeat in Lviv and Portugal's 2-1 win over Netherlands in Kharkiv saw the Danes eliminated by finishing third in the group on three points.

As group winners with nine points, Germany will play Greece in Gdansk on Friday June 22, while Portugal will face Czech Republic in Warsaw a day earlier after they finished second on six points. The Dutch go home with no points.

The victory for Germany means they have won every single competitive fixture since they lost 1-0 to Spain in the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, having come through the qualifying phase for this competition with 10 wins out of 10. What's more, they have opened the scoring in each of those 13 subsequent games.

As expected, Germany's pace and attacking thrust saw them have the best of the opening exchanges, with Thomas Mueller firing one half-volleyed shot over the bar before sending a tame side-footed effort trickling to the keeper from six yards.

Podolski opened the scoring for Germany, putting Portugal in the top two despite Rafael van der Vaart's opening goal for Netherlands in Kharkiv.

Podolski, who turned 27 years of age a fortnight ago, became the youngest European to reach 100 international caps, and he marked the occasion with his 44th goal for Germany.

The forward, who will be lining up for Arsenal next season, gave the Premier League a taste of what to expect on 19 minutes when he pounced on to a low cross from the right and fired home from 10 yards. Denmark keeper Stephan Andersen got both hands to the strike, but the power was enough for it to hit the net.

That goal had Portugal poised to go through alongside Germany by virtue of their superior head-to-head record with the rest of the group, but it was far from the final twist in the tale.

Germany's lead lasted just five minutes before Krohn-Dehli levelled up for the Danes. The Brondby man, who scored the winner in the 1-0 win over Netherlands, was the most alert when Bendtner nodded a corner back across goal, and the five-foot-seven midfielder glanced his own header past Manuel Neuer.

Denmark were now set to progress as the outright second-placed side, but there was more drama before the half-hour mark as Cristiano Ronaldo's goal was sending Portugal through thanks to their 3-2 win over Denmark last time out.

Podolski blazed over a free-kick from the edge of the box and Sami Khedira prodded an effort wide, but the score remained level at half-time with Denmark on their way out.

Morten Olsen's side made a brief stab of a fightback after the break, with Jakob Poulsen's strike shaving the outside of the post after good hold-up play by Bendtner, but in truth that was as close as they got.

Andersen was forced into a regulation save from Bastian Schweinsteiger low to his left, but once news filtered through that Ronaldo had scored his and Portugal's second in Kharkiv there looked no way back for Denmark - despite the fact that scoring one more of their own would put them through and Germany out.

Some thought they would have that chance when Bendtner was at full stretch to meet a floated ball into the box and Badstuber appeared to have a handful of the Arsenal striker's shirt. However, Spanish official Velasco - whose two red cards in the opening match of the tournament took his tally for the season to 17 and who averaged 7.5 bookings in La Liga last term - deemed the incident unworthy of his involvement.

On 80 minutes it was all over and Germany were confirmed as progressing with a 100 per cent record. Mesut Ozil's pass was too far ahead of substitute Miroslav Klose, but it ran ideally for Bender to meet on the run and sidefoot a cool finish past Andersen to open his international account on his ninth senior appearance.

Mario Gomez scored twice in a humid Kharkiv as Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Euro 2012 Group B, a result that leaves the Dutch facing the exit door.

Bayern Munich striker Gomez scored two delightful goals on 24 and 38 minutes from two pinpoint passes by Bastian Schweinsteiger to add to his winner against Portugal in the opening round of games as Joachim Loew's side threatened to put the match beyond their fierce rivals before half-time.

It was a minor miracle how the Dutch remained in the match until the 73rd minute when Robin van Persie drilled the ball home from distance to give his country hope before they conclude their group matches against Portugal on Sunday evening. Somewhat astonishingly, they are facing an early exit at the Euros only two years after losing to Spain in the World Cup final.

The Netherlands need to beat Portugal by two clear goals and hope Germany overcome Denmark to reach the quarter-finals while Germany must gain at least a point against the Danes to be certain of progress.

Germany will only be denied a spot in the last eight if they lose to Denmark and Portugal overcome the Netherlands. It would then come down to the head-to-heads between the teams to decide who goes through.

With Germany on six points and Denmark and Portugal on three after Portugal's 3-2 win over Denmark earlier in the day, it is worth noting that no team has reached the knockout phase of a European Championship finals after losing their opening two matches.

History is against the Dutch, but at least Van Persie's goal gives them hope of making it through against all the odds. They improved in the second period after being pressed back by a young German side for large swathes of the first period.

As was the case in their 1-0 defeat to Denmark on Saturday, the Dutch came up with a couple of chances early on, but Van Persie screwed an effort wide of goal from Arjen Robben's pass on 10 minutes while the ineffectual Ibrahim Afellay cut the ball across goal for Van Persie but his poor delivery enabled Mats Hummels to make the clearance.

Gomez made them pay when he took one touch from Schweinsteiger's pass before beating Maarten Stekelenburg with the second in the heart of the Dutch area.

Germany should have earned a second goal when Holger Badstuber headed straight at Stekelenburg from Mesut Ozil's cross on 37 minutes.

They did not have to wait long for another uplifting moment as Gomez beat Stekelenburg with a delicious finish from another Schweinsteiger pass as the Dutch defence was cut to shreds on the edge of their own area.

It was the first time at a World Cup or European Championship finals that the Dutch national side had been two goals behind at half-time.

Coach Bert van Marwijk swapped the tiring Mark van Bommel and Afellay for Rafael van der Vaart and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar at half-time, but Hummels almost added a third goal for Germany on 51 minutes when he walloped a couple of efforts at goal only for Stekelenburg to stand tall in repelling his efforts.

The Netherlands were fortunate to be alive in the contest, but gave themselves fresh hope when Van Persie thumped a shot beyond Manuel Neuer from distance after the Germany goalkeeper had denied Van Persie with a diving stop. Wesley Sneijder also lifted an effort wide of goal that might have dipped in on another day or another tournament, but these finals do not look like turning orange.

Despite plenty of huff and puff, the Dutch could not find a way to salvage a draw they were hardly worth with Robben appearing to lose his cool when he hurdled an advertising board on the far side of the pitch after he was replaced by Dirk Kuyt before walking back to the technical area via the side of the park.

It was an act of folly that suggests all is not well in the Dutch squad before they conclude against Portugal on Sunday.

Mario Gomez gave Germany a narrow 1-0 win over Portugal in Group B after a wretched match at the Arena Lviv in Ukraine.

The match seemed destined to finish goalless with both sides reluctant to commit bodies forward, but Bayern Munich's Gomez settled the match in Germany's favour when he rose to head Sami Khedira's deflected cross beyond Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio on 72 minutes.

Portugal enjoyed their best moments of the match when they were forced to throw caution to the wind in the death throes of the match, but their defensive approach did not contribute to an appetising spectacle as men such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Helder Postiga were forced to live off scraps for most of the evening.

Germany will reach the last eight if they beat the Netherlands on Wednesday night. It should be a fascinating occasion with the Dutch needing to avoid defeat having lost 1-0 to Denmark in Kharkiv earlier in the day.

Portugal showed enough against Germany in the final 18 minutes to suggest they can beat Denmark on Wednesday but they would be better served to adopt a more positive outlook against Morten Olsen's side.

The first period was a non-event in terms of being an event as Lukas Podolski drove a shot into the arms of Patricio on eight minutes with Thomas Mueller screwing a effort wide seven minutes before half-time.

The best chance of the half fell to Portugal a minute before half-time as Pepe saw a header come back off the underside of the bar before bouncing to safety.

Portugal claimed for a goal, but replays showed it had not crossed the line.

Jerome Boateng was forced to make a fine tackle on Ronaldo as he prepared to shoot inside the Germany box on 64 minutes. Gomez struck eight minutes later to settle the matches moments before he was going to be replaced.

Watched by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, Portugal could have rescued a draw in the closing moments as Nani saw a cross clip the top of Germany's bar while Ronaldo's effort from distance was beaten out by Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as it dipped and swerved in the air.

Neuer then spread himself superbly well to save from Varela after his fellow substitute Nelson Oliveira had shown some intelligence to play provider.

Portugal have never been eliminated from the group stage of the European Championships in five appearances. They at least know what is on the line before they confront Denmark.