History means nothing to Low
June 27, 2012 11:24:21 UK
Germany head coach Joachim Low is determined to try and end his country's international tournament jinx against Italy in the semi-finals of Euro 2012.
Germany have never beaten the Azzurri at either the World Cup or the European Championship, but Low insists that he is not concerned about the past, only Thursday night's game in Warsaw.
We can't turn back time, the past doesn't play a role in our planning.
Joachim Low
Die Mannschaft are 1.40 to reach the final, 10.00 to progress after extra-time and 11.00 to require penalties to see off Italy.
"Germany has never won against Italy in a major tournament, but so what? The situation is entirely different now and this is not an issue for us," Low said.
"We can't turn back time, the past doesn't play a role in our planning."
Low has a decision to make over whether to recall striker Mario Gomez to his starting line-up, having drafted in Miroslav Klose for the 4-2 quarter-final win over Greece.
Andre Schurrle and Marco Reus also started that game and showed up well, meaning that Thomas Muller and Lukas Podolski face a fight to regain their places.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to shrug off an ankle problem to feature, but Low has ruled out a man-to-man marking job on Azzurri playmaker Andrea Pirlo.
He added: "Pirlo is an outstanding footballer and a brilliant strategist. Man-marking is useless with him because he drops deep so often."
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