Preamble: Welcome back to The Score's ongoing coverage of the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. Today we have some quite enticing fare for your following enjoying - Germany meeting Italy for a chance to play Spain in the finale on Sunday.

The Germans, many respected pundits' pre-tournament favorites, are on a roll having won their last 15 competitive matches. However, that statistic may be a bit misleading today. You see, Germany has never defeated Italy in a competitive tournament. That's seven matches, with the Azzurri having won four and the other three finishing in a draw.

Their last meeting, in the semifinals of World Cup 2006, saw Italy amazingly score twice in the final three minutes of extra time to advance and eventually defeat France in the final. Germany, one could say, have revenge on the mind tonight.

The tinker man? No, Claudio Raineri has no role to play today. However, Germany manager Joachim Low continues to ring the changes during this competition. He's made three moves from the team that defeated Greece in the quarterfinals, bringing in Mario Gomez, Lukas Podolski and Toni Kroos.

Perhaps Marco Reus should have hung around after impressing against the Greeks, but this is a far more defensively hard side with this trio installed. Kroos, in particular, may be a key in helping the Germans slow down the tournament's player of the year thus far, the ageless Andrea Pirlo.

Not long now: We're in the midst of the national anthems. Pre-match pleasantries between the captains and the officials will follow and then we'll be primed for kickoff.

@Kegan: No, it's really doesn't man.

@Corey: After that newspaper cartoon scandal involving his likeness? He has a better chance of being sent off, frankly.

2min: Whoever controls the midfield will control this match. I know that's usually the case, but tonight's contest seems to hinge on the middle of the park more so for me.

5min: Germany win the match's first corner. And Hummels nearly turns it in!

7min: Montolivo applies pressure to Kroos near midfield, and is successful in the sense that he forced the Bayern Munich midfielder to play a wayward pass back toward his defense.