Joachim Loew, the Germany coach, was happy his "cheeky" team selection paid off as his side cruised past Greece 4-2 in their quarter-final in Gdansk.
He made three significant changes from the team which beat Denmark to finish Group B with a 100 per cent record, the stand-out one being replacing three-goal striker Mario Gomez with Miroslav Klose.
Loew said he was unconcerned these alterations leaked out into the public domain hours before kick-off, even if it did somewhat spoil the element of surprise.
After missing a host of first-half chances, captain Philipp Lahm gave the three-time champions the lead just before the break.
Even though Celtic striker Georgios Samaras equalised soon after the interval, goals from Sami Khedira, Klose and Marco Reus eased Germany into a last-four encounter with England or Italy despite Dimitris Salpingidis' late penalty.
"To be cheeky is a good thing. Today it was the time to bring in some fresh faces and different types of players who could do a job and I think it worked very well," said Loew.
"I thought after three victories, with which I was satisfied, we needed to be unpredictable against Greece because they know us very well."
On his line-up being made public earlier today, he added: "It is not the way I would have wanted but it is the way it happened and that is that."
Regarding the game itself Loew said: "I don't think there is any question we absolutely deserved to win this match.
"Greece scored two goals out of one chance and the only thing I can say is we didn't take chances at the start of the game.
"Right from the start we were very good, we had lots of chances.
"They had a strong defence but in the second half we didn't let them hassle us because of the goal we conceded.
"We put in a good performance and the whole way we played was fantastic."
Klose ailed the strength in depth of the Germany side. "Our bench is very, very strong which makes us stand out," said the 34-year-old Lazio striker. "Anyone can come in and play, which is great for us."
Real Madrid goal-scorer Khedira said: "It goes without saying that we are happy to be in the semi-finals." "We made it a bit exciting, but then we raised the tempo. "When we fulfill our potential, we are hard to beat."
Fernando Santos, the Greece coach, admitted his side were smothered by Germany - who dominated possession - in the first half, but was pleased with their showing after the interval and also overall at Euro 2012.
"I would like to congratulate Germany. They played well," he said.
"I would also like to congratulate my players not only for today's performance and effort in today's match but for all their efforts during this tournament.
"The German team were really good and they deserved their huge percentage of ball possession.
"We could have maintained possession more and could have taken more chances but we didn't have the space to breathe. And given Germany had the ball most of the time they could actually press us towards our goal.
"Despite our defensive efforts we conceded a goal.
"At half-time we told them we had to correct some minor mistakes and try to take more initiative in attack.
"We told them if we could score once it would change the game completely.
"We managed to score and create chances but we conceded the second goal really soon afterwards and that clipped our wings.
"After that it was really difficult to get back to the game. No matter how good your defence is after a certain point you become tired.
"But if someone had told me we would score twice against Germany I would never have believed them."
Company%20profile
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Company%20profile
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Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Company%20Profile
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FIGHT CARD
Sara El Bakkali v Anisha Kadka (Lightweight, female)
Mohammed Adil Al Debi v Moaz Abdelgawad (Bantamweight)
Amir Boureslan v Mahmoud Zanouny (Welterweight)
Abrorbek Madaminbekov v Mohammed Al Katheeri (Featherweight)
Ibrahem Bilal v Emad Arafa (Super featherweight)
Ahmed Abdolaziz v Imad Essassi (Middleweight)
Milena Martinou v Ilham Bourakkadi (Bantamweight, female)
Noureddine El Agouti v Mohamed Mardi (Welterweight)
Nabil Ouach v Ymad Atrous (Middleweight)
Nouredin Samir v Zainalabid Dadachev (Lightweight)
Marlon Ribeiro v Mehdi Oubahammou (Welterweight)
Brad Stanton v Mohamed El Boukhari (Super welterweight
