EURO 2012: Strength in depth

CHANGES: Germany show their power

GDANSK: VETERAN striker Miroslav Klose has said Germany's strength in depth makes them a force to be reckoned with at Euro 2012 as their 4-2 hammering of Greece put them in the semi-finals.

   Germany ran riot on Friday in the Arena Gdansk quarter-final with captain Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, Klose and Marco Reus all getting on the score-sheet.

   Their goals cancelled out Giorgos Samaras' and Dimitris Salpingidis' second-half strikes for the Greeks as the Euro 2004 winners bowed out.

   "Our bench is very, very strong which makes us stand out," said 34-year-old Lazio striker Klose.

   "Anyone can come in and play, which is great for us."

    Klose's 68th-minute crisp header took him a step closer to the all-time scoring record of 1970s icon Gerd Mueller, closing the gap to just four as he notched up his 64th goal for his country.

   "We knew that we could impose our game on the Greeks and get a few chances to score. That was just how things worked out," added Klose.

   Despite beating Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark in their three Group B matches, Germany coach Joachim Loew boldly opted to make three changes to his attack including bringing in Klose for Mario Gomez.

   Loew also opted for Andre Schuerrle onto the left wing over Arsenal-bound Lukas Podolski and Reus, who scored his second goal on only his seventh appearance, for Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller as the changes paid off.

   The Germans will now play England or Italy, who meet in today's Kiev quarter-final, in the semi-final at Warsaw's National Stadium on Thursday as they inflicted Greece's heaviest defeat at a European championships.

   "It goes without saying that we are happy to be in the semi-finals," said Real Madrid goal-scorer Khedira.

   "We made it a bit exciting, but then we raised the tempo. When we fulfil our potential, we are hard to beat."

   Having only watched from the bench at Euro 2012 before the quarter-final, Reus was delighted to score Germany's fourth of the night.

   "We are happy that we won a game and we deserved the win," said Reus.

   "The coach had indicated to me that my chances would come and the victory will again give us a lot of confidence." AFP

Germany’s Marco Reus (top) is challenged by Greek’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos in their quarter-final match on Friday. AFP pic

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EURO 2012: Strength in depth

CHANGES: Germany show their power

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