PARIS -- The curse is lifted.In eight matches at either the European Championships or World Cup dating back to 1962, Germany had never beaten Italy.The ninth time broke the spell.The Germans can now stop calling the Italians their Angstgegner -- feared opponent.But Germany had to pull out its specialty party trick to do it: the penalty shoot-out.After 120 minutes of normal and extra time ended 1-1 on Saturday, Jonas Hector hit the winning penalty kick that put Germany into the Euro 2016 semifinals.Here are 5 things to know about the quarterfinal in Bordeaux.---FOOTBALL CHESS:This was a game for tactics geeks, not neutrals hoping for end-to-end action.German coach Joachim Loew paid Italy a fine compliment by changing his formation for this match, choosing to fight fire with fire by playing three defenders at the back like his Italy counterpart Antonio Conte.The German back three of Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng and Benedikt Hoewedes left less space for the Italian attacking pair of Graziano Pelle and Eder to operate. Joshua Kimmich, on the right, and Hector, on the left, played as wing backs in Loews formation, hugging the touchlines, pushing high up the pitch and pulling Italy out wide.In front of the German back three, central midfielders Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos provided another screen for the Italians to penetrate. Their 135 caps for Germany were more than the combined total of the central midfielders and two wingbacks that Conte fielded in his 3-5-2 formation.When Khedira suffered an apparent groin strain and had to be substituted after just 16 minutes, Loew was able to call upon a player with even more experience: Manchester Uniteds Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was making his 119th appearance.More than anything, the German formation seemed to mess with Italian minds. The enterprising Italy team that comprehensively outplayed 2012 champion Spain in the previous round thought twice about going forward. Instead of prowling down the wings as they had against Spain, Italy wingbacks Mattia De Sciglio and Alessandro Florenzi were far less intrepid and spent a lot more time reinforcing the defense.---GAME OF TWO HALVESAs the teams took a breather after a goalless first 45 minutes, the boffins at statistics outfit Opta tweeted that of the 18 goals scored in the two teams previous encounters at major tournaments, 15 -- or 83 percent -- came after half-time.Sure enough.Mezut Ozils opening goal for Germany followed by Leonardo Bonuccis equalizer from the penalty spot stalemated the teams at 1-1, and that was how the score stayed to the end of extra time.Settling for a shootout against Germany was a big mistake. Since losing its first penalty-kick contest to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final, Germany has now won six on the trot at the tournament and the World Cup.Italy joins France, Mexico, England (twice) and Argentina as victims of German efficiency from the spot.---SUPER MARIOOut-of-favor Mario Gomez only got to witness Germanys 2014 World Cup win from afar, left out of Loews squad that triumphed in Brazil.Recalled by Loew in November after impressing for Besiktas in Turkey, the 30-year-old former Bayern Munich striker is now making the most of his renaissance.Gomez was instrumental in Ozils goal, holding up the ball on the left wing and then getting it to Hector. He laid it on for the on-rushing Arsenal midfielder to smash into Gianluigi Buffons net.---BOATENG GOES BONKERS:In Germanys European Championship opening win against Ukraine, Jerome Boateng used his long legs to pull off an incredible goalmouth block that just, by centimeters, kept out a shot that would have levelled the score at 1-1. The stunning reflexes and athleticism confirmed the Bayern Munich mans status as one of footballs best defenders and made him the talk of social media.He also made a fine block against Italy, just getting a right foot in to deflect a shot from Stefano Sturaro.But, with Germany ahead and in control in the second half, he then inexplicably lost his head against Italy, needlessly giving away a penalty that put Contes team back in the game.Not lifting your arms in the box is basic A-B-C stuff for defenders. Yet that is exactly what Boateng did as the ball came into Germanys box, raising both arms.Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai immediately pointed to the spot.Twitter, of course, was merciless, quickly making Boateng the butt of jokes .----MISSING DE ROSSIDaniele De Rossi was Italys most prolific passer from midfield before this match, attempting 115 passes and completing 98 of them. Against Spain, he completed 36 passes in the 54 minutes he was on the pitch. Only defenders Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini completed more.Against Germany, his absence because of a thigh injury was sorely felt. Without a ball distributor of his caliber, Italy looked disjointed. In the previous round, Italy bypassed the Spanish midfield entirely on numerous occasions but found that much harder to do against Germany.---John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester(at)ap.org or follow him at http://twitter.com/johnleicester Air Max Cheap Wholesale . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. Cheap Air Max Clearance .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. http://www.airmaxcheapwholesale.com/ .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Cheap Nike Air Max Clearance . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. 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Prop Allan Dell and centre Huw Jones were making their first international appearances at Murrayfield, while tighthead Zander Fagerson and flanker Hamish Watson registered their first starts for their country.But Laidlaw admits they did not have the stroke of fortune they required to claim a third win over the Wallabies in seven years.As players we understand where we are, said the captain, who added seven points with his boot.We believe we are so much better and so much more organised. We know exactly what each other is doing and we feel that is starting to come though in our performances.Were pretty much in every single game we play now. Its just about getting that little bit of luck. Everybody needs that bit of luck. One of my kicks clipped the inside of the post. It was the thickness of a lick of paint away from going through. If it had we were probably home and hosed.But unfortunately we just coughed up a try at the end. We felt we were harshly penalised at the eend when John Barclay was on the ball near the end.dddddddddddde feel we are so close but were massively frustrated.The look of disgust on Laidlaws face after referee Craig Joubert wrongly handed Australia a decisive penalty at Twickenham was one of the enduring images of last years World Cup. But the Scots scrum-half preferred not to look back after another harsh loss.That quarter-final is gone. It was a while ago. The pleasing thing for us is that we played so much better than we did in Japan during the summer.Departing head coach Vern Cotter was denied a winning start to his farewell tour. He was frustrated with referee John Laceys display but with seven games left before his Scotland reign ends next summer, the Kiwi was remaining positive.We always come back to the old saying of fine margins. I wouldnt necessarily say the best team won.Im incredibly proud of the players and the way they played that game. There are things we can control and things we cant, so we focus on the things we can. The players played with immense courage and threw themselves at it. I think we didnt get the rub of the green at times.There were eight penalties against us in the second half but only two for us. But as I say that is something we cant focus on. The most important thing for us is to get back to improving performances. Thats what we will do.? Jerseys NFL China Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale China Jerseys NFL Jerseys China Discount Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China China NCAA Jerseys Cheap Cheap Nike Dolphins Jerseys Cheap Nike Patriots Jerseys Cheap Nike Jets Jerseys Cheap Nike Bengals Jerseys Cheap Nike Browns Jerseys Cheap Nike Steelers Jerseys Cheap Nike Texans Jerseys Cheap Nike Colts Jerseys Cheap Nike Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Nike Titans Jerseys Cheap Nike Broncos Jerseys ' ' '