Germany enters the match as the only team in the tournament to have maintained a perfect record throughout the group and knockout stages. The team has not trailed for a single minute of the tournament and entered the competition as the favourite according to many analysts.
Italy, meanwhile, is riding an emotional high after knocking out England in its thrilling quarter-final match-up.
The Italians looked to be the better side through much of the 120 scoreless minutes before capitalizing on a pair of England misses to take the penalty shootout.
A lot of the intrigue surrounding the Italian team at the tournament has been over whether the team will start striker Mario Balotelli from match to match.
The two teams last met in the 2006 World Cup semifinals with Italy prevailing 2-0 thanks to two goals scored in extra-time after the teams played nearly 120 minutes of scoreless football.
Germany has finished no worse than third in its previous three international tournaments. However, the Germans have never beaten Italy in a major tournament in seven attempts to do so.
Italy, meanwhile, has had its all three of its knockout-round matches decided by penalty kicks (going 2-1 in those matches) since it last defeated the Germans.
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