Del Piero hoping history repeats

Alessandro Del Piero is confident Italy can beat Germany in Thursday’s Euro 2012 semi-final and set up a repeat of their 2006 World Cup success.

Italy defeated Germany 2-0 in Dortmund six years ago to book their ticket for the final, and the former Juventus star feels Cesare Prandelli’s men have the qualities to repeat that victory.

“Why Italy can beat Germany? Because they have shown that they are becoming more and more solid by the game,” Del Piero told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Germany are a bit like Italy in my opinion. They are a very compact team with some superb individuals. We have to pay close attention to (Mesut) Oezil, (Mario) Gomez and Thomas (Mueller).”

The striker reminisced about Italy’s win over Germany at the 2006 World Cup, and stressed it was one of the best games of his career.

“The final versus France was the most emotional because we lifted the trophy, but that game against the Germans is still the best. It’s the memory of our most beautiful game at the German World Cup, an incredible evening,” he said.