All wrong, Loew

PICTURE: REUTERS

Germany started the match as favourites, given the amount of quality they had in their squad. But talent isn't everything as Joachim Loew's men found out the hard way this morning (Singapore time), after crashing out of Euro 2012 with a 2-1 loss to Italy.

It wasn't so much the choice of the system used, but the personnel Loew picked to start the game, as Toni Kroos fared miserably in the semi-final. Defensive mistakes also led to the Germans' downfall, which was sealed with two brilliant Mario Balotelli goals.