Prandelli is conscious of the fact that Joachim Low, the Germany coach, rested his front three against Greece in their quarter-final, so will have his attacking players at their sharpest. “It showed that they are a great side, that they could make these changes and not jeopardise the result at all,” he said. After watching his side outplay England, albeit missing a series of excellent chances, he felt his side would get to another level against Germany. “I was not surprised we dominated,” he said. “I knew that we could control the game. The only worry I had that we might have allowed too much space on the break. “We tried to play football in different areas, different phases, and we tried to bring them out but they didn’t want to come out so we tried to hit them quickly. “I think after this we can play football against Germany. We can give an even better performance. It will always be an open game against Germany.” Prandelli also revealed that Balotelli had shown “character” by demanding to take the first penalty and that he was “completely calm” when Andre Pirlo stepped up to take his chipped effort. “I had my arm around my son as we watched the penalties and I told him it was amazing that he did not have to pay for a ticket to watch them,” he said.

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Euro 2012: Italy coach Cesare Prandelli believes Germany has unfair advantage for semi-final