Vienna: Germany are expected to add to their long-running record of achievement in major tournaments by beating depleted Turkey later on Wednesday in the first of the Euro 2008 semi-finals in Basel.
Joachim Loew's men, who were pre-tournament favourites, have taken time to hit their stride and lost one of their group games to Croatia but a last-eight 3-2 victory over Portugal has restored belief that once again the cup is within reach.
Germany have won the European Championship and the World Cup three times apiece and have also been runners-up a total of six times in those events since their major tournament debut at the 1934 World Cup.
Turkey cannot be written off as mere cannon-fodder after showing an astonishing resilience in getting this far, scoring stoppage time goals in two of their last three matches and winning the other with three goals in the final 15 minutes.
But coach Fatih Terim's squad has been ravaged by suspensions and injuries - he will be probably missing eight squad players - as they attempt to reach Turkey's first major tournament final.
Hopes that captain Emre Belozoglu would return from the hamstring injury picked up following their opening match of the tournament against Portugal on June 7 were dashed on Tuesday.
Germany, in contrast, have no injury worries.
Their hard-tackling midfielder Torsten Frings has recovered from the fractured rib that kept him out of the Portugal win.
The absence of Frings prompted a change of formation from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1, which worked so well against the Portuguese, and Loew's biggest headache now is whether to change a winning formula to one that he generally favours.
Spain and Russia contest the other semi-final in Vienna on Thursday.
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