Germany Beats Greece to Advance to Euro 2012 Semifinals German midfielder Marco Reus, center, scoring Germany's fourth goal against Greece on Friday. GDANSK, Poland (AP) - Germany reached the semifinals of the European Championships for a record seventh time by beating Greece, 4-2, on Friday in a match played amid the contentious political backdrop between the countries. Philipp Lahm put Germany in the lead in the 39th minute as his team controlled nearly every facet of the game. Although Georgios Samaras equalized for Greece in the 55th, it was all Germany after that as Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus scored. It was the 15th consecutive victory for Germany, dating to its win over Uruguay for third place at the 2010 World Cup. The Germans will go for No. 16 against England or Italy in the semifinals on Thursday in Warsaw. Although Germany dominated from the start, the Greek defense held strong for much of the first half. Lahm finally put his team in front by controlling the ball with his chest and dribbling toward the middle before sending a long-distance shot into the corner off the hand of Greece goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis. "We couldn't breathe and did very little with our chances and on set pieces," Greece Coach Fernando Santos said. The first goal made things very difficult for us, despite our good defensive effort. The Greeks looked better at the start of the second half, and equalized when Samaras knocked the ball past Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after a perfect cross from Dimitris Salpigidis. It was one of Greece's few forays into Germany's half of the field. "Greece is a curious team; they had one chance and scored two goals," Germany Coach Joachim Löw said. But we didn't get nervous after 1-1, and the goals came.