Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus struck to send the 2004 winners home, though Greece were briefly level in Gdansk.

Greece's hopes of repeating the miracle of 2004 vanished with a 4-2 defeat against Germany, who marched on to the UEFA EURO 2012 semi-finals on the back of a fourth straight victory at these finals, UEFA reports.

Germany took a deserved 39th-minute lead through Philipp Lahm and although Giorgos Samaras's equaliser ten minutes after the restart hinted at something unexpected, Joachim Löw's men reasserted their authority as Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus all found the net prior to Dimitris Salpingidis's late spot-kick.

It was a world-record 15th consecutive competitive win for a German side bidding to end a 16-year wait for a major honour, and should leave their confidence levels sky-high entering their Warsaw semi-final against England or Italy next Thursday.

For Greece, by contrast, this is the end of the road. They had entered the game without the suspended Giorgos Karagounis and José Holebas, and with worries over the fitness of left-back Giorgos Tzavellas – hardly the most promising backdrop to their biggest game since the final of UEFA EURO 2004, a victory famously overseen by a German coach, Otto Rehhagel.