What happened six years ago at the World Cup has no bearing on the Germany-Italy European Championship semifinal to be played Thursday, says German coach Joachim Loew. In their last meeting in a competitive match, Italy knocked out World Cup host Germany in the semifinals, but Loew insists what happened in Dortmund won't affect this game.

Germany is hunting its first trophy since the Euro '96 title and will need to beat the Italians for the first time at either a World Cup or a European Championship in what is their eighth attempt. The winner advances to the final Sunday against either Spain or Portugal, who play their semi Wednesday.

"There is no such thing as 'revenge' in soccer, there is no way we can make good that defeat from 2006," said the 52-year-old, who was assistant coach to Jurgen Klinsmann back then. "We can't go back in time, forget about that. You can't relive the past and it doesn't play the slightest role in our preparations. Another stat is that Germany has never won against Italy in a major tournament, so what?"

Having dropped three of his forwards for Friday's 4-2 quarterfinal win over Greece, Loew admitted he is toying with the idea of more changes to the German lineup.