They are the greatest penalty-taking nation in the history of the game, and this Germany team did not fail as they dispatched Italy from Euro 2016 after a in-out that finished at ten minutes to midnight and saw more drama than it usually takes for the world champions to win these things.

A place in the semi-final in Marseille on Thursday for Joachim Loew’s team when finally Jonas Hector dispatched the 18th penalty of the shoout-out past Gianluigi Buffon after Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian had his previous one saved. Three Germans had missed before then – including their goalscorer on the night Mesut Ozil – but Manuel Neuer saved twice over the course of the penalties to rescue them.