Germany coach Joachim Low has singled out Italy's Andrea Pirlo for special treatment ahead of Thursday's Euro 2012 semi-final.

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Low believes his side must impose their style on the Azzurri at the National Stadium in Warsaw and to do so they must nullify Italy's key attacking threats.

"Italy are very good coming from the back and with [Antonio] Cassano and [Mario] Balotelli they have real class players," Low said.

"But especially Pirlo. He is not just a player, he gives the tactics and ideas on the pitch. He is the one that directs the game. We have to disturb him, stop him playing, get in his way, and think of a way how we can do better than Italy in midfield.

"We have to think of a way that we can beat them in midfield. We need to dictate the tempo, play our game and I think we can do that."

Low conceded that his team may also "need a little bit of luck to get to the final" but believes the strength in depth of the German squad will prove too great for Italy to cope with.

"I have many good players who I can bring in to change a game. We have very good players we can bring in and don't take time to get into the game," Low said. "We know what our strengths are and we are in a position to get to the final by beating Italy.

"We will play our game, we will put through our own ideas and will not play Italy's game. We have to be a little bit cheeky, strong and brave."

Meanwhile, midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who complained of a sore ankle after the last-eight win over Greece on Friday, has confirmed he will be fit for the semi-final.

"I am 100% fit and very much looking forward to the game," he said. "I have trained twice fully and I feel good."

Coach Low is expected to bring back Arsenal new-boy Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller and tournament top scorer Mario Gomez after surprisingly leaving all three players out of his starting line-up last time out.

Low's decision to rest the trio raised an eyebrow. But the Germany coach, whose side are on a world record run of 15 successive wins in competitive matches, is unrepentant.

"I don't make my decisions dependent on what could happen," he said. "I made my decision based on my own conviction.

"Before the Greece game I had the feeling in the last third of the game we had the right players who could play well against their defence."

Germany are aiming to record their first competitive win over Italy.