Liverpool star Emre Can called Germany Under-21s' heaviest-ever defeat a "dark day" for the entire country.
The Germans were routed 5-0 by Portugal as Rui Jorge's side booked their place in Tuesday’s final against Sweden in emphatic fashion.
Germany head coach Horst Hrubesch revealed his relief afterwards that the goals stopped there and Can admitted his own performance left a lot to be desired.
"I talked a lot this tournament, big talk even," he told www.uefa.com. "I wanted to win the title.
"I don't know why, but for some reason, I didn't show my best out there. If I am honest, it is just shameful.
"From the first minute onward we failed to find our rhythm. Our mentality also wasn't there - we just had everything missing tonight, but excuses and apologies are no help now."
Can’s Liverpool teammate Tiago Ilori is confident Portugal can go one better than the golden generation of Luis Figo and Rui Costa – who lost the 1994 final – by winning the country’s first Under-21 European Championship.
Ilori, a starter in all three Group B games, was reduced to a watching brief for the Germany encounter due to a thigh complaint, but the Reds defender's frustration was outweighed by his delight at the performance.
"It was great," Ilori said. "I couldn't have asked for better. We're going to do everything we can and of course we're confident - we've always been confident.
"But we are humble enough that every team in the group we were in was good and the other group.
"All the teams in the competitions are good teams, so we're going to give it our best but we're always going to respect the other team."
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