The central defender shouldered responsibility for the opening goal that his side conceded and admitted that it would always be an uphill battle to come back from two down

Germany defender Mats Hummels has revealed his frustration at his side's 2-1 loss to Italy in the Euro 2012 semi-finals.

The Azzurri booked their spot in Sunday's final to take on Spain thanks to a double from Mario Balotelli, who benefitted from poor German defending to send one of the tournament favourites home empty-handed.

Despite picking up their performance and rallying late on through a Mesut Ozil penalty, Hummels believes the Mannschaft ultimately left themselves too much to do against quality opposition.

"We screwed up in the first half," the 23-year-old told reporters after the game. "Two-nil down against a team who are so tactically good is difficult."

Hummels, who enjoyed a successful domestic season as his Borussia Dortmund side secured a league and cup double, felt his personal performance was not up to par for a match of such magnitude as he took responsibility for the opening goal.

"For the cross for the first goal I didn’t do well enough," he added.

"That the cross even went in was my fault so I played a big part in the first goal."