Germany coach Joachim Low admitted he had rarely been as far removed from his team as he was for their quarter-final win over Portugal.
Low was forced to watch his side's 3-2 victory from the stands after he was handed a one-game touchline ban for being sent off in his side's final group game against Austria.
The coach was not allowed any contact with his side once they entered the stadium, but his absence was not felt as goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack ended Portugal's hopes of Euro 2008 glory in Basle.
Low said: 'UEFA had laid on valerian and aspirin, which surprised me a bit. But we could follow the game completely undisturbed and also did not have to give up our mobiles.
'Nevertheless the lonely vantage point was very strange. I have seldom been so far away.'
Germany's impressive performance against Portugal was in stark contrast to their disappointing defeat to Croatia and laboured win over Austria in the group stage.
Those games had undermined the team's tag as pre-tournament favourites, but they returned to form in style against Cristiano Ronaldo and company.
Low said: 'We proved against Portugal that we can be strong if we call on all our potential. It was a game in which both teams offered will, passion and technique at a very high level.'
One player to catch the eye was Bayer Leverkusen holding midfielder Simon Rolfes, who ensured the injured Torsten Frings was not missed. And Low revealed Rolfes could be called on again in the semi-finals as Frings is still struggling for fitness.
'The broken rib is still hurting, Low said.
'Torsten will now get a bandage. After that we will have to see how it goes from day to day. Challenges and fast movements are certainly not on the agenda at the moment. We have to wait and see what happens.'
