The Bayern Munich keeper made two crucial saves in the shoot-out after the game had ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
A nervy 30 minutes of extra time brought no more goals, so it went to penalties and Neuer saved brilliantly from Matteo Darmian and Leonardo Bonucci, who had earlier equalised for Italy from the penalty spot in the 78th minute.
That goal came after Mesut Ozil had put the Germans ahead, but the Arsenal star was one of seven players to miss during the shoot- out.
It was a night of high drama and meant Germany have finally beaten Italy in tournament football for the first time in nine attempts.
The opening hour was largely forgettable, with both sides playing a chess-like tactical game and determined not to concede first.
Low had switched from a flat back four to a three-man defence for the first time in the tournament, and had another early change to make when Sami Khedira limped off with a groin strain after 15 minutes.
Bastian Schweinsteiger, who had not played more than 23 minutes of any game for six months, replaced him and soon had a header ruled out for pushing Mattia De Sciglio in the build-up.
Thomas Muller, who had not scored all tournament, showed his lack of confidence with a tame shot straight at Gianluigi Buffon. Italy did not manage much more, with Stefano Sturaro having a powerful shot deflected away and little else on target.
But it all changed when Ozil opened the scoring with his 20th goal for Germany and first of the tournament. Mario Gomez played a clever reverse pass to Jonas Hector, and the wideman cut the ball back for Ozil to clip a half-volley into the ground and past Buffon
nicholas is the ceo of nickylink entertainment, you can find your favorte posts like gist, celeb news breaking news an lot more .
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon