News (engl.)

The Germany U21 national side also won their third group game at the European Championship in Slovakia. Antonio Di Salvo’s team beat holders England 2-1 in front of 5,624 fans in Nitra on Wednesday night.

Germany’s goals were scored by Ansgar Knauff (3’) and Nelson Weiper (33’). Alex Scott got one back for England (76’). Germany had already qualified for the quarter-finals before this final group game, with the win seeing them top Group B. Di Salvo’s team will now play Italy, who finished second in Group A, on Sunday at 21:00 CEST in Dunajská Streda. Czechia beat Slovenia 2-0 at the same time, meaning England came second and will take on Spain on Saturday at 21:00 CEST in Trnava.  

Di Salvo: “The lads did brilliantly”

“I said before the game that we trust all our players. The lads did brilliantly. We have a strong side because they are a true team. We got stuck in, blocked shots and threw ourselves about, which is what I expected from the players. We’ve now only got important games to come, the first being on Sunday against Italy,” said coach Di Salvo.

Goalscorer Knauff added: “I’m happy that I was able to help the team. Our focus is now on the quarter-final. Tonight’s result says a lot about how much depth we have in our squad. We have 23 great players who are all ready to go. We now want to reach the semi-finals.”

“We laid the foundations in our first two games. Everyone did well. It was hard work at the end tonight but we defended well,” said captain for the evening, Merlin Röhl. “I now can’t wait for the quarter-final, we’re all looking forward to it. The lads who will start on Sunday got a bit of a rest tonight. We will make sure we’re full of energy.“

Knauff and Weiper score before the break

With qualification for the knockouts already sealed, Antonio Di Salvo completely changed the team that beat Czechia 4-2 in the second group game. Tjark Ernst was named in goal, behind a defence of Elias Baum, Tim Oermann, Jamil Siebert and Lukas Ullrich. Captain Merlin Röhl and Caspar Jander played as defensive midfielders. Ansgar Knauff and Jan Thielmann were selected as wingers, alongside attacking midfielder Paul Wanner and lone striker Nelson Weiper.

Germany started brightly and took the lead in just the third minute. Ullrich chipped a diagonal ball in behind the England defence for Knauff, who controlled it and then fired it past goalkeeper James Beadle into the far corner to open the scoring (3’). England responded well to going behind and had a decent opportunity to equalise six minutes later, however Oermann denied Jarell Quansah a shot in the six-yard box (9’). Wanner passed to Jander on the edge in the 22nd minute, however the midfielder’s curling drive went just wide.

Germany were able to double their advantage before half time: Knauff hung up a lovely cross into the box for Weiper to head home (33’). It was the Mainz man’s first goal for the U21s. While England had a few promising attacks before the break, they were unable to break through and trouble Ernst.

England find a way back into the game

England were the better team at the start of the second half, even if shots from Norton-Cuffy (56’) and Stansfield (57’) posed no problem for Ernst. Germany focused on defending their lead in the second 45 minutes and didn’t give their opponents the space they needed to build up attacks. After Hinshelwood headed over from close range in the 74th minute, Alex Scott tapped home Omari Hutchinson’s cross from a yard out a minute later to reduce the deficit (76’).  

Germany looked to gain some control again and that saw Paul Nebel and Nicolo Tresoldi replace Röhl and Knauff (77’). Ernst made a fine save to deny Cresswell’s header from a McAtee corner (83’), before Bright Akwo Arrey-Mbi, Eric Martel and Pharrel Nnamdi Collins came on for Baum, Wanner and Weiper late on to help see the game out.

Germany’s quarter-final against Italy is on Sunday at 21:00 CEST in Dunajská Streda.