European Championship U21 - Germany humble England in final

Eurosport - Tue, 30 Jun 10:46:00 2009

English hopes of winning a first major trophy for 25 years were cruelly dashed as they were well beaten 4-0 by Germany in the European U21 Championship final in Malmo.

FOOTBALL 2009 European U21 Championships England look on as Germany celebrate winning final - 0

Trailing 1-0 at half-time to a Gonzalo Castro goal, England fell two behind soon after the break via a Mesut Ozil free-kick. As England pushed forward, striker Sandro Wagner scored twice in the closing stages to seal the trophy for the Germans in emphatic style.

Stuart Pearce's side were without strike duo Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell as well as goalkeeper Joe Hart - the hero of the semi-final penalty shootout win - through suspension and they came up against a German team that had steadily improved throughout the tournament, peaking in the final where they stopped England lifting the trophy they last won in 1984.

Midway through the first half, with the game evenly matched, Germany struck with a well-crafted goal as playmaker Ozil slipped a weighted through ball into the path of Castro, the same player who scored against England in the group stage. Castro timed his run well to knock a finish over goalkeeper Scott Loach, who was also in goal when the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder struck in the 1-1 draw in Halmstad.

Just two minutes into the second half, following a good chance for England, Germany found themselves 2-0 up when the swerve on Ozil's free-kick from all of 40 yards out deceived Loach and the Watford keeper could not get a strong enough hand on the ball to make up for his misjudgement and stop it creeping into the net.

That goal proved to be decisive, as it forced England to commit more men forward and leave gaps at the back. Wagner, who spent last season at German second tier side Duisburg on loan from Bayern Munich, had struggled to get involved for much of the game, and missed a glorious chance with 15 minutes remaining when Ozil drove forward and squared a ball across goal, only for the big striker to slide in and miss from six yards.

The tall forward more than made amends three minutes later, however, when Ozil found him in space on the left, and he had time to take a touch before finishing coolly through the legs of Loach.

Wagner then turned England's defeat from comprehensive to humiliating on 84 minutes when he was once more fed by Ozil, this time curling a wonderful right-footed shot past the goalkeeper at full stretch to see Germany double their goal tally for the whole tournament.

Although they struggled to create chances despite their extra possession, England did have several opportunities to get on the scoresheet after going two down.

Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole, not known for his goalscoring prowess, fired in a long-range effort that clipped the top of the bar, and later had a glancing header blocked on the line by Andreas Beck.

Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson was also cruelly denied by Beck when he steered James Milner's ball from the byline goalwards with a backheel, only for the Germany full-back to stop it creeping in.

With both Agbonlahor and Campbell unavailable, England were lacking an out-and-out striker to go up against the well-drilled German defence, who only conceded one goal in the whole tournament.

Theo Walcott was deployed as the lone front man by manager Stuart Pearce, but the Arsenal player found himself shackled by Germany's Mats Hummels, who did an exemplary job sat in front of the back four and cast serious doubt over Walcott's ambitions to become a central striker.

Walcott had an early chance as England started the brighter of the two sides, but was forced to strike from an acute angle by full-back Sebastian Boenisch and fired his effort wide.

Just before that chance, in the very first minute, Johnson won a free-kick on the left wing, but James Milner's delivery flew over Martin Cranie at the far post.

With the marked lack of height in the England attack, Germany's defenders were able to control any long balls in the air from England, and the midfield stifled the creativity of Milner and Mark Noble.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

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  1. better luck next time boys

    From Sean A, on Wed 22 Jul 2:45PM

  2. Germany won but i wish england won

    From daniel_ong77, on Thu 2 Jul 9:59AM

  3. See you in the World Cup next year, bluenose ye olde­ fart!

    Yeh yeh yeh, ze Gerrrmans haff no skills.. just­ lucky.. yeh yeh yeh...

    IT'S CALLED BELLY-ACHING.­ And I am laughing my @#$% off at comments like yours.­ Any fair-minded objective person can see that we­ clearly fielded the better team, both as a T.E.A.M. AND­ as individual player.

    You can keep talking us down­ like your payer did right after he lost the final­ 4-ZIPPIDI-DOODAH, meaning NOTHING as in NIL. It just­ shows his class and will look great cut out from the­ paper and hung in the German team cabin next year­ should they get to take on England again :-)

    PS. That­ loudmouth was actually your best player. Too bad the­ rest didn't play as well as him or maybe the­ outcome might have been at least a little­ closer.

    Still, he should have kept it zipped that day!­ As in talk is cheap..

    From Benjamin, on Wed 1 Jul 8:38AM

  4. Oh common i will cut my finger if england will win any­ major football event.

    From gerbert_trinidad, on Wed 1 Jul 5:23AM

  5. It is a privilege to play at such a tournament as­ Wimbledon and the last few days it has been a privilege­ to watch it.

    From harvister79, on Tue 30 Jun 10:47PM

  6. Well done German team, good scoreline.
    Well done­ England team, 2nd place out of numerous countries is a­ good achievement.
    Thanks for those those that left­ sensible comments.

    From harvister79, on Tue 30 Jun 10:41PM

  7. Come on England, don't be sad! You have still the­ best team from all the another losers ......... hahaha

    From follow me, on Tue 30 Jun 10:02PM

  8. Ha Ha England to still lose to Germany for years to­ come!!

    From Thomas, on Tue 30 Jun 9:26PM

  9. @bluenose

    333.Am I the only person that thought­ despite the result­ England outplayed the Germans?

    From kevin d, on Tue 30 Jun 8:14PM

  10. Am I the only person that thought despite the result­ England outplayed the Germans?more possesion, better­ passing and more skill on the ball!Germany played like­ England used to in the 80's, defend like mad, win­ the balls in the air and try to lump the ball forward­ to score on the break!
    I would feel more positive with­ the outlook for this England team than the German one,­ they will be outclassed as they get older, while the­ English players will only get better!
    There is no way­ Germany deserved 4-0!
    Typical German football, little­ or no skill involved, tough tackling and long ball­ game....YAWN!

    From bluenose, on Tue 30 Jun 6:52PM

  11. when was the last time scotland won anything.

    From alan, on Tue 30 Jun 5:19PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    TO­ LIAM.............HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA­ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­ AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA­ HAHAHAHAHAHAA..................ONCE AGAIN FROM THE­ TARTAN ARMY

    From David, on Tue 30 Jun 4:00PM

  13. The Germans were better on the day played better as a­ team and had better tactics so well done to them I­ think the fact that their players manage to get into­ top German sides and that our premiership is full of­ imports stopping our players playing enough games at­ the top level (I know there are exceptions) is a factor­ well done Germany you deserve it but I would like to­ finish by saying to David laugh all you want you may be­ Scottish but if you have a passport it will say British­ on the cover. stop being so bitter im glad Im not like­ you when Scotland had to get a result against Italy a­ coulple of years back I cheered them on and was livid­ when they scored from a free kick that shouldnt have­ been given its sunny cheer up and get a life

    From liam, on Tue 30 Jun 1:59PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­ AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......................­ .....FROM THE TARTAN ARMY

    From David, on Tue 30 Jun 1:36PM

  15. Had a premonition about this,swore i saw a Me109 over­ Biggen Hill on Sunday!

    From ANDREW G, on Tue 30 Jun 12:35PM

  16. deesydave - ur an idiot!!!! u got smashed last nite so­ get over it u self centred buffon. ur no force in­ football end of story - forgot 3-0 lesson from Spain­ already?
    ur just an average team of great individuals­ but that doesnt get u trophies.

    From John, on Tue 30 Jun 12:08PM

  17. MARK V YR A @#$%

    From deesydave, on Tue 30 Jun 11:54AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    NORMANDY....NORMANDY....
    NORMANDY...NORMANDY
    (TO THE­ VINDALOO TUNE)
    FU,.K U KAUFMANN UR ANCESTORS ARE­ MURDERERS AND YR FRANKFURTERS ARE SH.T.
    ENGLAND 4EVER­ WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP AND 1 DAY THAT TROPHY WILL BE­ HOME WERE IT FU,.KING BELONGS.

    From deesydave, on Tue 30 Jun 11:53AM

  19. Germany prove yet again that playing well as a TEAM­ will­ get you results, no matter how good the other­­ team's individual players are. Germany's­­ national side is like a well oiled machine, its not­­ about its individual parts but how well that machine­­ performs. Germany are the most consistent national­­ side on the planet. They always seem to make the­­ finals of big tournaments. Its quite extrodinary­­ actually how consistent they've been over the past­­ 30 years given their relative lack of 'star'­­ players. Other national sides could really learn­­ something by studying Germany's organizational and­­ team tatics and how they are executed. Its been the­­ keys to their success over the years.

    From Mark V, on Tue 30 Jun 11:16AM

  20. we always fall at the final hurdle, the pressure of the­ big game get to us and we we crumble, should psycho­ step down and let some one else have a go? or should we­ persist with him and take the chance of him doing a­ keegan and bottling it in the next championships?,­ gutted that he managed to get to the final and lost it,­ not just lost it, but 4-0 is a shocking­ result..............what is it about the Germans that­ seems to put the fear of god into us??????, September­ 6th 2001, Munich, we beat them 5-1, you would have­ thought that the psychological battle would have been­ won that night, but it seems not.......what do we have­ to do to beat some one and get a trophy????? we are the­ Liverpool of the international circuit.........

    From LAMBRETTA, on Tue 30 Jun 11:15AM
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