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. football's a funny game - england partly lost this­ game in the second half against sweden, having been­ forced to go into extra time and also losing key­ players with yellow cards. Even at 2-0 yesterday,­ England might have got back into the game and nicked it­ if that back heel had gone in, because the Germans­ would have become nervous. But 7 goals against, and 0­ for, in the past 265 minutes speaks volumes for itself­ and means that England did not really deserve to win­ the title.
    All credit anyway for the german side for­ their fitness and tactical play (covering double at the­ back), and also for having the most creative player in­ Özil.

    From jimmy s, on Tue 30 Jun 8:31AM

  2. football's a funny game - england partly lost this­ game in the second half against sweden, having been­ forced to go into extra time and also losing key­ players with yellow cards. Even at 2-0 yesterday,­ England might have got back into the game and nicked it­ if that back heel had gone in, because the Germans­ would have become nervous. But 7 goals against, and 0­ for, in the past 265 minutes speaks volumes for itself­ and means that England did not really deserve to win­ the title.
    All credit anyway for the german side for­ their fitness and tactical play (covering double at the­ back), and also for having the most creative player in­ Özil.

    From jimmy s, on Tue 30 Jun 8:29AM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hahahaha ....what a pity after all the glorious talks­ yesterday, Germans beat the shyte out. Good work­ Germans.......learn a lille lesson the so called­ English fans....think before u INK, and learn from­ others. England Complete Shyte

    From rajmandeepji, on Tue 30 Jun 8:19AM

  4. Joseph,
    The words you've mentioned belong to Gary­ Lineker...
    Yeah that's true. Great game from both­ sides. At some point this was duel between Ozil and­ Walcott. and mesut was much better. one the other hand­ German defence is something special. it remembers me­ time when german defence worked like watch mechnism...­ I hope this will return to A-team as well. Much respect­ to English team!! Great show and great win of Germans!!

    From Giorgi, on Tue 30 Jun 8:16AM

  5. And before anyone starts mentioning the war, I'm­ pretty certain that if we didn't get help from the­ yanks/Canadians/Anzacs/Dutch/Russians etc........(half­ the planet) they would of spanked us then too. Germany­ mentality and strength must be respected

    From FoeyP, on Tue 30 Jun 8:11AM

  6. Hi it just shows that before a tournament the English­ can mouth off as much as they like and slag off other­ football nations with a total lack of respect but the­ last time ENGLAND WON A TROPHY WAS IN 1966!! DO WE HAVE­ A RIGHT TO BE ARROGANT???? Germany (a team we often­ write about as being not what they were, over the hill,­ only one world class player etc....has yet again taught­ us a lesson in how to play football. Their trophy­ cabinet must be massive. We need to stop gloating­ because it getting kind of embarrasing and congratulate­ with respect other football nations. Just because we­ invented the sport does NOT meen we are the best at it.­ Just look at tennins!

    From tommy, on Tue 30 Jun 8:05AM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    England and USA can invade like no other country,­ dominating is a different kettle of fish to them­ however and they have never quite mastered it like­ other countries. FACT!

    From Colonel K, on Tue 30 Jun 8:05AM

  8. Germany are a superior race to the English, they have a­ better mentality and are physically and technically­ more gifted, thats an absolute shambles of a score line­ for a final but its nothing new Germany have been­ spanking us consistently now for ages

    From FoeyP, on Tue 30 Jun 8:03AM

  9. Only one comment: "The bigger they are, the harder­ they fall". And they do so with a thud. Sorry,­ English fans. I guess its back to the drawing board and­ to reconsidering that misplaced ego that was starting­ to grow bigger and bigger. Good luck at the world cup­ finals. P.S. I am not assuming that England will be in­ the final, all 32 teams will be competing in the finals­ by the way (i.e. all 64 games are the finals). Just to­ make that clear.

    From kruis321, on Tue 30 Jun 7:33AM

  10. AH TELT YIS YASTARDAY THOT YA WIDNAE WEEN ATBAT YIS AW­ TOOK THA MINCE

    WEEL LOOK WHAYS LOFFIN NOO . . . . .

    From JEEMS, on Tue 30 Jun 7:32AM

  11. Am I the only one who noticed that we got all the way­ to the final?!?

    A second place finish is something­ positive to work from to get first the next time. Wow!­ Why do we always moan even when we get a good result?

    From gaijinmatt, on Tue 30 Jun 7:27AM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    All sports lovers, great place for all big and tall­ singles, please check: ---BigTalls Co M ---- ,More­ fun waiting for you...

    From melodyaa23, on Tue 30 Jun 7:27AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    All sports lovers, great place for all big and tall­ singles, please check: ---BigTalls Co M ---- ,More­ fun waiting for you...

    From melodyaa23, on Tue 30 Jun 7:25AM

  14. I am an England fan and feel disappointed at the­ result. However, football is a game and not not a­ matter of life or death. Well done to Germany, they­ deserved to win! We will meet again soon and let's­ see whether we've learnt our lesson.

    I'm even­ more disappointed by the attitude of certain other­ "England fans" who have made comments on this­ site before and after the match. You are arrogant and­ disrespectful towards England's adversaries. The­ sportsmen amongst us don't share your views and­ would prefer you to get lost!

    England played some good­ matches during the championship and Pearce proved to be­ much better than we had thought. One match, albeit the­ final, does not change this fact.

    From Anthony B, on Tue 30 Jun 7:18AM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    England are @#$%.

    From PAUL H, on Tue 30 Jun 7:10AM

  16. Lewis is the far better keeper. Would have saved at­ least 3 of the goals.
    Pearce got it wrong in that­ department big time

    From Alan T, on Tue 30 Jun 7:08AM

  17. what a bucket of c r a p....

    From charlie.smith105, on Tue 30 Jun 7:07AM

  18. The Gerrries won because they did one thing that the­ English did not - shoot the damn ball when you got­ close to the 18 yd box. Loach had a horrible game (not­ just goals 2 and 3) and because the bloody English did­ not shoot we really 'ave no idea how idea how­ prepared Neue was becasue he never saw the ball.

    I­ also agree that putting Walcott up as the sole striker­ was as inspired as Fergie's use of Rooney on the­ wing in the Champion's League Final.

    From cliftone.studios, on Tue 30 Jun 6:17AM

  19. A P.....You are WHAT???...USA??..what is­ that???...hmm??...and soccer??...we all call it­ FOOTBALL you noob....And yes...u were too lucky the­ other day in a match with brazil...USA football­ SUPERPOWER?...dont be funny maan...

    From Milan, on Tue 30 Jun 6:12AM

  20. u can all live in hope for the yr 1966...at least we­ have sum of the worst disrespectful arrogant travelling­ fans in the world of football..be proud to be­ british...lol

    From david, on Tue 30 Jun 5:54AM
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