Football giants face off in the European Championship final

England will face Germany in the European Under-21 Championship final.

England secured a place in the final of the European Under-21 Championship when they defeated the Netherlands 2–1 in the semi-final in Bratislava.

The Three Lions’ junior team won the European Championship two years ago in Georgia, and now they will defend their title on Saturday at this same Bratislava National Stadium.

It will face another true football giant, as Germany defeated France 3–0 in their own semi-final later on Wednesday in Košice.

Elliott Solved

England took the lead against the Netherlands after just over an hour of play when Harvey Elliott found space on the edge of the penalty area. The Liverpool star couldn’t get the ball to his better left foot, but he managed to fire a powerful shot into the top corner with his right.

England tried to freeze the game, but two small mistakes paid off as Holland equalized. First, Charlie Cresswell was not alert and let the ball go free to Jong Orange.

Noah Ohio, who had just come on as a substitute, didn’t wait for another call. He saw that England goalkeeper James Beadle was out of position, so Ohio, who had his football training in Manchester, fired a curling shot from 45 metres that curled beautifully in past the post.

The entire stadium was already preparing for extra time when Elliott struck for the second time. Head coach Lee Carsley had moved the youngster from the wing to the number ten position. It decided the match, as Elliott first put Thom van Bergen and Ryan Flamingo in the middle lane and then bombarded the winning goal into the bottom corner.

Elliott has had a difficult season at Liverpool, where playing time was on the cards. Now manager Arne Slot has brought in Florian Wirtz, who is enjoying the same position, to Anfield, so Elliott will likely have to look for a new employer.

The wonderful goals in the second half serve as the best possible example of work for the clubs’ sports directors.

A lightning start in Germany

The second semi-final was practically decided within the first quarter, when Germany took a 2–0 lead against France.

First, Nelson Weiper volleyed the ball that bounced off the top post into the roof of the goal. A few minutes later, Weiper sent it through to the top scorer of the European Championship, Nick Woltemade.

Stuttgart’s star striker has already made his debut at senior level, and in this tournament in Slovakia he has been completely unstoppable.

On the night in Košice, he first tried to cleverly lift the ball over the oncoming French striker Guillaume Restes, but the latter was still able to block the first attempt.

However, the ball fell at Woltemade’s feet and he easily finished the 2–0 goal.

The youngster already has six goals. The record for the European Championship finals (seven goals) is held by Sweden’s Marcus Berg (2009) and Germany’s Luca Waldschmidt (2019).

In the second period, the main role was taken by German goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, who made a couple of world-class saves, frustrating the blue shirts.

In the extra time given by the referee, Brajan Gruda made it 3–0 as the French focused only on attacking play.