Matchday 8

Germany v. England 4-0 29/Jun/09


England lost in such a ridiculous and childish manner against the Germans, who for periods of the tournament seemed a faint shadow of the long foreseen individual prospects their young ranks could offer. Pearce's men faced the eventual final sabre with the main warning in the form of the scoresheet of the previous match, against the home guests. Event though the German side faced problems, this time Özil, Wagner and Khedira showed throughout the whole ninety minutes, the full potential of the the Deutsche machinery. Aided through England's keeper, and the reluctant and hapless 'visiting' defence, the Germans are the current champions.

The only thing that could end the suffering for the young lions would be the immediate beginning of preseason in England, which for many may be the authoritative step to cement their place in the senior English team or to be chosen for their current teams on the senior bench. For the Germans a brighter future lies ahead with Marin, Özil and Neuer apparently securing a call from Loew next match. Other players can be sure to have caught the attention of several clubs in the hope to emigrate into either England or other top class destination.







The previous encounter in group stage now seemed but a fading memory instead of an actual reminder of the state for the teams. It is rare that in any tournament one can find any resemblance of two teams that have played each other in both group and in knockout stages. In this case the score was doubled to favour the opposite team, Germany. Again Uli summarises,
with his incredible memory, the youth development system that led to this victory.







The English team started the match quite lively approaching twice to Neuer's goal. Unfortunately for Hrubesch's men that did not came as the match progressed, with open efforts from both sides. In the fifteenth minute Özil set Khedira after a couple of dribbles, just to see the English defence to clear wide from their box.
Strangely enough it was through the talented Bremen midfielder that the German side encountered the lead: Castro scored past Loch as Özil broke the English defensive line in the 23th minute. England's response was a cross by Milner and a handful of possession. Khedira brought balance to a team full of energy, often outnumbered in midfield, in which either Özil or even the striker Wagner would not venture to go. Whether England's attempts were strong enough, each time Walcott entered the third-quarter area, either Khedira or Hummels denied him in any case.
Pierce's youngsters ended the first half in high with at least one shot on target and several crosses into Neuer's box. The struggle between Beck and Gibbs was really entertaining.







And indeed the English team began the match with the efforts to equalise early in the game. But all previous struggles by the visiting side were nullified in the 48th minute by Özil. Martin Tyler immediately said that it was "a catastrophe". Loch miscalculated the ball from the swerve and power of the terrific display by the German striker. From then on all that the German side had to do was completely untroubled: held as in the first half and expect that English team slowly worn out in physical attitude to later finish the final stroke.
Slowly Pierce's youngsters regained possession and control of the match and by the 60th minute, Cattermole lovely volley and Milner's terrific dribbling pushed Germany to the edge. If Sweden scored three as well as Liverpool there was plenty of time to both equalise and win the match. Cattermole's header was cleared off the line by Beck and certainly Germany was going through their toughest time in the match. Hummels again slided to deny a pass from Johnson to Walcott.
Özil dexterous trickeries nearly earned Germany a couple of goals before the third, exactly when the English pressure was at its height. Again the skilful ex-Schalke player set his second assistance to Wagner who score past Loch to give the German team the unassailable lead. The fourth was yet to come, in the 84th through a play by Wagner. A beautiful curled shot to the far post and the Germans, earned with all their weapons, the title of European Champions.

Matchday 7 26/Jun/09

Sweden v. England 3-3 (4-5)




Today in the double match feature of the semifinals of the UEFA U-21 Championship, England and Germany booked a ticket for the final, as they overpowered Sweden and Italy, respectively. The first match, was a 120-minute thriller in which the English squad held a comfortable grip of three goals just to be denied by a consistent and fierce home team. In the penalty shootout the Englishmen took out the Swedish in a disastrous, yet lucky set of misses by the organisers.
In the other game it was a sole strike from Beck that gave the German team the lead and only goal in a pretty tight match, that was surrounded by controversy in the final stages. Everything is set to watch the two best teams in the competition in the final day at Malmö. It will be another edition of Linneker's nightmare. Strangely enough both teams seemed to struggle way beyond repair in certain matches of the competition. It will be interesting to see the development of some of the best youth systems in Europe, and to see if the Germans can make it a un precedented hattrick for the year.







Within the first minute, England won a corner kick and Cranie scored after a defensive breakdown. The set piece took off guarded all Sweden's team and the English were one-nil up. Not a minute passed for England to have more superiority and it was a question of minutes to saw Pierce's youngster take the second. This time it was Onuoha, again in a setpiece who scored in a ramble inside Dahlin's box. Thirty minutes and counting, the Swedes could not even grasp a clear chance until some ramble from Berg was held by the solid English defense. Eight minutes before the break, Bjärsmyr scored an own goal after Cattermole headed. The dream start for the young English was far more promising than in any other match of the tournament.

Well into the second period the home team was stubborn on equalising things, as utopical as it may sound. But it was the resilience and patience that proved for better, and in the 68th minute, Marcus Berg headed past Hart. Again the gap was closing fast, when Toivonen took a wonderful free kick at the 75th. A bit of blame could be handed to Hart and his defensive wall.
With morale sinking by the minute, the confused English team were desperate to clear any chance that came into their side but, with the advantage it was obvious that the home selection will deliver the equaliser. It was through Berg's left foot that the dream was accomplished. In the final minutes of the match the morale and tempo that the English team had in the first half was a mere shade: the promising Premier League stars seemed no more than frail and miserable bench warmers in contrast to the terrific display made by Berg and company. The following thirty minutes will eventually prove who were the fittest.







The following two halves proved to be a pandemonium for the English squad. No more that two chances in a period of thirty minutes and a red card were the outcome. The physically defeated English team was more than demoralised and the Swedes still kept on the prowl with several chances, between them, Berg's woodwork on the 111th minute. As if it were destined, the penalties took on, with the positive outcome for Pearce's men.

Sweden	Berg, Miss	Elm, On	Bjärsmyr, On	Lustig, On	Bengtsson, On	Molins, On
England	Milner, Miss	Hart, On	Cattermole, On	Johnson, On	Walcott, On	Gibbs, On

Italy v. Germany 0-1 26/Jun/09




After the thunderous previous encounter, the other semifinal in place was the old clash of Italians against Germans. If you remember dear reader, the last epic encounter of which I have recollections from these teams, is the World Cup Semifinal two years ago.
With that set in mind, the match began with a superiority of Hrubesch's youngsters. A couple of shots and deflected headers from Aogo were denied by the efforts from Giovinco in the 8th. Motta header in that same minute was saved by Neuer's world class reflexes and the match started to move quickly from end to end. Again the Italians were denied in another set piece in the 18th minute, Balotelli shot at 25th corroborated Italy's moment, as Germany held the defensive line.
Motta and company had a hard time trying to score, but again it was Neuer prowess and a very lucky Marko Marin that stood between the goal and Italy's lead.







But in football, when one does not take a chance when it is there, you get killed: Andreas Beck fired a powerful volley to defeat Consigli, four minutes after the beginning of the second period. It seemed that the only way for a goal in a game of such tension was a exquisite display of spark such as Beck's.
From then on, the match turned rather rispid and incredibly rapid. Both sides exchanged possession and it was obvious that the siege from the Italians would let open spaces to counter attacks. With some substitutions, the final minutes were cardiac. Andreolli header just passed by, two minutes from the end. Boateng hand ball and Neuer final save handed the Germans a lucky ticket to to face yet another lucky team.