Cracker final at the U21 tournament
England and Spain destroy two European Championship dreams
The favorites confidently prevail in the semi-finals of the U21 European Championship. England gives Israel no chance, Spain turns the game against Ukraine. This marks the end of a great journey through the tournament for the two clearly inferior underdog teams.
The expected cracker finale comes: England and Spain lived up to their role as favorites in the semi-finals of the U21 European Championship and shot themselves into title spirit with clear victories. The Young Lions defeated surprise team Israel 3-0 (1-0) in Batumi, Georgia, while the Toros Rojos prevailed 5-1 (2-1) against Ukraine led by Chelsea star Michailo Mudryk in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
The English made it to the final of a U21 European Championship for the first time since 2009. In the group phase, the team sealed the early exit of the German team with a 2-0 win. In the final on Saturday (6 p.m./Sat.1) in Batumi, England is now fighting for its third European title after 1982 and 1984, Spain could surpass Italy with triumph number six and become the sole record champion. For the Israelis and the Ukrainians, reaching the semi-finals was a great success; both nations qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.
Morgan Gibbs-White scored with a header to give England the lead (42′); the 23-year-old from Premier League club Nottingham Forest had previously put a penalty kick next to the goal (17′). In the second half, Cole Palmer (63′) from triple winners Manchester City and substitute Cameron Archer (90′) scored the further goals. There was a lot of excitement surrounding Palmer’s goal, but it was only after minutes of video evidence of an alleged offside position that the goal counted. “I’m pretty speechless at the moment. We all believed in it,” said Gibbs-White. Team manager Lee Carsley also raved: “The boys are so motivated, I’m so happy. We want to write our own history.”
In the second semi-final, captain Artem Bondarenko gave Ukraine a surprising lead after impressive preparatory work from 100 million man Mudryk (13th). But the favorite from Spain dominated: Captain Abel Ruiz (17th) and Oihan Sincet (23rd) quickly turned the game around, Antonio Blanco (54th), Aimar Oroz (68th) and Sergio Gomez (78th) increased after the break .
