Germany wins European U-21 Football Championship for the second time
Germany became champion for the second time in its history in the European U-21 Football Championship, after defeating Spain 1-0 in the final, this Friday in Cracow.
The only goal of the match was scored by Mitchell Weiser, player of Hertha Berlin, in the 40th minute with a header in the area from Jeremy Toljan's cross, surprising everyone and leaving the Spanish goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, helpless.
Spain, champion in 1986, 1998, 2011 and 2013, aimed for a fifth title in this competition, which would have allowed them to equal Italy's record, the country they had eliminated in the semifinals. However, they will have to wait for another opportunity.
For Germany, this is their second U-21 European Championship after winning the edition held in Sweden in 2009, which featured players such as Manuel Neuer, Mesut Özil, and Sami Khedira.
Germany succeeds Sweden in the list of champions, who had won the title two years ago in the Czech Republic.
German football achieves this success just in the week when the senior national team, featuring a squad full of young players, has the opportunity to win the Confederations Cup, where they will face Chile on Sunday in Saint Petersburg.
Preview
The Spanish U-21 national team wants to win their fifth European title against Germany on Friday at Cracow Stadium (18:45 GMT) and equal Italy's record, who they defeated in the semifinals (3-1) last Tuesday.
Spain, winner of the tournament on four occasions (1986, 1998, 2011, and 2013), and Germany, once champion (2009), will play a high-profile final between two top-level youth teams. It will be the first final between these two teams in a U-21 European Championship.
The scenario appears to be favorable for the 'Rojita', given the extensive list of great players they have and the level at which they are performing, especially in the midfield.
That could be the key to the final. Many of the players called up by Albert Celades are starters in their clubs: Saúl Ñíguez (scored a hat-trick against Italy) at Atletico Madrid, Gerard Deulofeu at Milan, Dani Ceballos at Betis, Sandro at Malaga, Héctor Bellerín at Arsenal, and Kepa Arrizabalaga at Athletic Bilbao.
In addition to them, there's also Marco Asensio from Mallorca, who has had an extraordinary season at Real Madrid.
Although the key to this Spain lies in their talented midfield, the team is reliable from the goalkeeper position. Kepa has conceded only two goals (one of them, the one in the semifinals, was a deflection) and has shown reliability in all the duels and one-on-ones he has been involved in.
This security is also felt in the defense, where, in addition to Bellerín, Jesús Vallejo from Real Madrid stands out, having an excellent season at Eintracht Frankfurt, where he was on loan from the Spanish club.
In the midfield, Spain takes a step forward compared to any of their opponents.
- 'Unleashed Saúl' -
If at the beginning of the tournament it was Asensio who took the team on his shoulders and secured the passage to the next round with goals and good play, in this final stage of the European Championship it has been Saúl who has taken the lead.
The Atletico player, freed from the technical constraints that Diego Simeone usually asks of him at Atletico, has shown himself as a scorer and, with five goals, is the leading scorer of the tournament.
"In that position he is more comfortable and he is helping us with his arrival in the area. The hunger he has every time he comes with us is tremendous," said Celades after his pupil's performance against Italy.
Germany, meanwhile, returns to a European Championship final eight years after defeating England in a penalty shoot-out (2-2; 4-3) in the semifinals.
The only time the Germans won this trophy was in 2009, with a generation led by Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira, and Manuel Neuer.
The last time Spain won this tournament was in 2013, defeating Italy in the final (4-2), who despite their extensive record, hasn't lifted the trophy since 2004 when they won against Serbia (3-0).