Into the final! The Germany U17s wonderful run in the European Championship continues as they reach the final in Bulgaria. Christian Wück’s side celebrated a thoroughly deserved 1-0 win against Russia in the semi-final and will now face France in the final. Borussia Dortmund’s Janni Serra scored, having missed several chances, to seal Germany’s passage to Friday’s final (19:00 CEST).
Unlike before the quarterfinal win against Spain (4-2 a.e.t.), Wück made multiple changes to the starting line up. Dzenis Burnic, Görkem Saglam, Salih Özcan, Janni Serra and Enes Aykol came in for the injured Joel Abu Hanna, Erdic Karakas, the suspended Mats Köhlert, Niklas Schmidt and Johannes Eggestein. Captain Felix Passlack and penalty hero Constantin Frommann kept their places as two of the teams most important players.
Germany were the better and clearly more determined side from the off at the Beroe Stadion in Stara Zagora. After a tricky start, the German side, captained by Passlack, adopted an increasingly effective rhythm to their game and were able to create an abundance of chances, despite the compact Russian defence.
Germany hit the woodwork twice in first half
Özcan had the first good chance of the game after a quarter of an hour. The Cologne born player fired a shot from 20 yards and was unfortunate to hit the crossbar. Russian keeper Alexandr Maksimenko was caught off his line and wouldn't have had a chance, had the shot been on target. Dmitri Pletnev had the best chance for the Russians, but Frommann saved from close distance with a brilliant reflex save.
Immediately afterwards, Serra and Özcan once again found themselves having chances in the opponent’s half but both the robust Russians blocked both effectively. The goal shortly before halftime would have been long overdue: Gül headed from Saglam’s freekick, but the ball hit the inside of the post. Still 0-0.
Germany stay patient and reap the rewards
After the break, the German attack increased their dominance in the game and created even more chances. Shortly after the restart, Passlack fired a curling short towards the far corner and Serra came close after a square pass. Passlack almost took the deserved lead once again on the hour mark, but once again the keeper held well.
Germany wouldn’t let themselves be effected by their bad luck, on the contrary, with the substitutions of Schmidt and Karakas, Germany tightened their grip on the game and continued their dominance. It had the desired effect on the result. Akyol delivered an inch perfect cross from the left for Serra to head in and give Germany the lead they deserve. They could have doubled the lead shortly afterwards, but the game would ultimately end 1-0, with Germany into the final.