The UEFA U21 European Championship starts for the DFB Team this evening (20:45 CEST). They face Serbia in their first group game of the tournament, which takes place in the Czech Republic. Expectations are high amongst Kevin Volland, Marc-André ter Stegen and Co.
Despite the high expectations, Germany have only won the title in one of the past 22 editions of the tournament – 2009! A lot of the squad from that year went on to lift the World Cup in 2014. In this piece, DFB.de looks back at the DFB Team’s history in the tournament.
1982
On 2nd December 1980 Germany played their first ever U21 European Championship. They lost 1-0 to Bulgaria in Plovdiv but things went to plan after that. In their next qualifier they beat Austria 4-0 in Kiel, followed by further victories over Finland (2-1 and 4-2), Austria again (1-0) and Bulgaria (4-1). In the quarters they lost the first leg 1-0 in Spain but thanks to 2-0 victory in Augsburg, they reached the semis. At this stage they faced Russia. The DFB Team won 4-3 in Russia before finishing the job in Aachen with a crushing 5-0 victory. The opponents in the final were England – who won the first leg 3-1 in Sheffield and even though Germany won the second leg 3-2 in Bremen, they lost out overall. DFB President Hermann Neuberger admitted that, “England were the better side.”
1990
They reached the quarter finals on this occasion, where they lost out to the Soviet Union. The scores were level after the first leg in Simferopol but a 2-1 defeat in Augsburg meant that Germany were eliminated.
1992
The quarters were as far as Germany got once again in 1992. The first leg fniished 1-1 in Germany and even though they took a 3-1 lead in Aberdeen thanks to goals from Mehmet Scholl, Heiko Herrlich and Markus Kranz a stunning comeback saw the Scots win 4-3 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate. The defeat also meant that they missed out on a spot in the Olympics.
The UEFA U21 European Championship starts for the DFB Team this evening (20:45 CEST). They face Serbia in their first group game of the tournament, which takes place in the Czech Republic. Expectations are high amongst Kevin Volland, Marc-André ter Stegen and Co.
Despite the high expectations, Germany have only won the title in one of the past 22 editions of the tournament – 2009! A lot of the squad from that year went on to lift the World Cup in 2014. In this piece, DFB.de looks back at the DFB Team’s history in the tournament.
1982
On 2nd December 1980 Germany played their first ever U21 European Championship. They lost 1-0 to Bulgaria in Plovdiv but things went to plan after that. In their next qualifier they beat Austria 4-0 in Kiel, followed by further victories over Finland (2-1 and 4-2), Austria again (1-0) and Bulgaria (4-1). In the quarters they lost the first leg 1-0 in Spain but thanks to 2-0 victory in Augsburg, they reached the semis. At this stage they faced Russia. The DFB Team won 4-3 in Russia before finishing the job in Aachen with a crushing 5-0 victory. The opponents in the final were England – who won the first leg 3-1 in Sheffield and even though Germany won the second leg 3-2 in Bremen, they lost out overall. DFB President Hermann Neuberger admitted that, “England were the better side.”
1990
They reached the quarter finals on this occasion, where they lost out to the Soviet Union. The scores were level after the first leg in Simferopol but a 2-1 defeat in Augsburg meant that Germany were eliminated.
1992
The quarters were as far as Germany got once again in 1992. The first leg fniished 1-1 in Germany and even though they took a 3-1 lead in Aberdeen thanks to goals from Mehmet Scholl, Heiko Herrlich and Markus Kranz a stunning comeback saw the Scots win 4-3 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate. The defeat also meant that they missed out on a spot in the Olympics.
1998
The tournament was hosted in Romania and Germany’s dream was over almost as soon as it had started – they lost the quarter final 1-0 to Greece but finished fifth thanks to a 2-1 victory over Sweden.
2004
Germany hosted the 2004 tournament so automatically reached the finals. Having won the first game 2-1 against Switzerland in Mainz, Ulli Stielike made eight changes ahead of the second game. This backfired as they lost 2-1 against Sweden. Consequently, they had to beat Portugal in their final game, however, they lost this match too (2-1).
2006
The dream ended in the group stage once again, this time in Portugal. Having beaten Serbia and Montenegro 1-0 in the opener, they lost to France (3-0) and Portugal (1-0). Portugal’s goal came in second half injury time – a draw would have been enough to see the DFB team reach the semis. The tournament then shifted to odd numbered years – they missed out on 2007 but more than made up for it in 2009…
Germany celebrated their first U21 European title in Sweden in 2009. Qualification was sealed in dramatic style when Benedikt Höwedes grabbed a late winner to put his side in the finals at the expense of France. Horst Hrubesch’s men drew the first game 0-0 against Spain. Their second game saw them beat Finland 2-0 thanks to goals from Höwedes and Ashkan Dejagah. They drew their final group game 1-1 with England, which was enough to put them in the semis. Italy were the opponents and Andreas Beck’s goal was enough to put Germany in the final, where they faced England again. Goals from Gonzalo Castro (23’), Mesut Özil (48’) and a brace from Sandro Wagner (79’, 84’) won the title for Hrubesch’s men.
They were unable to defend their title, having missed out on qualification for the 2011 tournament and last time out they were knocked out in the group stage.
What will happen this time? Let’s wait and see...
