After a 1-1 draw in regulation time and a 2-2 draw after extra time, Germany’s U21s eventually booked their place among the final four of the European Championship with a 6-5 win on penalties. Stefan Kuntz’s men will face the Netherlands in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Goalkeeper Finn Dahmen from Mainz 05 was the hero on Monday night in Hungary, keeping the DFB U21s’ dreams of a third European championship title alive. RSC Anderlecht’s Luklas Nmecha equalised for Germany in the 88th minute and took the game to extra time, where Jonathan Burkardt put his team in front in the 100th minute before a Denmark equaliser in the 108th meant the game would need to be decided on penalties.
Strong start for Germany, but no goals to show for it
Stefan Kuntz named a starting XI with a couple of ‘new’ faces: Florian Wirtz, who had been with Joachim Löw’s senior team during the U21 EURO group stages back in March, got the nod. As did Anton Stach, recently promoted to the Bundesliga with Greuther Fürth, making his full debut in place of the suspended Niklas Dorsch.
Wirtz, Stach and Co. started well, with Denmark, who had caused a stir in the group stage by beating France, causing Germany no problems whatsoever in the opening stages. In the opening ten minutes alone, the DFB youngsters had three decent goalscoring opportunities with Nmecha and Baku both narrowly missing the target and David Raum’s dangerous cross – one of many – sailing untouched through the area.
Berisha with the big chance
After Arne Maier tested the Denmark goalkeeper 17 minutes into the game, it seemed only a matter of time before Germany would be celebrating the opener. Three minutes later, a wonderful one-touch through ball from Nmecha sent Berisha in on goal with only the keeper to beat, but his low shot grazed the outside of the post.
With Germany having passed up the biggest chance of the half, the Danes grew in confidence, enjoying a few sights at goal of their own in the final ten minutes of the half, including a close-range chance from Bruun Larsen, which the former BVB man fortunately failed to make proper contact with. Despite a largely dominant first-half display, Germany went in at half time without a goal, and with Denmark slowly finding their feet.
Dahmen saves spectacularly from Bruun Larsen
As the second half unfolded, it was clear that Denmark’s game plan was falling into place. They had survived Germany’s pressure and now looked equally likely to take the lead. In the 49th minute, Dahmen was called upon to deny Bruun Larsen in a one-on-one situation similar to the Berisha chance in the first half. One big chance apiece, still goalless.
Kuntz took action, bringing on Jonathan Burkardt, whose impact from the bench had served Germany well in the tournament thus far. Not long after though, it was Denmark who were celebrating a substitute’s goal. Faghir created enough space for himself in the Germany penalty area to evade the last-ditsch block attempts and smash the ball high past Dahmen (69’).
Two extra time goals – penalties decide the outcome
After a 1-1 draw in regulation time and a 2-2 draw after extra time, Germany’s U21s eventually booked their place among the final four of the European Championship with a 6-5 win on penalties. Stefan Kuntz’s men will face the Netherlands in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Goalkeeper Finn Dahmen from Mainz 05 was the hero on Monday night in Hungary, keeping the DFB U21s’ dreams of a third European championship title alive. RSC Anderlecht’s Luklas Nmecha equalised for Germany in the 88th minute and took the game to extra time, where Jonathan Burkardt put his team in front in the 100th minute before a Denmark equaliser in the 108th meant the game would need to be decided on penalties.
Strong start for Germany, but no goals to show for it
Stefan Kuntz named a starting XI with a couple of ‘new’ faces: Florian Wirtz, who had been with Joachim Löw’s senior team during the U21 EURO group stages back in March, got the nod. As did Anton Stach, recently promoted to the Bundesliga with Greuther Fürth, making his full debut in place of the suspended Niklas Dorsch.
Wirtz, Stach and Co. started well, with Denmark, who had caused a stir in the group stage by beating France, causing Germany no problems whatsoever in the opening stages. In the opening ten minutes alone, the DFB youngsters had three decent goalscoring opportunities with Nmecha and Baku both narrowly missing the target and David Raum’s dangerous cross – one of many – sailing untouched through the area.
Berisha with the big chance
After Arne Maier tested the Denmark goalkeeper 17 minutes into the game, it seemed only a matter of time before Germany would be celebrating the opener. Three minutes later, a wonderful one-touch through ball from Nmecha sent Berisha in on goal with only the keeper to beat, but his low shot grazed the outside of the post.
With Germany having passed up the biggest chance of the half, the Danes grew in confidence, enjoying a few sights at goal of their own in the final ten minutes of the half, including a close-range chance from Bruun Larsen, which the former BVB man fortunately failed to make proper contact with. Despite a largely dominant first-half display, Germany went in at half time without a goal, and with Denmark slowly finding their feet.
Dahmen saves spectacularly from Bruun Larsen
As the second half unfolded, it was clear that Denmark’s game plan was falling into place. They had survived Germany’s pressure and now looked equally likely to take the lead. In the 49th minute, Dahmen was called upon to deny Bruun Larsen in a one-on-one situation similar to the Berisha chance in the first half. One big chance apiece, still goalless.
Kuntz took action, bringing on Jonathan Burkardt, whose impact from the bench had served Germany well in the tournament thus far. Not long after though, it was Denmark who were celebrating a substitute’s goal. Faghir created enough space for himself in the Germany penalty area to evade the last-ditsch block attempts and smash the ball high past Dahmen (69’).
Two extra time goals – penalties decide the outcome
Into the final 15 minutes. Stefan Kuntz opted for some more attacking changes in search of a now urgent equaliser. Karim Adeyemi came on to make his Germany U21 debut along with Stuttgart’s Mateo Klimowicz. A final roll of the dice from Kuntz saw Schlotterbeck move up front with Lukas Mai coming on for the remaining three minutes plus stoppage time. In the 88th minute, it was Lukas Nmecha who saved the day from a corner with his third goal of the tournament and gave Germany a shot of winning this game in extra time or beyond.
In the 100th minute, Kuntz’s super sub Jonny Burkardt found the roof of the net via a slight deflection and sent Germany seemingly on their way to the semi-final. In the 107th minute, however, Isaksen was brought down in the penalty area, and Nelsson was able to take the game to a penalty shootout with the resulting spot-kick. 2-2 the score after 120 minutes.
The shootout could not have started any worse for Germany, as Denmark converted and Jonathan Burkardt had his penalty saved. On the backfoot, Germany needed Dahmen to save the day. And that he did, saving Denmark’s third penalty while his teammates buried all the remaining attempts. Another save from Dahmen in sudden death left Mai with the chance to send Germany through. The centre-back wasted no time and smashed the ball home, taking his team to the semi-finals of the U21 European Championship.
