Euro title not to be: The Germany U17 team have been knocked out of the U17 European Championship in England in the qualifiers. National coach Michael Prus’ team lost their final game in Group D against Spain 5-1 and therefore dropped from second down to third in the group standings. If the team had won or picked up a point against Spain, Germany would have gone through to the quarter-finals along with group winners the Netherlands. Spain will go on to face Belgium.
Captain Eric Garcia (2’) and Nils Mortuimer (15’) scored early in the first half to give Spain a 2-0 lead heading into the break. Alejandro Baena (45’), Nabil Touaizi (65’) and Miguel Gutierrez (79’) extended Spain’s lead in the second half. Oliver Batista Meier (68’) scored the goal for Germany. Prior to that, he hit the post in the 48th minute while Germany were 3-0 down, but Spanish goalkeeper Aranus Tenas was there anyway.
Behind after only two minutes
The Germany team, who lost 3-0 to the Netherlands and won 3-0 against Serbia, started the match poorly and went behind in only the second minute of the game. Garcia scored with a volley from a corner and Germany goalkeeper Luca Unbehaun was unable to stop the shot. Prus’ Team were not shocked, however, and pushed for an equaliser. Max Brandt had the best chance, when he tested Spain goalkeeper Aranu Tenas with a shot from 20 metres out (10’). However, the next goal went to Spain, as Mortimer rose highest for a header.
The goals started to have an effect on the game. Germany had clearly more possession, but couldn’t find many gaps in the Spain defence and had problems dealing with the technically-talented Spanish forwards. Unbehaun did a lot of work to prevent his team going further behind.
Next goal after the break
After the change of ends, Germany went on the hunt for goals, but again conceded. Baena extended Spain’s lead to 3-0. Maier’s shot struck the post shortly after. Despite clearly being behind on the scoreboard, Prus’ team attacked again and again and caused trouble for the southern Europeans. The last pass was what was missing on many occasions as well as precision or a moment of genius. When Kevin Grimm had a good chance to find the back of the net, Tenas was in the right position again (54’).
The momentum spurred Spain on and they made space tight for the Germans. Germany increased the pressure, but struggled to create meaningful chances. Batista Meier scored through a deflected shot on the counterattack. Gutiererez ended the game with another goal for Spain.