Germany Under 21 European Champion: Portugal beaten 1-0

Nmecha’s goal decides at the start of the second half. The most solid team wins, for the Germans it is the third continental success in the last 12 years

In the end, the most solid and continuous team wins: Germany beats Portugal 1-0 in the final of the Under-21 European Championship and raises the trophy for the third time in the last 12 years. Instead, the taboo for the Lusitanians continues, stumbling upon the third defeat out of three in the last act after those of 1994 against Italy and 2015 against Sweden (even then Rui Jorge was on the bench). Yet the favorites on the eve were precisely the Portuguese, authors of an overall better tournament starting from the groups: the Lusitanians, in fact, closed the first phase with full points, and apart from the 3 goals conceded by Italy they had managed to keep the goal clean sheet in other matches, proving substantially superior to all opponents. Germany, on the other hand, had passed as second in the group and, in the quarterfinals against Denmark, had risked – and perhaps even deserved – to go out, saving themselves only on penalties. Instead, after having dominated the semifinal with the Netherlands, the Germans did it again today, and posted their third cup after those won in 2009 and 2017 (also on that occasion with Kuntz at the helm).

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Key

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In this race, therefore, the hierarchies have been overturned. The Germans deserved the success not only for the best chances they created, but also for having been more on track throughout the game. Rui Jorge’s team, on the other hand, seemed clumsy, with few ideas and little space to put them into practice. Dahmen was practically never called into question, while it took a great Diogo Costa to avoid Portugal from a heavier liability. Great game, in Germany, for Wirtz, Maier, Baku and Nmecha, the author of the winning goal, while the period-no for Rafael Leao continues: after the bad performances with Italy and Spain, the AC Milan striker has unfortunately repeated even today. Good, but lasted little more than a time, the match of the Monza Dani Mota Carvalho.

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The match

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The pace is high from the start: in the 7th minute Dani Mota runs off to the right and finds Tomas in the area, whose shot ends up in the corner. Having overcome the fright, Germany raises the pace and commands the central part of the first half, creating the best opportunities first with Wirtz (16 ‘), who ends with a left foot from inside the area but hits the crossbar, helped by the deflection of a defender ; then with Maier (29 ‘), who releases a torpedo from outside on which Diogo Costa is forced to fly to deflect for a corner. Portugal seems stunned, but at the end of the first half they have a huge chance: Dani Mota throws Vitinha into space, who finds himself with the ball at his feet in a three-to-two situation. Instead of passing it to one of the free teammates, or concluding, the Wolverhampton player tries twice to jump Dahmen, but only wastes time and allows the German defense to recover. It is a decisive mistake, because after two minutes from the start of the second half Germany found the advantage: Maier opening for Baku, perfect filter for Nmecha who skips Diogo Costa and deposits on the net. Portugal picks up the pace and insists, but it is never really dangerous around Dahmen. Indeed, it is Nmecha again in the 75th minute to call into question Diogo Costa, then forced to repeat himself five minutes later on a left-handed diagonal from Adeyemi. After five minutes of recovery, the German party can begin in Ljubljana.

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