England’s Ben Johnson in action against Portugal’s Jose Carlos, Henrique Araujo and Francisco Conceico. Image: EPA
England and Ukraine reach the semi-finals of the U-21 European Championship. A 1-0 win against Portugal is enough for England. Ukraine defeated France 3-1. Israel and Spain are sure to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
The youth footballers of England and Ukraine have reached the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championship. Tournament favorites England beat Portugal 1-0 (1-0) in the quarter-finals on Sunday in Kutaisi, Georgia, and made it into the semi-finals of a U21 European Championship for the first time since 2017. England, who sealed the early elimination of the German side with a 2-0 victory in the group stage, meet Israel in the semifinals on Wednesday.
In the evening, Ukraine caused a surprise with the 3:1 (2:1) against France – and was rewarded twice. In addition to reaching the semi-finals against Spain on Wednesday, the Ukrainians were also able to celebrate qualifying for the Olympics. With England’s quarter-final victory, it was already clear that Israel and Spain would also be part of the 2024 Olympics.
The top three teams alongside seeded hosts France buy a ticket to Paris 2024. England failed to qualify for the Summer Games because Great Britain competes as one team at the Olympics.
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Anthony Gordon scored the winning goal for the very passive English side in the 34th minute. Midfielder Georgij Sudakow scored twice for Ukraine in Cluj-Napoca in Romania (32’/penalty and 44′) after Rayan Cherki had given the French the lead (19′). Captain Artem Bondarenko finished the game with the goal to make it 3:1 (86th).
2023-07-02 21:43:09
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