The club season may be well and truly over, but the various national teams are still playing, and there might not be a bigger matchup than England U21 vs Germany U21 in the Euros.
This is the second time in 36 hours that England play Germany, as yesterday, the under-19s faced off in their Euros and Germany would throw away a 5-1 lead to end up drawing the game 5-5 and put their qualification for the semi-finals at major risk.
Germany started the game the best way possible when a Lukas Ullrich cross was met with a first-time volley by Ansgar Knauff to make it 1-0. Despite England seeing most of the ball, they were never able to truly trouble Germany’s backline and were unable to register a big chance in the first half. Germany continued to have the better chances and were able to double their lead in the 33rd minute when Knauff turned provider and his cross was headed in by Nelson Weiper to make it 2-0.
In the second half, there was a big drop-off in performance from Germany, but in a similar pattern to the first half, England were not able to create any true, clear-cut chances for much of the half. However, a goal from Alex Scott in the 76th minute set up a tense end to the game for Germany. Tjark Ernst was called upon to make a save from an England corner.
Considering this was basically Germany’s B team, the fact that they got the job done against England is impressive. Granted, it was not the most eye-catching performance like the opening two group games, but at the end of the day, they won the group and will play Italy in the quarter-finals.
This Germany team is very talented, on a player-to-player basis, potentially even more talented than the team that one the Euros four years ago. If they play at the level they did against Slovenia and Czechia, they can very well win the whole thing. It also goes to show the wealth of talent at Germany’s disposal that a large group of the usual A-team for the under-21 regularly feature for teams that were fighting in the upper regions of the Bundesliga, so much so that even the likes of Knauff and Merlin Röhl had to be demoted to squad players.
Tjark Ernst (5), Elias Baum (6), Tim Oermann (6), Jamil Siebert (6), Lukas Ullrich (7), Casper Jander (6), Merlin Röhl (6), Ansgar Knauff (7), Paul Wanner (5), Jan Thielmann (6), Nelson Weiper (6)
Others: Paul Nebel (5), Nicolo Tresoldi (5), Bright Arrey-Mbi (-), Eric Martel (-), Nnamdi Collins (-)
Came away with a goal and an assist. This game highlighted what Knauff is great at when it comes to providing energy on the flank. Considering Knauff is now 23, this will be his final tournament with the national team; however, there are still question marks on whether he can take the step up to the senior side. Playing in the Champions League with Frankfurt next season will help his continued development.
Lukas Ullrich also deserves praise as he not only provided a great cross for Knauff’s opener, but was also defensively sound against Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri.
