The dream of defending the title lives on. Even though the Germany U21 side were unable to build on their convincing performances in the previous group matches against Denmark (3-1) and Serbia (6-1) against a battling Austria they do go through to the last four unbeaten.
In front of a 9,000 crowd at the Dacia Arena in Udine (Italy), the two teams were on equal terms from the start of the match: Austria pressed forward early and prevented the Germany junior team playing their normal game – accordingly the opener for Germany came from a long-range effort: A ball from the again very impressive captain Jonathan Tah found Freiburg player Luca Waldschmidt who took a chance and hit the ball from a central position 25 yards out into the top right corner (14').
The 1-0 scoreline did not last long. Austria were awarded a penalty after a foul by the otherwise impressive keeper Alexander Nübel (FC Schalke) and Kevin Danso (FC Augsburg) was able to convert the spot kick (24') – it was the third goal scored from the penalty spot against Germany in the third match at this European Championships. Germany were lucky in added time at the end of the first half when Austria's Sasa Kalajdzic hit the post with a header. The two sides cancelled each other out in the second half with little threat on goal at either end.
The 1-1 draw was enough for Germany to win the group, go through to the semi-finals and thereby qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo
Germany's opponents in the last four will be determined after the end of the group stage on Monday night.
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Rieden reloaded: Just like last year, the Bayer 04 Women’s team are spending their summer training camp in this idyllic corner of Bavaria. From this Sunday, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team will be based in Rieden in the Upper Palatinate for a week.
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Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
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