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.
Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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At the U19 European Championship in Wales, the Germany U19 national team lost their third and final group match 4-0 to Spain. Several regulars, including Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan to SV Elversberg), who had combined for four goals and assists in the two previous victories, did not feature,. Germany had already secured their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare.
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Two weeks into the preseason, the Bayer 04 Women have secured their first victory. Coach Roberto Pätzold’s team won their first friendly 2–0 against Bundesliga newcomers Mainz 05. In front of 160 spectators at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, the two summer signings, Maja Sternad (80’) and Justine Brandau (90’), scored for the Black and Reds.
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