Group win for U21s – Spain outclass Löw team

By half-time it was clear the Germany U21s would qualify for next year’s European Championship finals. With the results elsewhere, the team under coach Stefan Kuntz were guaranteed to at least finish second in the group by the start of the second 45. But the Germany team wanted more – and that was to qualify as group winners by beating Wales.

Dahmen for Grill

The hosts in Braunschweig were suitably motivated for the task at hand. Ridle Baku of VfL Wolfsburg broke into the opposition penalty area after 15 minutes and he was upended by a Welsh opponent. Lukas Nmecha (RSC Anderlecht) converted the penalty to open the scoring (17’). Nmecha could have extended the lead four minutes later but the second penalty – Baku had been fouled again – was hit wide of the left upright. So it was left to Jonathan Burkardt of Mainz 05 to make it 2-0 (26’) with a delightful curler from 13 yards out. Wales rarely threatened the goal minded by the keeper Finn Dahmen, who was given the nod over Lennart Grill. But the only dangerous effort on goal from the visitors did find the back of the Germany net: Mark Harris scored on 34 minutes with a shot from 14 yards out into the bottom left corner to make it 2-1.

Wirtz on the hour mark

Florian Wirtz was brought on in the 60^th minute. The 17-year-old took time getting into the game. A shot from 20 yards out was blocked (82’), a solo run and shot near the end ended with ball flying wide of the target. The score remained 2-1 for the Germany U21s and qualification for the Euros as group winners was confirmed. The tournament will be completed in two parts: The group matches will be played between 24 and 31 March 2021; the finals will be held from 31 May to 6 June.

Amiri on the bench

Nadiem Amiri and Jonathan Tah did not start for Germany in the final group match in the Nations League in Seville. Both Leverkusen players were on the bench. They looked on as the Spaniards ruthlessly exploited the errors made by the Löw team. Alvaro Morata headed in from a corner (17’), Ferran Torres scored with a volley (33’) and Rodrigo netted a second header from a corner (38’) to put the hosts on course for victory before half-time.

Tah comes on

Germany coach Joachim Löw made one change at the break: Jonathan Tah replaced Niklas Süle. But the course of the game did not change. The Spaniards were more focussed and made fewer mistakes. Ferran Torres scored twice more to make it 4-0 (55’) and then 5-0 (72’). Mikel Oyarzabal rounded off the scoring at 6-0 (89’).

Assist from Bailey

Leon Bailey will return to Leverkusen with that winning feeling. The Leverkusen star played twice in four days for Jamaica against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. After a 3-0 defeat for the Reggae Boys on Saturday, they were able to beat the Saudis in the second game on Tuesday. With Leon Bailey in the starting line-up, Jamaica ended up winning 2-1. Abdullah Al-Hamdan put the hosts in front on 29 minutes but Daniel Johnson levelled five minutes later with Leon Bailey providing the assist. Javon East scored the winner at 2-1 on 64 minutes. Bailey was replaced by Kevon Lambert with eight minutes to play.