Euro Under-21 Championship
England U21England U212Germany U21Germany U212
Germany U21 win 4-3 on penalties

England U21 2-2 Germany U21 (3-4 pens)

By Neil JohnstonBBC Sport
Redmond
Nathan Redmond missed the decisive penalty that saw England go out

England were denied a place in the European Under-21 Championship final as they lost a gripping semi-final against Germany on penalties.

Julian Pollersbeck saved Nathan Redmond's spot-kick as the Germans edged through in Tychy, Poland.

Aidy Boothroyd's Young Lions had fallen behind when Davie Selke headed home, but Demarai Gray levelled the scores.

Tammy Abraham made it 2-1 to England with a tap-in but Felix Platte's header took the game to extra time.

Germany will face Spain - who beat Italy 3-1 - in Friday's final in Krakow (19:45 BST).

How the penalty shootout was won

  • 0-1: Maximilian Arnold beats the diving Jordan Pickford, shooting down the middle.
  • 1-1: Lewis Baker sends Julian Pollersbeck the wrong way.
  • 1-1: Pickford produces a fine diving stop to keep out Yannick Gerhardt.
  • 1-1: Tammy Abraham is denied by an equally fine save by Pollersbeck.
  • 1-2: Pickford guesses the right way but Maximilian Philipp's kick is too powerful.
  • 2-2: Ben Chilwell keeps his composure to send the keeper the wrong way.
  • 2-3: Max Meyer nudges the Germans ahead with a textbook penalty.
  • 3-3: James Ward-Prowse fires into the roof of the net.
  • 3-4: Substitute Nadiem Amiri holds his nerve to pile the pressure on England.
  • 3-4: Nathan Redmond has to score but Pollersbeck flings himself across his line to save.

Same old story for England

Not for the first time, an England team is left to reflect on what might have been after losing a semi-final against Germany on penalties.

It happened at the 1990 World Cup in Italy when Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce faltered from the spot, and at the 1996 European Championship at Wembley, when Gareth Southgate's penalty was saved.

On Tuesday, Boothroyd's team were 20 minutes from a place in the final when Platte equalised following a corner.

In an action-packed game, Salke had put the Germans ahead when he met Jermey Toljan's cross, before Leicester's Gray was well placed to equalise after Germany failed to deal with Ward-Prowse's corner.

Will Hughes teed up Abraham to give England the lead and both teams missed chances to secure victory in extra time.

.
Germany's players celebrate victory over England

Positives for Young Lions

Despite this result, the tournament has provided Boothroyd with plenty of positives for the future.

England drew with Sweden before beating Slovakia and host nation Poland to win their group and set up the semi-final with Germany.

This time last year, English football was reeling after the senior team were humiliated and humbled by Iceland at Euro 2016.

The date - 27 June 2016 - will always be a haunting reminder of arguably England's worst-ever defeat.

One year later, the Football Association can reflect on genuine shoots of recovery, with the under-17s reaching their Euro finals and the under-20s winning the World Cup in South Korea.

England's players react after losing to Germany in the semi-final of the European Under-21 Championship
England were looking to reach the final for the first time since 2009

'A heroic effort'

Former England captain Terry Butcher on BBC Radio 5 live

What a heroic effort from all these England players. They matched Germany - the application and spirit has been magnificent throughout this competition.

Great guts and spirit - they've carried the badge and the jersey, and they've made everyone proud.

England Under-21 boss Aidy Boothroyd:

We're absolutely gutted to go out in the way that we did.

We might not have been at our best for long periods but we showed a real British bulldog spirit.

We could have nicked it but that's football. We've practised, practised and practised penalties but the keeper has made two good saves.

It was a real effort - a real backs against the wall job at times.

It's been a long journey. The tournament has been fantastic. I'm sure there will be future senior players in this team.

Line-ups

England U21

Formation 4-3-1-2

  • 1Pickford
  • 2HolgateBooked at 83minsSubstituted forIorfaat 105'minutes
  • 5Chambers
  • 23Mawson
  • 3ChilwellBooked at 59mins
  • 8Ward-Prowse
  • 4ChalobahSubstituted forMurphyat 66'minutes
  • 10Baker
  • 19HughesBooked at 11minsSubstituted forSwiftat 86'minutes
  • 7GraySubstituted forRedmondat 73'minutes
  • 9Abraham

Substitutes

  • 6Stephens
  • 11Redmond
  • 12Targett
  • 13Gunn
  • 14Murphy
  • 15Swift
  • 16Holding
  • 17Hause
  • 18Iorfa
  • 20Grealish
  • 21Mitchell
  • 22Woodrow

Germany U21

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 12Pollersbeck
  • 2Toljan
  • 6JungSubstituted forKehrerat 80'minutes
  • 15KempfBooked at 107mins
  • 3Gerhardt
  • 19HabererSubstituted forKohrat 102'minutes
  • 10ArnoldBooked at 112mins
  • 22Philipp
  • 7Meyer
  • 11GnabryBooked at 81minsSubstituted forAmiriat 87'minutes
  • 9SelkeBooked at 19minsSubstituted forPlatteat 63'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Schwäbe
  • 4Anton
  • 8Dahoud
  • 13Platte
  • 14Klünter
  • 16Kehrer
  • 17Weiser
  • 18Amiri
  • 20Öztunali
  • 21Kohr
  • 23Vlachodimos
Referee:
Gediminas Mazeika
Attendance:
13,214

Match Stats

Home TeamEngland U21Away TeamGermany U21
Possession
Home31%
Away69%
Shots
Home17
Away38
Shots on Target
Home4
Away9
Corners
Home4
Away13
Fouls
Home12
Away10

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, England U21 2(3), Germany U21 2(4).

  2. Penalties over

    Penalty Shootout ends, England U21 2(3), Germany U21 2(4).

  3. Post update

    Penalty saved! Nathan Redmond (England U21) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the centre of the goal.

  4. Goal!

    Goal! England U21 2(3), Germany U21 2(4). Nadiem Amiri (Germany U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  5. Goal!

    Goal! England U21 2(3), Germany U21 2(3). James Ward-Prowse (England U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.

  6. Goal!

    Goal! England U21 2(2), Germany U21 2(3). Max Meyer (Germany U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.

  7. Goal!

    Goal! England U21 2(2), Germany U21 2(2). Ben Chilwell (England U21) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner.

  8. Goal!

    Goal! England U21 2(1), Germany U21 2(2). Maximilian Philipp (Germany U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.

  9. Post update

    Penalty saved! Tammy Abraham (England U21) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the centre of the goal.

  10. Post update

    Penalty saved! Yannick Gerhardt (Germany U21) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, left footed shot saved in the bottom left corner.

  11. Goal!

    Goal! England U21 2(1), Germany U21 2(1). Lewis Baker (England U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.

  12. Goal!

    Goal! England U21 2, Germany U21 2(1). Maximilian Arnold (Germany U21) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the centre of the goal.

  13. Penalties in progress

    Penalty Shootout begins England U21 2, Germany U21 2.

  14. Post update

    Second Half Extra Time ends, England U21 2, Germany U21 2.

  15. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Nadiem Amiri (Germany U21) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

  16. Post update

    Maximilian Philipp (Germany U21) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  17. Post update

    Foul by Alfie Mawson (England U21).

  18. Post update

    Corner, Germany U21. Conceded by Jacob Murphy.

  19. Booking

    Maximilian Arnold (Germany U21) is shown the yellow card.

  20. Post update

    Foul by Max Meyer (Germany U21).

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

448 comments

As It Stood

A

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1England U2132105147
2Slovakia U2132016336
3Sweden U21302125-32
4Poland U21301237-41

B

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Spain U2133009189
2Portugal U2132017526
3Serbia U21301225-31
4Macedonia U213012411-71

C

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Italy U2132014316
2Germany U2132015146
3Denmark U21310247-33
4Czech Rep U21310257-23
View full Euro Under-21 Championship tables

Elsewhere on the BBC