FOOTBALL – There were many tense moments in the quarter-finals matches of the European Under-21 Championship on Monday evening. Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany reached the semi-finals. Spain will face Portugal on Thursday in the semi-final matches.
With only a few weeks to go until the European Championship, the under-21 footballers are already well into their own tournament. On Monday evening, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany won their games and reached the semi-finals.
Spain v Croatia into extra time
The Spanish youngsters won the last European Championship in 2019, which was held in Italy and San Marino. Last night, Spain fully lived up to its title during the international match against Croatia. At 6pm, the battle for the semi-finals was played and Javier Puado of Spain scored the first goal in the 66th minute. However, just before the final whistle – exactly in the 90th minute – Croatia equalised. This put the game into extra time. Puado then scored his second goal of the match to claim the 2-1 victory.
Netherlands stunt against France
The Dutch Juniors made a stunt against France on Monday evening. Again, the game was decided in the last minute. Halfway through the match, France took the lead, but shortly after the break, the Orange came through by a goal from Boadu. The same Boadu ended the match by making the 2-1 in the final minutes. This sealed a place for the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
Germany penalties and Portugal extra time
Germany made it even more exciting. After full time and extra time, the final score against Denmark remained 2-2. The game then went to penalties. They resulted in a 5-6 victory for the German side. Portugal also needed an extension to deal with Italy. Italy received a red card in the game which eventually ended in a 5-3 victory for Portugal.
Could Spain reach the final again?
On Thursday 3 June, the first semi-final between Spain and Portugal Under 21s will be played at 6pm. That same evening at 9pm, the Netherlands Juniors play the second semifinal against Young Germany. The winners of these matches will play for the cup of the European Championship 21 on Sunday, June 6 at 9pm.
