England U21 vs. Germany U21 | Euro 2017 Preview

The first semi-finals of the European U21 Championship in Poland will be between the teams of England and Germany. The Three Lions have put on display a wonderful performance so far, giving the fans hopes for the future of the English national team. Now, England U21 will probably meet one of the strongest teams in the competition.

Road To The Semi-Final

The Three Lions finished in the 1st position of their preliminary group with the teams of Norway, Switzerland, Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They recorded 6 victories and 2 draws, respectively 20 points from 8 games, which qualified them for the finals of the tournament. England started their participation in the Euro 2017 with a 0-0 draw against the last edition’s champions – Sweden. Then, the Aidy Boothroyd’s players won against Slovakia and Poland and won the group A.

The Germans were really impressive in the qualifying campaign. They won 10 out of 10! The teams of Austria, Russia, Finland, Azerbaijan and Faroe Islands had no chance against Die Mannschaft. To continue with, Germany recorded a goal difference of 35-8, which is an outstanding stat. They started with 2 consecutive victories in their group C, beating Denmark and Czech Republic. However, the Germans lost their last game to Italy 0-1, which left them in second position in the group, but they made it to the semi-finals as the best second-placed team.

Key Players

There are a lot of players in the England’s team to be highlighted. James Ward-Prowse pulls the strings in midfield. Demaray Gray, Nathan Redmond and Tammy Abraham are leading the attack of the team. The new signing of Everton – Jordan Pickford has only conceded 3 goals in 8 games from the beginning of the campaign. Calum Chambers and Alfie Mawson are the key players in defence for The Three Lions.

The forward of RB Leipzig – Davie Selke has scored 8 goals in 10 matches for Germany. He will be the main threat for the England’s defence. Max Meyer, who has already played several matches for the senior team of Germany, is the main player in midfield. We should also take a look at the former Arsenal player – Serge Gnabry, who has recently scored a hat-trick for Germany in the qualifying campaign for the World Cup in 2018.

Head 2 Head

Since 2005 these two teams have met on 8 occasions. The Three Lions have won 3 matches, while Germany have recorded 2 victories. There have also been 3 draws. The last time England won against Germany was in 2015 in a friendly match. The game finished with a score of 3-2.

If we lose and someone comes and says to me: “Well done for reaching the semi-finals”, I won’t like that! You’ve got to make this opportunities count – that’s why we must win the match! Aidy Boothroyd