Portugal striker Fabio Vieira (c) rejoices after his goal against Spain in the semi-final of the Euro Espoirs, in Maribor, on June 3, 2021
The Euro Espoirs final will face Germany and Portugal for the first time on Sunday in Ljubljana, Slovenia, after the two sides qualified on Thursday against defending defending Netherlands and Spain respectively.
At the end of the afternoon in Maribor (Slovenia), it was therefore Portugal who took the first ticket to the final by beating Spain 1-0 and thus depriving them of a third consecutive final after those of 2017, lost against Germany, and 2019, won against these same Germans.
In a match that was initially balanced and then dominated by Spain, the Portuguese won on a goal against their side by “Rojita” defender Jorge Cuenca in the 80th minute.
“They had a few chances, it’s true. But we scored and not them, that’s the most important,” said the excellent Portuguese midfielder Vitinha, elected man of the match.
This will be the third Portuguese final at the Euro-Espoirs, after those of 1994 and 2015, both lost.
To hope to win a first title in the age category, the Portuguese will now have to get rid of real specialists on Sunday, since the Germans will therefore play their third final in a row.
In Szekesfehervar, Hungary, Germany had a perfect start to the game to knock out the Netherlands, scorers in the previous round of France, who were the favorites of the tournament.
From the 30th second, the Mannschaft indeed took the lead thanks to a goal from Wirtz. And the small striker of Bayer Leverkusen, great promise of German football, doubled the bet even before the 10th minute on an action where he made the defender of Lille Botman (2-0, 8th) dizzy.
The Netherlands managed to reduce the mark by Schuurs in the middle of the second period (67th), but Germany, who hit the posts three times, earned their place in the final.
