England and Spain advanced to the final of the U21 European Championship with clear victories. The young footballers from the island deservedly defeated outsiders Israel 3-0 (1-0) in the semifinals on Wednesday. In the evening, the Spaniards followed up with a 5-1 (2-1) win over Ukraine. The final will be played on Saturday (6 p.m.) in Batumi, Georgia.
Morgan Gibbs-White missed a penalty for the Young Lions in the 17th minute but then put his team ahead in the 42nd minute. Cole Palmer scored the decisive second goal in the 63rd minute. After minutes of video evidence of an alleged offside position, the goal counted. Shortly before the end, substitute Cameron Archer (90th) made the final score in Batumi.
For the first time since 2009, the English made it into the final of a U21 European Championship. In the group phase, the team sealed the early end of the German team with a 2-0 win. The Israelis had qualified for the knockout phase as second in the German preliminary round group and can console themselves after the end, like Ukraine, with a ticket for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Spaniard Oihan Sancet celebrates after scoring his second goal. : Image: dpa
In the second semi-final in Bucharest, Ukraine took the lead in the 13th minute through Artem Bondareno. But then the Spaniards turned up the heat. Abel Ruiz (17th), Oihan Sancet (24th), Antonio Blanco (54th), Aimar Oroz (68th) and Sergio Gomez (78th) made it clear to reach the final. The Spaniards were last European champions in 2019, when they won the final 2-1 against the DFB juniors.
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