Co-hosts Georgia have surprisingly reached the quarter-finals of a U21 European Championship for the first time – and that in front of a record crowd. Opponent Netherlands had aluminum bad luck and is out. Portugal, on the other hand, are one round ahead, the winner came late, the scorer was a former Bayern player.
On Tuesday evening (June 27, 2023) in Tbilisi in front of 43,004 spectators, Georgia drew 1-1 (1-1) against the Netherlands to win the group with five points. Georgia would face Germany on Saturday should the defending champions still qualify for the knockout stages on Wednesday.
Taylor hits aluminum twice and once in goal
Georgia took the lead after a nice solo by Zuriko Davitashvili (42nd minute). After Kenneth Taylor equalized (45+6), the Dutch pushed for the winning goal, but it didn’t want to come.
Previously, playmaker Taylor was unlucky when he headed into the left inside post twice in just 120 seconds (4′, 6′).
Winning goal in the 89th minute – Tiago Dantas shoots Portugal on
Portugal secured second place and thus also the ticket for the knockout stages with a 2-1 (0-0) victory over Belgium, the former Bayern professional Tiago Dantas only scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. The Portuguese are now up against England, with Belgium and the Netherlands eliminated.
The Portuguese, who were under pressure to win, took the lead through Joao Neves (56th) before Belgium could dream of the quarter-finals thanks to the equalizer from Yorbe Vertessen (65th). Tiago Dantas, who made two Bundesliga appearances for Bayern in the 2020/21 season, converted a penalty just before the end.