Two dismissals in the final
The English youth footballers won the U21 European Championship in Georgia and Romania. In the final in the Georgian port city of Batumi, coach Lee Carsley’s selection won 1-0 (1-0) against Spain. The decisive goal was scored by Liverpool’s Curtis Jones just before half-time (45th minute +4). For England it is the third title after 1982 and 1984 and thus the first in 39 years. The English were last in the final in 2009 and lost 4-0 to Germany.
In a gripping final, referee Espen Eskas of Norway awarded a penalty for Spain in the sixth minute of added time. But Sporting Braga striker Abel Ruiz was denied by Manchester City’s James Trafford. The two rebounds didn’t find their way into the goal either. Then England’s Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) and Spain’s Antonio Blanco (Real Madrid) each saw the yellow-red card after a scuffle.
Thanks to the triumph in the final, the “Three Lions” remained undefeated and kept a clean sheet throughout the tournament. In the group phase, the English team sealed the early end of the German team with a 2-0 win. For Spain it was the first defeat of the tournament. The Iberians thus missed out on becoming the sole U21 record champion. So far, Spain, which was in a European Championship final for the U21s for the ninth time, and Italy have each had five titles.
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