Under 21, today’s matches: Holland, Portugal, Belgium, De Ketelaere

Today’s matches at the Under 21 European Championship

Holland-Portugal 1-1The most awaited match of the day pitted two big players who were forced to change pace after the debut: in the end, however, the 1-1 draw between Portugal and the Netherlands left a bad taste in the mouth especially for Rui Jorge’s boys (although leaving the any discourse on qualification). The balance lasted just 20′ and it was the Portuguese who broke it: on an excellently worked ball by Pedro Neto, Wolverhampton winger, it was André Almeida (protagonist in Valencia) who deflected on goal with precision. The Dutch equalizer came in the second half thanks to Brobbey, from a corner development: the Ajax centre-forward was good at correcting teammate Burger’s header in front of goal. A second draw in two games for the Orange, while Portugal are already cornered: to qualify they will have to beat Belgium on Tuesday in the hope that the Netherlands do not overcome Georgia. (Ranking: Georgia 4, Belgium and Holland 2, Portugal 1).

Georgia-Belgium 2-2Incredibly, the other match played in Tbilisi ends in a draw, the one that sees the hosts of Georgia recover two goals against Belgium and thus enjoy the first place in group A with 4 points. At half-time the match seemed clearly in the path of De Ketelaere and his teammates who had taken the double advantage thanks to two headers: the first by De Cuyper following an assist from another AC Milan player, Vranckx, making his debut in the European Championship. Also the Belgian 2-0 by Ramazani by air, on cue from De Cuyper himself. However, the wind changed completely at the interval, with the three substitutions of the Georgian coach Svanadze: Tsitaishivili also came on from the bench who – after two assists against Portugal – this time went it alone and shortened with a nice left from the edge. Up 2-1, Belgium wasted precisely with De Ketelaere after a triangle with Openda a huge opportunity for a trio in the 75th minute, not finding the goal from a favorable position: the AC Milan player played in an unusual position, as a midfielder in the 4th -3-3, not disdaining dirty work. And Georgia, pushed by their supporters, equalized in the 87th minute with Guliashvili’s header from a corner. Four points in two games in their first participation in a U21 European Championship: Georgia – even without Kvaratskhelia – is now the master of their own destiny in terms of qualification. Not bad.

Romania-Ukraine 0-1On the other hand, the collapse of the other host team, Romania, which still ends up beaten at the Steaua Stadium and is already eliminated after two days. Ukraine flies with full points and qualifies for the quarterfinals, this time lucky to capitalize on Dican’s own goal just before the 90th minute. From group B (Croatia-Romania on Tuesday and Spain-Ukraine on Tuesday, decisive for first place) the opponents in the quarter-finals of Italy’s group qualifiers will come out.