Football Update: UEFA U19 Championships, Spain, England, France and Croatia qualify for the semi-finals
The semi final line-up for the UEFA European U-19 Championship was decided last night after a dramatic day on high octane action in Basse-Normandie.
Going into the last round of fixtures, Spain were the only team guaranteed of making it into the semi finals after winning both their opening games. All the other 7 teams could have joined La Rojas in the knock out rounds but there were a few heartbreaks, as well as some shocking results on the weekend.
Italy went into the last round of the group games having one point only and needed to beat Spain at all cost but their hopes were extinguished in stunning fashion, as Spain steamrolled their Italian opponents on the night defeating the Azzuris by 3 goals to nil in Flers.
Spain’s young brigade continued to impress in France, just like their seniors did in South Africa as Luis Milla's side put up a scintillating display of slick passing football to eliminate the Italians from the competition.
First half goals from Rúben Rochina and Liverpool wonder kid Daniel Pacheco and an exquisitely audacious penalty from Ezequiel Calvente secured the win for Spain.
Going into the match Spain were already guaranteed the top spot in group B following earlier wins over Croatia and Portugal. Luis Milla made six changes to his side but that had little impact on La Rojas team play as they continued to dominate. Thiago Alcántara was first to threaten the Italian goal in only the third minute of the match when he blasted wide of Simone Colombi's goal. The Azzuris responded quickly but Inter’s teen prodigy Mattia Destro shot straight at the legs of Spanish goalie Aito.
Spain pressed the Italians hard in the match and a victory was nothing less than they deserved but the 3-0 score line may be a little harsh for the Italians.
In another match Austria took on the Dutch with both teams harbouring real hopes of qualifying for the knock out rounds, Netherlands striker Luc Castaignos struck the crossbar twioce in the first half, while his counterpart Djuricin also wasted several gilt edged chances at the other end.
The Dutch had a man sent off late in the second half when Leandro Bacuna was given his marching order, following a mistimed tackle but the Dutch still created plenty of chances on in the last minutes but it was not to be their night, as a late penalty by Marco Djuricin gave the Austrians a hardfought 1-0 win.
The win for Austria means that the Dutch finish bottom of group A with the Austrians taking the third place and with it progressing to the UEFA U-21 championships.
The most remarkable result of the day came in Bayeux, when Croatia dismantled Portugal beating them 5-0. Portugal needed only a draw from the game to progress to the next round but were trailing as early as the 19th minute when Franko Andrijašević's converted a spot kick.
Ilídio Vale's side never recovered from the early setback, as Pamić headed in a second in the second half. The forward made it 3-0 a few moments later with a swerving free kick to make it 3-0 and the ref hadn’t even blown for the breather.
Croatia’s skipper Renato Kelić had his nights work cut short after he was shown a straight red in the second half but still went on to increase their lead when Filip Ozobić scored to make it 4-0. Pamić completed his hat trick late in the game with a thunderous shot that the Portuguese goalie could only watch fly past him.
The drama in group A had a different taste as only a mathematical miracle in Saint-Lo would have seen France not making to the last 4. Yannis Tafer gave the Les Blues early in the game and the result still meant that England were heading out of the competition with the game between Austria and Netherlands still goalless.
However, Wycombe Wanderers striker Matthew Phillips headed in from close range to secure England’s qualification in dramatic fashion.
The Netherlands lost their match 1-0 to Austrians meaning England would have progressed despite the loss but the Englishmen didn’t leave anything to chance.
England will play Spain in the semi final at Stade Lois Villemer in Saint-Lo, while Stade Michel-d'Ornano in Caen will host the semi-final between France and Croatia.
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