U17 EC Final 11.00 CET FT Germany v Holland 2-1

again poor defending by an Ajax defender which hurts us. If all our defenders where like Feyenoorder van Huygevoort...

Swiss deserve an equaliser now, Holland need to get their act together.

Hell, you Dutchies are a lucky lot.



Holland are through to the final. We hopefully follow suit.

Phew. Fi na le whoo hoo

think we've used all our luck by now.

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Heard they gave 1500 scouts an accreditation for the U17 EC. 1500

Congrats! Lucky or not final is a final is a final

Congrats Dutchies :bitterballen:

Updates later would be appreciated, don't think I'll be able to stream anything at work...

uefa.com has a liveticker

kool, cheers

De Guz,

Any impressive young stars so far?

The players which impressed me so far (only watched the broadcasted matches, so some assesments are based on just 1 match):

Germany: Goetze & Buchtmann, both are skilled classy attacking mids with end-product.

Switzerland: Ben Khalifa, good #10, Goncalves good CD.

Holland: Ozyakup (ACM), Castaignos (CF) & van Huygevoort (CD).

Wilshere was by far England's best player, Spain had a few good Barcelona defenders, but missed purpose (attacking), Turkey had a few good players too, but forgot who they were. France didn't impress me bar physically. Will judge Italy v Germany.

preview:

Azzurrini attempt to derail Germany express

UEFA European Under-17 Championship hosts Germany stormed through the group stage but now they face what coach Marco Pezzaiuoli describes as their "toughest challenge" – Italy in today's semi-final in Dessau-Rosslau.
Contrasting form
Germany beat Turkey 3-1, England 4-0 and the Netherlands 2-0 in front of a combined total of more than 20,000 fans in Group B, and are aiming to become the first team to follow up a nine-point U17 haul by lifting the trophy since France in 2004, coincidentally also the most recent victors in home soil. Italy made a slower start, drawing 0-0 with Spain and losing 3-1 to Switzerland, but their 2-1 comeback defeat of France to snatch Group A second place hinted at the sort of slow-boiling campaign that has produced so much Azzurri success over the years.
Experience gained
Pezzaiuoli, with Italian roots as his name suggests, has Christopher Buchtmann back from suspension in a full-strength squad, and is naturally pleased with Germany's work so far, but it is not done yet. "As hosts we had no qualifying," he said. "Our players have no experience of competitive games. That was a difficult situation for us at the start of the tournament. But the players have become used to the situation and performed well so far. We have to concentrate right now on the Italy match because this will be the toughest challenge so far for our boys."
'Soccer classic'
The coach, who warned that "the competition restarts now", is reaping the reward for two years of intensive preparation, that has brought Germany face to face with Italy more than once. "We beat them 1-0 at U16 level and had a goalless draw at the Four Nations Tournament at the beginning of this season. Germany versus Italy is a soccer classic and has a great history. Italian teams are very well organised and play in a very efficient way. It will be a tough match."
Rallying cry
While the hosts will have the bulk of the crowd, the Azzurrini have not wanted for support in the finals from among the 500,000-strong Italian community in Germany, and coach Pasquale Salerno, his first goal of progress and securing a FIFA U-17 World Cup berth achieved, sent out a rallying cry. "The lads feel the importance of this game," Salerno said. "There are so many Italian fans here in Germany. We know they will come in numbers too. I have told my players to find extra motivation in playing for the Italian fans."
Camilleri doubt
Defender Vincenzo Camilleri remains doubtful with a groin injury, but captain Simone Benedetti was restored to the lineup in his stead with great success against France, and Salerno is more concerned about Italy's opponents. "We know Marco's team very well from a tournament held in Italy last autumn. I saw the team on tape and at the stadium against the Netherlands. They are a very strong and brave team. I expect a top-level game comparable to the game against France. The team who will win will be ones with more desire and who keep their heads."

Just hope UEFA don't let the Austrian ref do the final. Would be a disgrace.

Hope Germany makes the final, so we'll have 2 teams wanting to play football v eachother.

Feyenoord in the final, well done..though I expected nothing less. I reckon we have to play another gas country in it....Feyenoord always have troubles beating Germans on German soil!!

Lets hope they can stay for a little longer at Feyenoord but the Arsenal pedo's are lurking I reckon!

Thanks DeGuz.

You're welcome.

Fey wrote:Feyenoord in the final, well done..though I expected nothing less. I reckon we have to play another gas country in it....Feyenoord always have troubles beating Germans on German soil!!

Lets hope they can stay for a little longer at Feyenoord but the Arsenal pedo's are lurking I reckon!

in European competitions we had a lot of away draws in Germany & at least 2 away wins (though the one v VFB was cancelled out by fucking up at home)

On keeping our players, they upgraded a lot of contracts recently (which makes a lot of sense), just hope thos guys have smart managers & let them mature with us, which is much better than wasting their time sitting on the bench playing for the Reserves of a big club.

Of our players Van Huygevoort looks to be on his way to become a good defender, Castaignos should be on the bench next season, has everything a striker needs & works his socks off. Isoufi showed flashed of brilliance, but is better playing behind the striker (position now taken by Ozyakup) than as winger)

Any young talents owned by Real madrid?

spain coach highlights muniesa

best CB in the comp?, Maybe

future of the barca backline definitely


The most surprising of the exits was that of holders Spain, who set a unique record in any UEFA finals group stage by drawing all of their games 0-0, against Italy, France and Switzerland. "Over the three games, we have stuck true to our philosophy of trying to keep the ball," said coach Ginés Meléndez. "The only thing missing was a goal but we won't change our approach – we still haven't lost in 20 games. It is more important for us to mould players for the national team. I don't like to pick out a player but centre-back Marc Muniesa, who was out with injury for ten months, did well."

Unflinching Frenchman wrote:Any young talents owned by Real madrid?

Sarabia, epic fail

Striker/ forward Sarabia was supposed to be very good. didn't show it at the EC. Thought he was a waste of space. Same goes for the Atletico attackers/forwards.

Was looking forward to seeing Koke Ressureccion play, not just for his name. Didn't impress either. Spain's attack lacked cuuting edge. Not a coincidence they couldn't score in 4 hours of play.

Messiah wrote:

Unflinching Frenchman wrote:Any young talents owned by Real madrid?

Sarabia, epic fail

Messiah,

For all your hype, your academy players aren't shining exactly either.

Apart from Feyen, German clubs look to have some very good players coming through the ranks.

Unflinching Frenchman wrote:

Messiah wrote:

Unflinching Frenchman wrote:Any young talents owned by Real madrid?

Sarabia, epic fail

Messiah,

For all your hype, your academy players aren't shining exactly either.

What

they did exactly what was expected of them, finish the comp with the best defense in the tournament.

if he has called up carmona instead of sarabia i'm sure they would have scored

Players 1 yellow card away from suspension (for the final):

Italy: Fossati, Campoli & Baraldo
Germany: Kargbo & Trinks

Any suspended players for holland?

We have bad experiences in the past with German refs helping Austria (cost us 1 WC & we even stopped playing international football because of it for a while) & v.v. Shouldn't be allowed anyway (friendly nations reffing eachother's games. Football shoudln't be like the Eurovision songcontest

Anyway hope Germany wins & we have a great game in the final.

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26 May 57 Holland who had beaten WC Champs Germany on home soil beforehand, had to play the deciding qualifier away v Austria. Holland were 0-2 up at HT. Thereafter the German ref decided to join the Austrian team (just helping tham wasn't enough, we had a very good team those days). They even kicked a few of our players in hospital, so we had to finish the match with 9 players. Biggest disgrace in Dutch footy history

Germany:

------------- ter Stegen
Basala -- Labus -- Mustafi -- Plattenhardt
Buchtmann Yabo Zimmermann Scheidhauer
---------Thy-----Goetze

Italy:

------------- Perin
------Crisetig Campoli Benedetti---------
Sini Fossati De Vitis Dell'Agnello Natalini
--------El Sharaawy Beretta

From the little I have seen so far I think Yabo is also one of the more interesting players.

He's very strong, like Basala. Liked Plattenhardt so far too.

Germany going for it. Italy sinking in. 2nd corner Germany after 3'

Er Guz, I'm not going to argue with you about the Fifties, or indeed about Gijon, but Germany is less popular in Austria than in Holland...

84% of Austrians wanted Spain to win the final last year

fine with me, still want to take no risks (he could be 1 of those 16%) & the Austrian ref is about the only one left...

Anyway Germany dominating so far, but Italy look sneaky when starting counterattacks.