UEFA U21 Trophy: Semi-Final Review
More England heartache as the Dutch and Serbia clinch final places
As the Netherlands and Serbia battled through to Saturday's final, England suffered further penalty shoot-out heartache, in the UEFA Under 21 Championship semi-finals.
The UEFA Under 21 Championship semi-finals were played yesterday with the Netherlands and Serbia clinching places in Saturday’s final.
England suffer penalty heartbreak
In the first semi-final a crowd of nearly 24,000, in the Abe Lenstra stadium, Heerenveen, saw hosts, the Netherlands, take on England. A game of high drama saw the Dutch return to the Championship final, for the second year running; eventually winning the tie with a thrilling 13-12 victory on penalties, after the game had finished 1-1 after extra time.
England had taken the lead in the 39th minute when Reading’s Leroy Lita, outmuscled the Dutch defence to fire home his third goal of the tournament. In an evenly contested second half, Lita nearly increased England’s lead when his powerful free kick crashed off the post. As the game progressed the Netherlands began forcing the pace and with one minute of the game remaining they drew level. With England’s Steven Taylor down injured in the area, Dutch defender Ryan Donk crossed for striker Maceo Rigters to acrobatically score his third goal of the tournament, and take the game into extra time.
Neither side were able to break the deadlock, in the extra time period, and the game progressed to a penalty shootout. In total 32 penalties were needed to decide the tie, which eventually went the way of the Dutch, when local hero Gianni Zuiverloon slotted home the winning penalty. The epic contest set the record for the most goals scored in a UEFA competition match.
Serbia through to final
Meanwhile the other semi-final tie, played in the Gelredome, Arnhem, saw Serbia clinch the remaining final place with a 2-0 victory over Belgium. Serbia had taken an early lead in the game when defender Aleksander Kolarov’s, fourth minute free kick, evaded everyone and found its way into the Belgian net. Belgium had their chances to get back into the game, but too often their efforts were thwarted by a solid Serbian defence. In the 87th minute Serbia put the game out of the Belgian's reach. A header from Bosko Jankovic sent substitute Dragan Mrdja through the middle of the Belgium defence and he finished confidently to end Belgian hopes.
Remaining games
There are now only two games remaining in the competition. On Thursday the 21st of June, Italy take on Portugal to decide Europe’s remaining place in the 2008, Beijing Olympic Football tournament. On Saturday the 23rd of June, the Netherlands will attempt to win the tournament, for the second time, when they take on Serbia in the championship final, at the Euroborg in Groningen.
