Hinz strikes gold for Germany
Sunday 1 January 2006
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After losing to Spain in the 1991 Under-16 final, Germany turned the tables on their rivals a year on to win the trophy.
Italy victorious
Cyprus were selected as hosts, and all the usual contenders qualified, though Greece, third in 1991, were eliminated by Denmark who recovered from a 4-1 first leg defeat to reach the final tournament 6-5 on aggregate. Germany secured a comfortable passage to the semi-finals, winning all three of their Group C games against Northern Ireland, Scotland and Cyprus to set up a meeting with Italy in the final four. Italy had edged Yugoslavia to top spot in Group A despite losing their final game against Finland, and they pushed Germany to the limit in the semi-finals. For the second year running Germany won a semi-final on penalties, eventually winning the shoot-out 6-5 after a goalless draw.
Portugal through
Spain opened their campaign with a 3-1 victory against Romania and would finish top of Group B undefeated, winning 2-0 against the Netherlands then drawing with the Republic of Ireland. The Netherlands finished with a 4-0 win against Romania, Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert among their scorers, but it was only good enough for second spot. Portugal completed the semi-final line up thanks to wins against France and Israel either side of a 1-1 draw with Hungary.
Hinz winner
That meant Spain and Portugal would meet for the seventh time in this competition in the semi-finals, and Spain gained revenge for their 1989 loss to their neighbours at this stage with a 3-1 win. So to the final where Germany recovered from conceding a 16th-minute goal through Iván Pérez to win 2-1. Till Bettenstaedt equalised before the break and Carsten Hinz struck the winner with 16 minutes left to match the achievement of West Germany in 1984.
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