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Thy's work is doing nicely for Germany

Lennart Thy overcame injury to lead Germany's line and with a semi-final place assured regardless of Tuesday's result against the Netherlands, he is delighted to have secured progress and got on the scoresheet to boot.

Lennart Thy enjoys his goal against England
Lennart Thy enjoys his goal against England ©Sportsfile

Lennart Thy overcame injury to lead Germany's line in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship on home soil, and with a semi-final place already booked regardless of Tuesday's result against the Netherlands in Jena, he is delighted to have secured progress and got on the scoresheet to boot.

Relief
Having undergone two weeks of intense treatment to recover from a knee ligament problem, Werder Bremen forward Thy was a substitute in Germany's opening game with Turkey last Wednesday. He came off the bench to aid a 3-1 opening Group B win, but was unable to find the target himself. So it was a relief to start against England on Saturday and score in a 4-0 victory.

Victory
"I missed two very good chances in the first match and that's why my self-confidence rose after scoring in the second game," Thy told uefa.com. "I was happy to be a part of the team, winning against England. I thought it would be hard because they are very tough players, but in the second half we were clearly the better team and definitely deserved to win."

No ill-effects
Even more importantly, Thy is feeling no ill-effects from his injury. "It was important for me to play in the first match to get some reassurance about my condition, that I didn't have to worry about anything," he said. "That was confirmed in the second match, everything went well."

Support
Germany's game against England in Jena attracted an U17 group-stage record crowd of 8,500, and Thy confirmed that the players have taken strength from this backing. "It is a great feeling, because they kept on supporting us whatever the situation, whether we'd scored a goal or were under pressure," he said. "The more supporters there are, the better it is." And he vowed to keep up the momentum when they return to the Ernst-Abbe Sportfeld to take on the Netherlands. "The team has to keep the rhythm we have right now, so we can't change too much."