Defeat leaves bitter taste for Ben-Hatira

He scored two goals in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-final against Greece but Anis Ben-Hatira took no satisfaction from the match as he prepared to return home from Austria following Germany's 3-2 defeat.

Tough defeat
"My two goals don't really matter, because at the end of the day it's the result that counts - and we're out," the Hamburger SV midfielder told uefa.com after his side had been beaten by an 89th-minute winner from Andreas Lampropoulos for ten-man Greece. "It hurts a lot, especially after playing so well in the group stage. It hurts even more to lose in the last minute. We dominated the game and I'm sure we would have won in extra time."

Double strike
Ben-Hatira, who celebrated his 19th birthday in Austria last Wednesday, had given Germany the lead at the Vorwärts Stadion in Steyr, showing composure beyond his years to beat two defenders and steer the ball under Greece goalkeeper Kyriakos Stratilatis. And when Greece had fought back to turn the match around through goals from Sotiris Ninis and Kostas Mitroglou, it was Ben-Hatira who showed the nerve to stand up and take the penalty kick that restored parity midway through the second half. Added to his strike in Germany's group-stage victory against Serbia, the Berlin-born teenager is now tied at the top of the leading goalscorers chart for the championship with Mitroglou and France's Kévin Monnet-Paquet, but that was little consolation.

'Really sad'
"It is really sad, especially the manner in which we lost, conceding this silly goal from a corner and with an extra man," lamented Ben-Hatira after Germany's first semi-final appearance since their defeat to France in Northern Ireland two years ago. "But that's football. After a defeat you can of course call everything into question. But tonight we were simply lacking the tension and the aggression needed, and we were also a bit unlucky."

Big break
Of Tunisian heritage, Ben-Hatira learnt his trade at Hertha BSC Berlin before moving to Tennis Borussia Berlin in 2003 and then getting his big break with a move to Hamburg three years later. After signing professional forms with this season's UEFA Intertoto Cup contenders at the start of the 2006/07 campaign, he earned his Bundesliga debut in February, the first of five outings in Germany's top flight. "We are very glad to have acquired the best attacking midfielder of his age," Hamburg sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer said after capturing his signature and after his performances in Austria it would appear the future for Ben-Hatira is bright.