Germany power to U19 glory

Germany claimed the UEFA European Under-19 Championship trophy for the first time despite playing more than half the final against Italy with ten men. Goals from Lars Bender, Richard Sukuta-Pasu and Timo Gebhart secured victory in an eventful decider in Jablonec.

Eventful encounter
Germany last tasted success in a youth championship in the U16 event in 1992, yet Horst Hrubesch's side took a significant step towards ending that long wait when Lars Bender struck midway through the opening period. Their hopes suffered a seemingly severe setback as captain Florian Jungwirth was dismissed for a second bookable offence seven minutes before half-time having fouled Stefano Okaka Cuka twice in quick succession, but Germany weathered the resulting Italy pressure and doubled their advantage a minute past the hour when Sukuta-Pasu drilled in his third goal of the finals. Italy lost Matteo Gentili to a second yellow card with 20 minutes remaining but still halved the deficit through Silvano Raggio only for Gebhart to restore Germany's two-goal cushion almost immediately and finally end their challenge.

Bender breakthrough
Germany had won all four of their previous matches at these finals but nearly fell behind for the first time within three minutes as Jungwirth misread Raggio's through ball and Alberto Paloschi prodded a shot over Ron-Robert Zieler that just missed the target. Gebhart provided much of Germany's early attacking impetus, volleying over after Sven Bender had flicked on a throw-in. Dennis Diekmeier and Sven Bender then nearly combined to play in Sukuta-Pasu, although Italy failed to heed the warning and fell behind in the 24th minute, Gebhart and Lars Bender creating confusion in the penalty area and the latter lashing a left-foot shot into the net.

Red card
Italy nearly responded straight away, Okaka Cuka shooting weakly at Zieler after a swift counterattack. The balance of the match shifted markedly seven minutes before the interval, Jungwirth collecting his second yellow card in five minutes for tripping Okaka Cuka, and Italy almost made their numerical advantage tell within seconds, Fernando Forestieri curling the resulting free-kick just over. There followed a spell of Azzurrini pressure, although Germany threatened to stretch their advantage on the break before half-time, Vincenzo Fiorillo producing a fine diving stop to deny Deniz Naki.

Defensive reshuffle
Italy continued to press forward as the second half unfolded but struggled to unpick a reshuffled defence with Lars Bender having dropped back to centre-half and substitute Danny Latza protecting the back four. However, Germany still looked the more dangerous side, and made it 2-0 in the 61st minute. Naki and Gebhart combined to give Sukuta-Pasu an opening on the edge of the area, and the striker's low shot found the bottom corner of the net. Sukuta-Pasu was then denied by Fiorillo, Latza somehow failing to turn in the rebound, before Gentili was dismissed, although Italy temporarily revived their hopes as Raggio struck with 12 minutes left. Two minutes later, however, Naki's free-kick was headed in by the outstanding Gebhart and Germany's celebrations could start in earnest.