Germany out to break English spell

Germany may boast the upper hand over fierce rivals England at senior level, but their Under-21 counterparts could be forgiven a sense of foreboding ahead of Monday's final against Stuart Pearce's troops.

Showpiece encounter
The English have prevailed four times in their nine meetings, losing just once, and Horst Hrubesch's side will be anxious to buck that trend as they target a first UEFA European Under-21 Championship triumph in Malmo. Even Germany's sole victory ultimately served little use, coming as it did in the second leg of the 1982 final. Three weeks previously, Dave Sexton's team had engineered a 3-1 triumph at Bramall Lane that would prove enough to give the English their first win in the competition.

Littbarski hat-trick
Gary Owen struck twice in that match and Justin Fashanu also registered, with Rudi Völler firing in late on to keep German hopes alive. A Pierre Littbarski hat-trick in the return encounter did likewise, but goals from Mike Duxbury and Paul Goddard ensured that England left Bremen with the trophy. Völler and Littbarski would go on to have the last laugh, however, Völler starting and Littbarski a spectator from the bench as the senior team defeated Bobby Robson's England side on penalties in the 1990 FIFA World Cup semi-finals – a game Pearce would no doubt prefer to forget following his shoot-out miss.

Walcott impact
Apart from their 1-1 Group B draw last Monday, the six other matches between the two teams have all come in qualifying and the last two decided who would progress to the 2007 U21 finals in the Netherlands. Drawn together in the play-offs, the two rivals first locked horns in Coventry on 6 June 2006, when a Leighton Baines effort as the home side built a slender 1-0 advantage. That set up a tense encounter in Leverkusen four days later and England had goalkeeper Scott Carson to thank for keeping out a penalty from Gonzalo Castro after 22 minutes, before a 17-year-old Theo Walcott came off the bench to hit two splendid late goals.

Fond memories
Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner and Micah Richards will all have fond memories of those games as they featured in both legs, while Castro is the sole survivor in the current Germany squad, although Jerome Boateng's brother Kevin-Prince also featured. Several years previously, England also wrapped up first place at Germany's expense in their qualifying group for the 2002 edition, Francis Jeffers finding the back of the net in added time to give the visitors a dramatic 2-1 win in Freiburg after the two sides had drawn 1-1 in Derby earlier in the campaign. They were then reunited in qualifying for the 2006 finals, and followed up a 2-2 stalemate in Hull with a 1-1 draw in Mainz.