England Under 21's team beat Germany Under 21's 2-0 in this play-off, second leg game to book a place in Euro 2007. Germany were thrashed 3-0 on aggregate after they also lost 1-0 in the first leg. That means they won't be playing in Euro 2007 in the summer. It's always good when England beat the Germans.
The Germans have also got themselves into a bit of hot water. Some of their players (not their fans), their PLAYERS, have been accusing of racially abusing some of England's black players.
This comes at a time when England and Scotland's senior times also suffered racial abuse on the European continent. Croatian fans made monkey noises every time a black England player touched the ball and lost that game 2-0 and several Scottish players also made complaints about the behaviour of some Ukrainian fans.
******************************
ENGLAND UNDER-21s
Theo Walcott clinically scores his second to send England through and Germany out
Theo books finals spot
By Jamie Bradbury in Leverkusen.
GERMANY UNDER 21'S 0-2 ENGLAND UNDER 21'S
ENGLAND WIN 3-0 ON AGGREGATE
UEFA European U21 Championship Play-Off second leg
Tuesday 10 October 2006
BayerArena, Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Theo Walcott became England's super-sub hero with two late goals to book a place in the European Championship next summer.
The Arsenal striker burst from the bench and fired England on their way with two fine efforts at the end of a nervy match.
First Walcott latched onto a Leighton Baines ball to slot low into the net, before picking up a pass from James Milner and racing clear to bend one inside Michael Rensing's far post.
But the 3-0 aggregate does not tell the full tale.
Germany started the brightest, keen to level matters early, with Aaron Hunt pulling the strings and Stefan Kiessling, on his club ground, leading the line well.
England were sitting a little deep, trying to protect the advantage earned in Coventry and looked a little nervous in possession.
But for their calmer approach and domination of the ball, Germany failed to make a telling breakthrough, once again, like in the first-leg, being kept to shots from outside the box.
However, England did create the best two chances of the first half. On four minutes Gabriel Agbonlahor, in his first start, outmuscled Eugen Polanski on the edge of the box, but his shot was blocked by the legs of Rensing as the referee blew for a foul by the Villa man.
Then with less than 15 minutes on the clock, Nigel Reo-Coker threaded a lovely ball through to David Nugent. His strength took him goal side of Markus Brzenska who persistently tugged at Nugent's shirt.
In the end it was too much and Nugent could stay up no longer. Jaroslav Jara immediately brandished a red card and the Borussia Dortmund player was off and Germany were down to ten men.
Things started to heat up and three quick England bookings sandwiched a Gonzalo Castro penalty midway through the half. But, after Steven Taylor was adjudged to have fouled Mario Gomez inside the box, Castro, another Leverkusen player, fired wide of Scott Carson's right post from the spot.
Carson's only other fright came in the final minute of the half when Hunt delivered an inviting cross from the left which was met by Gomez, but his header towards to bottom of the net was easily dealt with.
Agbonlahor gave the second half a little bit of early pace taking on the left-back Ochs on two occasions, but both times his cross failed to reach an England shirt.
More controversy was just around the corner, however, when an England attack broke down and Hunt raced away down the left in the 59th minute. Across came Taylor, who had already collected a caution for his first half foul in the box, and brought Hunt to ground. His early booking may have been harsh, but this was not, and with it came red.
This lifted Germany and their roaring hoards of fans crammed into the BayArena and Gomez looked like he wanted to be their hero.
Twice he came close. His drive from the left was stopped by Carson and a header from Hunt's corner flashed wide.
Peter Taylor needed to change things with Germany piling on the pressure.
And he did. On came Walcott for Agbonlahor with 14 minutes left, and his pace began to exploit the gaps appearing at the back.
So much so that England could have scored four goals inside the final ten minutes.
Baines drove forward for his first run of the match and set Young up one on one, but he could only find the side-netting.
Walcott then found acres on the right, but his first touch was loose and his cross too high, making it difficult for Reo-Coker to control before being smothered by Rensing.
But then it came, Walcott raced clear and applied two clinical finishes in the last five minutes to beat Rensing and put England into the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Finals.
TheFA.com Man of the Match: Nigel Reo-Coker
England
1 Scott Carson,
2 Micah Richards,
3 Leighton Baines,
4 Steven Taylor,
5 Anton Ferdinand,
6 Tom Huddlestone,
7 Nigel Reo-Coker (c),
8 James Milner,
9 Gabriel Agbonlahor (17 Theo Walcott, 76 mins),
10 David Nugent (12 Justin Hoyte, 66 mins),
11 Ashley Young (18 Cameron Jerome, 90 mins).
Subs: 13 Ben Alnwick, 14 Matthew Kilgallon, 15 Ben Watson, 16 Wayne Routledge.
Coach Peter Taylor
Germany
1 Michael Rensing,
2 Dominik Reinhardt,
3 Patrick Ochs (14 Sebastien Freis, 84 mins),
4 Markus Brzenska,
5 Roberto Hilbert (13 Sascha Dum, 69 mins),
6 Gonzalo Castro,
7 Kevin-Prince Boateng,
8 Eugen Polanski,
9 Stefan Kiessling,
10 Aaron Hunt,
11 Mario Gomez
Subs: 12 Phillipp Tschauner, 15 Marc Andre Kruska, 16 Andreas Ottl, 17 Fabian Schonheim 18 Serdar Tasci.
Coach Dieter Eilts
thefa.com
**************************************************************************
Germans racially abused England's black player
Ferdinand recalls 'monkey' taunts
Anton Ferdinand described the hostility at the BayArena during England Under-21s' clash against Germany as "on another level".
England Under 21's Anton Ferdinand tells how German PLAYERS called him and Micah Richards "monkeys". The Germans could now face a ban. In England, racism has been wiped out of football, but not so on the Continent. Even a black GERMAN player - Gerald Asamoah - who plays for the country's senior team, has been subjected to racial abuse by his fellow Germans.
The hosts are now facing the possibility of a ban if they are found guilty of racial abuse.
Ferdinand and Micah Richards alleged they were called "monkeys" by Germany players during the second half in Leverkusen, with UEFA waiting for a report from their match delegate before deciding whether a punishment is necessary.
The German Football Association have confirmed they will investigate the allegations.
Anti-racism campaigners have called for the Germans to be banned from a future tournament if they are found guilty, but a lesser punishment of a points deduction or a fine could also be handed out.
The accusations overshadowed England's 2-0 win in the second leg of their qualification play-off, with Theo Walcott scoring both goals to wrap up a 3-0 aggregate win and send Peter Taylor's youngsters through to the finals in Holland next year.
Of the hostility at the BayArena, West Ham centre-back Ferdinand said: "It was another level. There's history between the nations so for us to come into their country and win shows the courage that we've got in our team.
"You've got to make sure you stay professional and use your head and I thought the players did that."
Ferdinand did not want to discuss the incident in the second half when he was allegedly abused, although he confirmed he reported what happened to the Football Association, who in turn told the UEFA match delegate.
The German Football Association (DFB) press officer Harald Stenger said: "We take the claims as seriously as we would any such incident and are checking what truth there is in them."
On the DFB's website, it is reported that Germany Under-21 captain Stefan Kiessling denied hearing any racial comments on the field.
He told the DFB delegate Wolfgang Holzhauser he never noticed anything of a racial nature taking place during a fiercely competitive game which was marked by two red cards.
Meanwhile, all of the Germany squad were being called personally by coach Dieter Eilts and were asked if they knew of any racial behaviour.
Piara Powar, director of the Kick It Out campaign, wants Germany Under-21s to be banned from a future tournament if the delegate's report, which is due to arrive at UEFA by the end of the week, finds them guilty of racial abuse.
Powar said: "What we have to do is press for the hardest measures and see how UEFA take that, we can't call for anything less and that is why we would ask for a ban.
"If young players are doing this in games then what chance have we got to get a positive message across? The restraint from England players has to be rewarded by the authorities taking the appropriate measures.
"Germany hosted the World Cup in the summer and they brought the world to their doorstep, so having young players abused when playing in the country would be unacceptable."
Even early on in the clash, England players appeared to be affected by the reception they received, and captain Nigel Reo-Coker was pleased with their response.
Reo-Coker said: "Even myself, I struggled to keep my cool sometimes. I'm very proud of my players to keep their heads.
"It was a very intense game. We managed to be professional, there were a lot of verbals exchanged but at the end of the day we came to do a job and got the win."
After the alleged abuse, Germany's Football Association (DFB) and Football League (DFL) revealed they have launched an anti-racism campaign in light of several incidents in recent matches in the country.
In a domestic cup game last month, Schalke and Germany striker Gerald Asamoah was the victim of racial taunting from Hansa Rostock fans, while Alemannia Aachen's Bundesliga clash with Borussia Monchengladbach was overshadowed by the behaviour of several sections of the crowd.
The apparent return of racism to the terraces has shocked the DFL, who have reacted with a 'show racism the red card' campaign.
"We want to send out a sign that the Bundesliga stands for international fairness, openness to the world and tolerance," explained DFL president Werner Hackmann.
At Bundesliga games on the weekend of October 21/22, fans at all grounds will be given a large red card to display prior to kick-off as part of a Europe-wide campaign to banish racism from football.
The campaign is being supported by the Football Against Racism network, as well as UEFA.
Hackmann added: "Racism and discrimination has no place here."
www.teamtalk.com
The Germans have also got themselves into a bit of hot water. Some of their players (not their fans), their PLAYERS, have been accusing of racially abusing some of England's black players.
This comes at a time when England and Scotland's senior times also suffered racial abuse on the European continent. Croatian fans made monkey noises every time a black England player touched the ball and lost that game 2-0 and several Scottish players also made complaints about the behaviour of some Ukrainian fans.
******************************
ENGLAND UNDER-21s
Theo Walcott clinically scores his second to send England through and Germany out
Theo books finals spot
By Jamie Bradbury in Leverkusen.
GERMANY UNDER 21'S 0-2 ENGLAND UNDER 21'S
(Walcott 84, 90)
ENGLAND WIN 3-0 ON AGGREGATE
UEFA European U21 Championship Play-Off second leg
Tuesday 10 October 2006
BayerArena, Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Theo Walcott became England's super-sub hero with two late goals to book a place in the European Championship next summer.
The Arsenal striker burst from the bench and fired England on their way with two fine efforts at the end of a nervy match.
First Walcott latched onto a Leighton Baines ball to slot low into the net, before picking up a pass from James Milner and racing clear to bend one inside Michael Rensing's far post.
Germany started the brightest, keen to level matters early, with Aaron Hunt pulling the strings and Stefan Kiessling, on his club ground, leading the line well.
England were sitting a little deep, trying to protect the advantage earned in Coventry and looked a little nervous in possession.
But for their calmer approach and domination of the ball, Germany failed to make a telling breakthrough, once again, like in the first-leg, being kept to shots from outside the box.
However, England did create the best two chances of the first half. On four minutes Gabriel Agbonlahor, in his first start, outmuscled Eugen Polanski on the edge of the box, but his shot was blocked by the legs of Rensing as the referee blew for a foul by the Villa man.
In the end it was too much and Nugent could stay up no longer. Jaroslav Jara immediately brandished a red card and the Borussia Dortmund player was off and Germany were down to ten men.
Things started to heat up and three quick England bookings sandwiched a Gonzalo Castro penalty midway through the half. But, after Steven Taylor was adjudged to have fouled Mario Gomez inside the box, Castro, another Leverkusen player, fired wide of Scott Carson's right post from the spot.
Carson's only other fright came in the final minute of the half when Hunt delivered an inviting cross from the left which was met by Gomez, but his header towards to bottom of the net was easily dealt with.
More controversy was just around the corner, however, when an England attack broke down and Hunt raced away down the left in the 59th minute. Across came Taylor, who had already collected a caution for his first half foul in the box, and brought Hunt to ground. His early booking may have been harsh, but this was not, and with it came red.
This lifted Germany and their roaring hoards of fans crammed into the BayArena and Gomez looked like he wanted to be their hero.
Peter Taylor needed to change things with Germany piling on the pressure.
And he did. On came Walcott for Agbonlahor with 14 minutes left, and his pace began to exploit the gaps appearing at the back.
So much so that England could have scored four goals inside the final ten minutes.
Baines drove forward for his first run of the match and set Young up one on one, but he could only find the side-netting.
But then it came, Walcott raced clear and applied two clinical finishes in the last five minutes to beat Rensing and put England into the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Finals.
TheFA.com Man of the Match: Nigel Reo-Coker
England
1 Scott Carson,
2 Micah Richards,
3 Leighton Baines,
4 Steven Taylor,
5 Anton Ferdinand,
6 Tom Huddlestone,
7 Nigel Reo-Coker (c),
8 James Milner,
9 Gabriel Agbonlahor (17 Theo Walcott, 76 mins),
10 David Nugent (12 Justin Hoyte, 66 mins),
11 Ashley Young (18 Cameron Jerome, 90 mins).
Subs: 13 Ben Alnwick, 14 Matthew Kilgallon, 15 Ben Watson, 16 Wayne Routledge.
Coach Peter Taylor
Germany
1 Michael Rensing,
2 Dominik Reinhardt,
3 Patrick Ochs (14 Sebastien Freis, 84 mins),
4 Markus Brzenska,
5 Roberto Hilbert (13 Sascha Dum, 69 mins),
6 Gonzalo Castro,
7 Kevin-Prince Boateng,
8 Eugen Polanski,
9 Stefan Kiessling,
10 Aaron Hunt,
11 Mario Gomez
Subs: 12 Phillipp Tschauner, 15 Marc Andre Kruska, 16 Andreas Ottl, 17 Fabian Schonheim 18 Serdar Tasci.
Coach Dieter Eilts
thefa.com
**************************************************************************
Germans racially abused England's black player
Ferdinand recalls 'monkey' taunts
Anton Ferdinand described the hostility at the BayArena during England Under-21s' clash against Germany as "on another level".
England Under 21's Anton Ferdinand tells how German PLAYERS called him and Micah Richards "monkeys". The Germans could now face a ban. In England, racism has been wiped out of football, but not so on the Continent. Even a black GERMAN player - Gerald Asamoah - who plays for the country's senior team, has been subjected to racial abuse by his fellow Germans.
The hosts are now facing the possibility of a ban if they are found guilty of racial abuse.
Ferdinand and Micah Richards alleged they were called "monkeys" by Germany players during the second half in Leverkusen, with UEFA waiting for a report from their match delegate before deciding whether a punishment is necessary.
The German Football Association have confirmed they will investigate the allegations.
Anti-racism campaigners have called for the Germans to be banned from a future tournament if they are found guilty, but a lesser punishment of a points deduction or a fine could also be handed out.
The accusations overshadowed England's 2-0 win in the second leg of their qualification play-off, with Theo Walcott scoring both goals to wrap up a 3-0 aggregate win and send Peter Taylor's youngsters through to the finals in Holland next year.
Of the hostility at the BayArena, West Ham centre-back Ferdinand said: "It was another level. There's history between the nations so for us to come into their country and win shows the courage that we've got in our team.
"You've got to make sure you stay professional and use your head and I thought the players did that."
Ferdinand did not want to discuss the incident in the second half when he was allegedly abused, although he confirmed he reported what happened to the Football Association, who in turn told the UEFA match delegate.
The German Football Association (DFB) press officer Harald Stenger said: "We take the claims as seriously as we would any such incident and are checking what truth there is in them."
On the DFB's website, it is reported that Germany Under-21 captain Stefan Kiessling denied hearing any racial comments on the field.
He told the DFB delegate Wolfgang Holzhauser he never noticed anything of a racial nature taking place during a fiercely competitive game which was marked by two red cards.
Meanwhile, all of the Germany squad were being called personally by coach Dieter Eilts and were asked if they knew of any racial behaviour.
Piara Powar, director of the Kick It Out campaign, wants Germany Under-21s to be banned from a future tournament if the delegate's report, which is due to arrive at UEFA by the end of the week, finds them guilty of racial abuse.
Powar said: "What we have to do is press for the hardest measures and see how UEFA take that, we can't call for anything less and that is why we would ask for a ban.
"If young players are doing this in games then what chance have we got to get a positive message across? The restraint from England players has to be rewarded by the authorities taking the appropriate measures.
"Germany hosted the World Cup in the summer and they brought the world to their doorstep, so having young players abused when playing in the country would be unacceptable."
Even early on in the clash, England players appeared to be affected by the reception they received, and captain Nigel Reo-Coker was pleased with their response.
Reo-Coker said: "Even myself, I struggled to keep my cool sometimes. I'm very proud of my players to keep their heads.
"It was a very intense game. We managed to be professional, there were a lot of verbals exchanged but at the end of the day we came to do a job and got the win."
After the alleged abuse, Germany's Football Association (DFB) and Football League (DFL) revealed they have launched an anti-racism campaign in light of several incidents in recent matches in the country.
In a domestic cup game last month, Schalke and Germany striker Gerald Asamoah was the victim of racial taunting from Hansa Rostock fans, while Alemannia Aachen's Bundesliga clash with Borussia Monchengladbach was overshadowed by the behaviour of several sections of the crowd.
The apparent return of racism to the terraces has shocked the DFL, who have reacted with a 'show racism the red card' campaign.
"We want to send out a sign that the Bundesliga stands for international fairness, openness to the world and tolerance," explained DFL president Werner Hackmann.
At Bundesliga games on the weekend of October 21/22, fans at all grounds will be given a large red card to display prior to kick-off as part of a Europe-wide campaign to banish racism from football.
The campaign is being supported by the Football Against Racism network, as well as UEFA.
Hackmann added: "Racism and discrimination has no place here."
www.teamtalk.com
Last edited: