The England Under21s are in the Final of the Under21 2009 European Championships after beating tournament hosts Sweden in a thrilling Semi-Final.
England will play old foes Germany in the Final.
England, managed by former England star Stuart Pearce, have been arguably the best team in the championships, and were absolutely magnificent in the first half of this match, and led 3-0 at half-time.
At that point, England's place in tomorrow's Final looked all but assured, but England weren't prepared for Sweden's three goals in just 13 minutes late in the second half.
England made the perfect start, with Cranie putting them 1-0 up after just one minute.
Nedum Onuoha then doubled England's tally before an own goal by Bjarsmyr gave England one foot in the Final.
But Sweden were the tournament's top scorers, and they came right back into the match courtesy of two goals by Berg and one from Toivonen.
The match went to extra time, but no more goals were scored, leading the match to be decided by the dreaded penalty shootout.
The England senior side are, traditionally, not very good at penalty shootouts, but that's not the case with the youngsters.
In the last U21 European Championships, England U21s were beaten 13-12 in an amazing penalty shootout against Holland in the Semi-Final but, since then, the team has been practising them in nearly every training session.
The penalties went to sudden death, until the point where England were leading 5-4 and a Swedish penalty taker hit the post with a must-score penalty, giving England the victory and causing the England players and fans to go wild. Even England's goalkeeper, Joe Hart, took a penalty and scored.
The England Unders21s have actually won the European Championships twice before, the last time in 1984.
And it will be the Old Enemy, Germany, who will stand in England's way of a third success after they beat Italy 1-0 in the other Semi-Final.
With the exception of the glorious year of 1966, Germany tend to do better in international tournaments than traditionally under-performing England, but in this tournament England and Germany played each other in the Group Stage, and drew 1-1. But England had already qualified for the latter stages by the time they played that match and Germany hadn't, so England, not needing to win, fielded an understrength team against a full-strength German side who needed at least a draw, so England can be confident of success tomorrow when they field a stronger side.
Also in England's group were Spain and Finland. Spain were supposed to prove a huge test for England, but the English were comfortable 2-0 winners.
BBC Sport
Under21s Euro2009,
Semi-Final
England U21 3-3 Sweden U21
Cranie 1...............Berg 68, 81
Onuoha 27............Toivonen 75
Bjarsmyr 38 (og)
After Extra Time. England win 5-4 on penalties.
England to play Germany in the Final on Monday.
England: Hart, Cranie, Richards, Onuoha, Gibbs, Cattermole, Muamba, Noble, Milner, Agbonlahor, Walcott
Subs: Campbell, Rodwell, Johnson
************************************************************
Sweden: Dahlin, Lustig, Bjarsmyr, Rasmus Bengtsson, Johansson, Elm, Landgren, Svensson, Olsson, Berg, Toivonen.
Subs: Harbuzi, Molins, Soder
The England players celebrate their penalty shoot-out win over Sweden which sends them to the Final, and hope to win the tournament for the first time since 1984
England Under-21s set up a European Championship final against Germany with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Sweden despite losing a 3-0 half-time lead.
Martin Cranie's strike, a Nedum Onuoha shot and a Mattias Bjarsmyr own goal put England in control at the break.
A revitalised Sweden forced extra-time after Ola Toivonen's free-kick and two Marcus Berg goals levelled the score.
Off: England's Fraizer Campbell is shown a red card by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir
Frazier Campbell saw red, but England held on to set up a final with Germany, who beat Italy 1-0 in their semi-final.
England had fallen at the semi-final stage of this 31-year-old tournament five times, including a 13-12 penalty defeat to the Netherlands two years ago.
But they were able to put that long-running hoodoo to bed after Guillermo Molin's miss from the penalty spot sealed their win.
Slip: James Milner blasts England's first penalty shot wide
The home side had secured their own passage to the last four only 72 hours earlier, courtesy of a bruising 3-1 victory over Serbia and England caught the hosts napping after just a minute.
James Milner delivered an outswinging corner which fell at the feet of full-back Cranie on the edge of the box and his effort beat Swedish keeper Johan Dahlin and a covering defender to find the net.
Once the game settled, England emerged as the dominant force in it, working hard to retain possession and then looking to utilise the pace of their forward line on the break.
The only sour note of the first 45 minutes was the booking of Gabriel Agbonlahor for using an arm when challenging aerially with Bjarsmyr, ruling him out of the final.
Bjarsmyr was forced to leave the field for treatment and England took almost immediate advantage of their numerical superiority, again from a corner.
On their way: Nedum Onuoha of England celabrates scoring against Sweden with Micah Richards
Milner delivered and inattentive Swedish defending allowed Onuoha to control the ball, and strike a swivelled shot into the corner of the net.
If Bjarsmyr's absence was to blame for the second goal, England's third owed entirely to his presence as, in attempting to clear, his swinging left foot diverted an Onuoha header from Lee Cattermole's right-wing cross into his own net.
Cattermole almost made it four on the stroke of half-time but his fierce strike from a neat Agbonlahor lay-off flew just over.
Comeback: Sweden's Marcus Berg scores past England's goalkeeper Joe Hart
Theo Walcott's pace created a number of openings for himself throughout the second half, but each time his shooting let him down.
England paid the price for such profligacy as Sweden - galvanised by substitutes Labinot Harbuzi, Robin Soder and Molins - gradually chipped away at the deficit.
With 20 minutes remaining, Molins beat Kieran Gibbs down the right and his cross was slotted in by Berg from eight yards out.
Pearce had previously lost three semi-finals as England player and coach (1990 World Cup, Euro96 and Under21s Euro 2007) - but not this time
Seven minutes later Onuoha fouled Toivonen 22 yards out and the Swedish midfielder picked himself up and fired the resulting free-kick past Joe Hart to make it 3-2.
And Sweden - benefitting from England's inability to retain possession - grabbed a deserved equaliser on 81 minutes when Soder flicked the ball back at the far post and Berg was on hand to crash his seventh goal of the tournament into the roof of the net.
England's task in extra-time was made all the harder when substitute Campbell picked up his second booking for a lunging foul on Mikael Lustig.
Predictably, Sweden came closest to winning the game but Berg was denied a hat-trick when his header struck the crossbar and Hart was able to tip a 25-yard shot from Harbuzi over the bar.
The record of England's senior team in penalty shoot-outs is far from impressive, while memories of the heartbreaking defeat for the Under-21s two years ago were also fresh in the mind of England fans as the game went to penalties.
Milner gave England the worst possible start, slipping and horribly miscuing his penalty high and wide.
But the hosts were unable to capitalise though as Berg's penalty was saved by Hart.
The teams then traded four successful penalties each, during which Hart was booked for straying off his line to earn a yellow card that will keep him out of the final, although Pearce has stated he intends to appeal the decision.
Gibbs slotted England's sixth penalty but Molins' effort struck the outside of the post to give England victory.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport
England will play old foes Germany in the Final.
England, managed by former England star Stuart Pearce, have been arguably the best team in the championships, and were absolutely magnificent in the first half of this match, and led 3-0 at half-time.
At that point, England's place in tomorrow's Final looked all but assured, but England weren't prepared for Sweden's three goals in just 13 minutes late in the second half.
England made the perfect start, with Cranie putting them 1-0 up after just one minute.
Nedum Onuoha then doubled England's tally before an own goal by Bjarsmyr gave England one foot in the Final.
But Sweden were the tournament's top scorers, and they came right back into the match courtesy of two goals by Berg and one from Toivonen.
The match went to extra time, but no more goals were scored, leading the match to be decided by the dreaded penalty shootout.
The England senior side are, traditionally, not very good at penalty shootouts, but that's not the case with the youngsters.
In the last U21 European Championships, England U21s were beaten 13-12 in an amazing penalty shootout against Holland in the Semi-Final but, since then, the team has been practising them in nearly every training session.
The penalties went to sudden death, until the point where England were leading 5-4 and a Swedish penalty taker hit the post with a must-score penalty, giving England the victory and causing the England players and fans to go wild. Even England's goalkeeper, Joe Hart, took a penalty and scored.
The England Unders21s have actually won the European Championships twice before, the last time in 1984.
And it will be the Old Enemy, Germany, who will stand in England's way of a third success after they beat Italy 1-0 in the other Semi-Final.
With the exception of the glorious year of 1966, Germany tend to do better in international tournaments than traditionally under-performing England, but in this tournament England and Germany played each other in the Group Stage, and drew 1-1. But England had already qualified for the latter stages by the time they played that match and Germany hadn't, so England, not needing to win, fielded an understrength team against a full-strength German side who needed at least a draw, so England can be confident of success tomorrow when they field a stronger side.
Also in England's group were Spain and Finland. Spain were supposed to prove a huge test for England, but the English were comfortable 2-0 winners.
BBC Sport
Under21s Euro2009,
Semi-Final
England U21 3-3 Sweden U21
Cranie 1...............Berg 68, 81
Onuoha 27............Toivonen 75
Bjarsmyr 38 (og)
After Extra Time. England win 5-4 on penalties.
England to play Germany in the Final on Monday.
England: Hart, Cranie, Richards, Onuoha, Gibbs, Cattermole, Muamba, Noble, Milner, Agbonlahor, Walcott
Subs: Campbell, Rodwell, Johnson
************************************************************
Sweden: Dahlin, Lustig, Bjarsmyr, Rasmus Bengtsson, Johansson, Elm, Landgren, Svensson, Olsson, Berg, Toivonen.
Subs: Harbuzi, Molins, Soder
The England players celebrate their penalty shoot-out win over Sweden which sends them to the Final, and hope to win the tournament for the first time since 1984
England Under-21s set up a European Championship final against Germany with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Sweden despite losing a 3-0 half-time lead.
Martin Cranie's strike, a Nedum Onuoha shot and a Mattias Bjarsmyr own goal put England in control at the break.
A revitalised Sweden forced extra-time after Ola Toivonen's free-kick and two Marcus Berg goals levelled the score.
Off: England's Fraizer Campbell is shown a red card by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir
Frazier Campbell saw red, but England held on to set up a final with Germany, who beat Italy 1-0 in their semi-final.
England had fallen at the semi-final stage of this 31-year-old tournament five times, including a 13-12 penalty defeat to the Netherlands two years ago.
But they were able to put that long-running hoodoo to bed after Guillermo Molin's miss from the penalty spot sealed their win.
Slip: James Milner blasts England's first penalty shot wide
The home side had secured their own passage to the last four only 72 hours earlier, courtesy of a bruising 3-1 victory over Serbia and England caught the hosts napping after just a minute.
James Milner delivered an outswinging corner which fell at the feet of full-back Cranie on the edge of the box and his effort beat Swedish keeper Johan Dahlin and a covering defender to find the net.
Once the game settled, England emerged as the dominant force in it, working hard to retain possession and then looking to utilise the pace of their forward line on the break.
The only sour note of the first 45 minutes was the booking of Gabriel Agbonlahor for using an arm when challenging aerially with Bjarsmyr, ruling him out of the final.
Bjarsmyr was forced to leave the field for treatment and England took almost immediate advantage of their numerical superiority, again from a corner.
On their way: Nedum Onuoha of England celabrates scoring against Sweden with Micah Richards
Milner delivered and inattentive Swedish defending allowed Onuoha to control the ball, and strike a swivelled shot into the corner of the net.
If Bjarsmyr's absence was to blame for the second goal, England's third owed entirely to his presence as, in attempting to clear, his swinging left foot diverted an Onuoha header from Lee Cattermole's right-wing cross into his own net.
Cattermole almost made it four on the stroke of half-time but his fierce strike from a neat Agbonlahor lay-off flew just over.
Comeback: Sweden's Marcus Berg scores past England's goalkeeper Joe Hart
Theo Walcott's pace created a number of openings for himself throughout the second half, but each time his shooting let him down.
England paid the price for such profligacy as Sweden - galvanised by substitutes Labinot Harbuzi, Robin Soder and Molins - gradually chipped away at the deficit.
With 20 minutes remaining, Molins beat Kieran Gibbs down the right and his cross was slotted in by Berg from eight yards out.
Pearce had previously lost three semi-finals as England player and coach (1990 World Cup, Euro96 and Under21s Euro 2007) - but not this time
Seven minutes later Onuoha fouled Toivonen 22 yards out and the Swedish midfielder picked himself up and fired the resulting free-kick past Joe Hart to make it 3-2.
And Sweden - benefitting from England's inability to retain possession - grabbed a deserved equaliser on 81 minutes when Soder flicked the ball back at the far post and Berg was on hand to crash his seventh goal of the tournament into the roof of the net.
England's task in extra-time was made all the harder when substitute Campbell picked up his second booking for a lunging foul on Mikael Lustig.
Predictably, Sweden came closest to winning the game but Berg was denied a hat-trick when his header struck the crossbar and Hart was able to tip a 25-yard shot from Harbuzi over the bar.
The record of England's senior team in penalty shoot-outs is far from impressive, while memories of the heartbreaking defeat for the Under-21s two years ago were also fresh in the mind of England fans as the game went to penalties.
Milner gave England the worst possible start, slipping and horribly miscuing his penalty high and wide.
But the hosts were unable to capitalise though as Berg's penalty was saved by Hart.
The teams then traded four successful penalties each, during which Hart was booked for straying off his line to earn a yellow card that will keep him out of the final, although Pearce has stated he intends to appeal the decision.
Gibbs slotted England's sixth penalty but Molins' effort struck the outside of the post to give England victory.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport
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