Day one of The UEFA European Under 19 Championship’s got under way this afternoon, with Kieran Gibbs’s England taking on the hosts Czech Republic, and Fran Merida’s Spain up against the much fancied Germans.
Kieran Gibbs started the game, and played the complete 90 minutes as England slipped to a 2-0 defeat, with two strikes from Tomas Necid. Gibbs was by far the best player on the pitch for The Lions, but failed to prevent an opening day defeat.
Fran Mérida was forced to pull out of the squad to face Germany with a thigh injury, and Spain struggled in his absence in a hugely exciting fixture. Sukuta-Pasu handed the Germans a 6 minute lead, before Toprak headed them 2-0 up. However, a late Spanish surge set up an unlikely come back.
Jordi Alba slotted home with 25 minutes left, but although they fought hard, it proved not to be enough.
Scroll down for full reports on both fixtures.
England 0-2 Czech Republic
Kieran Gibbs started in central midfield for England, and was granted the freedom to get forward on every occasion. The Lions made a slow start against the hosts, who played in a physical and energetic style thoughout.
Long balls to Daniel Struridge were frequently snuffed out by the powerful Czechs, who looked to reward the excellent home support with an early goal.
Gibbs then challenged for Bertrand’s throw, but was shoulder charged to the floor, with the ball running back to the goalkeeper. The shaky Lions back four were press back into their own half, and forced to keep the ball amongst the defenders, before once more hitting it long to the pacy Sears or Sturridge.
After losing the ball in midfield, Czech Republic won a corner. The perfect delivery saw Necid break off his marker, and only a stunning reaction save from Button prevented the opening goal. The second corner would see another mad scramble, but a foul on the keeper ended the chaos.
From another hopeful long ball, Daniel Sturridge nearly worked the opening. After twisting and turning past his marker, he left fly a powerful left footed strike, which the goalkeeper parried, before diving on the re-bound.
Gibbs would then show his abilities, after taking control in the centre of the park, he twisted before delicately lobbing the ball into the path of Sears, who was subsequently fouled. Kieran would then show more of his magic, after rolling two players, he slotted the ball to Sears once more, he slipped it through to Sturridge who was unfortunately offside.
As half time approached England found their way into the game, and Gibbs’s composure was certainly helping. As Reinberk faltered in possession, Kieran nicked the ball away for Sinclair, who also stumbled and lost out. But then England would work their best opening of the game so far.
Gibbs collected Jack Cork’s free kick, before releasing the run of Bertrand in on goal, his tame effort was slotted right at the keeper. The re-bound found Kieran, who lashed his foot at it, and saw it deflect to safety. Whatever confidence this had given the Lions, it was nearly erased as Necid broke clear and slotted wide from a tight angle. Brain Eastwick knew his boys were living dangerously.
Half Time – England 0-0 Czech Republic
England began the second half in a much more offensive nature, looking to use the pace of Sears, Sinclair, Gibbs, and Sturridge to work the opener.
In goal Daniel Button’s kicking was shocking, and the Lions were clearly feeling frustrated with the poor service from the back. However, things would go from bad to worse for the Tottenham keeper, as he came rushing out of his area to head the ball. He missed, and Tomas Necid nicked it to slot into an empty net. A truly shocking display from the England number 1.
Eastwick then pushed Gibbs up more, and urged him to shirk his defensive responsibilities to try and get them back into the game. Before he could even settle in, they found themselves 2-0 down. A simple floated corner was left by everybody in red, for Necid to thump home his second. Two goals in five minutes ended the game.
With an hour on the clock Scott Sinclair was replaced, but the game seemed already beyond England. A simple passing move un-hinged them at the back, and only a poor final ball stopped Necid from completing his hat-trick.
If most of his team mates were resigned to defeat, Gibbs was certainly not. He took control on the left wing, before dancing inside, and turning sharply past his man,. He then saw his curling cross flicked behind for a corner.
After a spell of Czech possession, England would win a free-kick in a perfect area. Danny Rose was shoulder charged down after racing clear, and despite the best protests on Gibbs, only a yellow was given. Sturridge whipped his effort beautifully around the wall, but the Czech stopper diver low to claw it out.
England were being jeered and whistled at the fans, and the reception clearly unsettled the players. But they were willing to fight. Jack Cork found Sturridge, who slipped Sears in, his low drive was scuffed behind.
The Lions finished with a late flurry of chances, and were helped with Brunclík’s red card for kicking the ball away. Fleet footed Gibbs showed some superb control in the dying minutes, but it prove to not be enough.
Full Time – England 0-2 Czech Republic
Spain 1-2 Germany
Fran Mérida pulled out of the squad to face Germany this morning, after sustaining a reported thigh injury during training. The extent of the problem is not know, but it is thought he pulled out as a precaution.
Spain were made to battle on in his absence, with Arsenal target Daniel Paerjo taking Fran’s place in midfield. It seemed being without one of their most creative influences affected them, as Sakuta-Pasu raced clear to slot beyond the Spainish keeper on just 6 minutes.
Spain are the most successful side ever in youth football, and although this current crop of boys is one of the strongest in the competition, they still struggled against the athletic Germans. Paejeo was impressive in the centre of the park, but lacked the intelligent final ball and passing range that Mérida gives them.
Half Time – Spain 0-1 Germany
Germany started the second period in the same form as the first, with more ruthless attacks on the Spanish goal. Sakuta-Pasu once more race clear, but his heavy touch took the ball wide.
Spain began to settle shortly after, with Nuse threatening a goal with several chances. His prowess in the air was causing the less mobile Germans frequent problems, but the service was not delivered quick enough. As time ticked away Bolano replaced Aquino up front, who announced his arrival with a 45 yard long-range effort, which the keeper caught with ease.
With 55 minutes on the clock the game was effectively over. Gebhart’s deep corner saw the keeper come racing out, only for Toprak to rise above him and flick the ball into the empty net. The two favourites were both heading for 2-0 opening game defeats.
But Spain would hit back, a flowing passing move from right to left saw Jordi Alba in on goal to slot beyond the keeper for 2-1. A nervous final few minutes were in prospect, and with the Germans starting to tire, the Spanish sensed an unlikely win.
Despite a strong finish it proved not to be enough, and German took the points.
Full Time – Spain 1-2 Germany
Article By – J.Sanderson
thats sad that fran is out and since england wll go out so no point watching it really
J do you know if that guy from pallermo amauri has joined another club yet as we were linked with him but since then nothing and i think he’s a good player and would help us win silverware next season if we signe him
Gibbs was by far the most impressive england player tonight and at times showed some real class.
p.s GoonerGuy, Amauri has joined Juventus
England played bad…The German player Gebhart who set up both goals looks like a good player. Anyone know more about him?
Gibbs was good was a game changer most players in the england team were not live enough,
GOOD PLAYERS TONITE- sturridge, rose, gibbs,
POOR PLAYERS TONITE- Bertrand, Sinclair,Button(second half)
Amaury has been signed by The Old Lady Juventus
dam Juventus:)
J do you think there is any chance that nuri nsahin from dortmund will join as he is a long time target
sahin* soz
The England players seemed to lack chemistry and perhaps passing accuracy as well. It seemed like many players weren’t expecting the pass or getting it where they didn’t want it. The end result was a lot of poor touches and lost possessions.
Gibbs was definitly the best player for England as he was one of the few who attempted to play football rather than long ball. I also wonder if England are badly missing Lansbury? Either way you think you would expect more from the players who made it to the finals of the under 17’s. Obviously its only one game, but I think it would be hard to take anything positive out of that perforance.
I wonder if Eastwick is a bit of a long ball merchant. His England looked short of ideas and were guilty of hitting a lot of hopeful passes. I hope thats not the sum of his tactics because this side didn’t look like they were a very good long ball side. I guess we will find out next game, but this perfromance was not at all a credit to Eastwick.
Just a suggestion:
Final Verdict on Gibbs?
Maybe the press got the wrong Amaury.. or forgot to put the Bischoff on the end ;)
Maybe i will do that Rashid.. cheers for the suggestion.
Hi, i heard Mérida was suspended for the match, how do you know about the injury??
Cheers.
Sounds like Spain really missed Fran – like England they were lacking that little bit of creativity in the midfield.
did Bojan Krkic play?
matthew789, he rejected the chance to go with Spain to the euros for some reason
All sounds good regarding Gibbs but other than Arsenal prospects, you make the future England team sound awful. J, an honest opinion (obviously garnered from more than today) on the state of thing to come in the future?
It became really annoying reading ‘Lions’ all the time. Sorry, it’s a great article other than that but please switch that up for the next couple games. :D
I thought Gibbs was an out-and-out left sider, any comment on why he was in the middle and whether the sudden list (Pedro, Nasri, Traore, Vela) ahead of him has anything to do with it?
Shame about Merida.
Bojan has played with the U-21 team and been selected for the full team without playing (just like our Aaron Ramsey). Does anybody know what formation Spain plays? Do they play with both Merida and Camacho in central midfield? I thought they were kind of similar players.
Got to agree about ‘Lions’!!! What’s that all about. Arsenal is a our club !!! Most of us probably don’t support England(Cymru am byth). Arsenal is universal – more than a country – do not be parochial. We want to know about Gibbs because he is an Arsenal player . I am EQUALLY interested in Merida.
Three Lions.. its England’s nickname… i was covering England.. I dont see what the problem is. I cover other teams, and i write nicknames too.
Gibbs has always been a central player, but he often is pushed wide. He has admitted before he prefers being a winger
Don’t see a problem with the Lions thing…Nice to see Gibbs performing well, do you think he has a future at Arsenal though JS? We’re pretty stocked with young talent at the positions Gibbs could play in, especially with the signings of Ramsey and Nasri
Gibbs is going to Norwich for next season mate, along with Englands left back today Bertrand.
So we will have to see how he does before we judge him.
in theory the majority of us arsenal fans should be english so don’t fault JS if he’s patriotic
a factor to good journalism is not to repeat yourself, so using as many different ways to refer to a team as possible is key
is fran out for the rest of the championship
JS told me he’s likely to be fit for the game on Wednesday, so I guess not.
Keep it up J.
Whats the go with Bischoff?
“Gibbs has always been a central player, but he often is pushed wide. He has admitted before he prefers being a winger”
He looks much better on the wing – it seems to suit his skills and Arsenal need wide players more than centre-mids
in theory the majority of us arsenal fans should be english so don’t fault JS if he’s patriotic
a factor to good journalism is not to repeat yourself, so using as many different ways to refer to a team as possible is key
Chris said this on July 14, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Yes, but using the alternative constantly is exactly the same. But it also just doesn’t feel right; England’s nickname may be the the three lions but they are rarely recognised as such and to write a whole article calling them it just feels odd.
This problem has nothing to do with who you support, it’s just an awkward word being repeated in my eyes.
The rest is a great article J, don’t get me wrong, but a little constructive criticism never hurt. Just read it back and notice how strange it is reading ‘Lions’ every time…
Agree on the lions thing. Does sound silly.
Blimey, wish I (amongst others) had n’t said anything about JS now. He might pick up his ball and go home!!! Then where would we be. Generally very good stuff here . We can’t all agree about everything. Other sites in similar vein no where near as good.
I just read that Real Sociedad are hoping to sign Merida for the whole season with Botelho (in Sky Sports report on Campo possibly signing for them). Do you know if there’s any substance to the story? Be sad to lose him for a whole year when others reckon he could break into the first team this season.