As expected, Germany emerged from the debris and madness of Group A on Tuesday night with qualification in hand for the semi-finals of the U21 European Championships. However, what was not expected was the manner in which they stumbled along the way.
It was a final clash with hosts Czech Republic that would ultimately confirm the advancement of Horst Hrubesch‘s side in the competition, in a match that many assumed Germany would breeze through, yet it was far from pleasant for the tournament favourites.
Germany have unfortunately looked far from impressive for much of this tournament, with a solitary clash with Denmark—who themselves offered little competition on the day—being the only real moment of genuine triumph that we’ve seen from Emre Can and Co. this summer.
Sunday’s 1-1 draw with the determined hosts was a game that initially started off with Germany on top but one in which Hrubesch had decided was going to be a long, dogged affair from the very beginning.
Rather than start with the likes of Leon Bittencourt or Maximilian Arnold—two exceptionally exciting, attacking wingers—on the left, the German coach opted to play full-back Nico Schulz as the left-sided midfielder, in front of left-back Christian Gunter to hopefully tackle the runs made by marauding Czech right-back Pavel Kaderabek.
An astute tactical move on the face of it, perhaps, but such judgement later played out through Hrubesch‘s entire team for the next 90 minutes. Germany didn’t arrive for their final group match with all guns blazing and in desperate need of all three points—they simply showed up to aggravate a desperate Czech side from the first moment and stubble through with a draw.
Ironically enough, it was indeed the fill-in left-winger, Schulz, who stepped up and grabbed the opening goal for Germany in the 55th minute after an opening half that offered little for either side.
Kevin Volland had found himself out on the left flank and drilled a cross in to the Czech box, where it ricochet of a defender and into the path of the oncoming German midfielder, who happily tapped it past Tomas Koubek in goal.
It was a goal that, despite being expected for much of the match, didn’t do much to suggest that Germany were in fact on the ascendancy and ready to grab the game by the horns. As such, it wasn’t long before their opponents picked up an equaliser through Ladislav Krejci just 15 minutes later.
The hosts were once again level with a goal that they certainly deserved.
In truth, this German side could have walked to all nine points over the course of the past week. Denmark, Serbia and indeed hosts Czech Republic all have an interesting array of talent and certainly deserve to be at the competition, yet neither of the three should have came close to Hrubesch’s star-studded squad.
Instead, Germany limped to a second-place finish in this shortest of group stages and will now most likely take on fellow tournament favourites Portugal. Yet unlike the teams that have already drawn blood from this bloated German side, Portugal look as though they may well be the real deal.
Odd tactical moves and under-performing stars may have gotten Germany this far, but come Saturday, whoever the opponent,Hrubesch and his side will have to be on the top of their game if they hope to stay in this competition.