Spain and Germany got their UEFA U-21 Euro campaigns off to a flying start, beating competition hosts Slovenia and Hungary, respectively. Both teams registered a 3-0 win in their opening match and took the lead in their own groups.
Hosts Slovenia have been drawn against Spain, Italy, and Czech Republic in Group B. They played Spain in the opening match of the competition, and despite holding strong in the first half, they lost 3-0.
Spain took the lead in the 53rd minute, courtesy of a stunning strike by Javi Puado. The Espanyol attacker scored from just outside the box after being set up by the Machester City forward Brahim Diaz.
They did not have to wait long to double their lead, as Spain went 2-0 up with their very next attack. Captain Marc Cucurella was set free on the left side of the pitch with acres of space to run into. He then sent a low cross across the box towards a late-arriving Gonzalo Villar. The Roma man opened up his body and scored with a perfect first-time shot into the top corner.
La Masia graduate Juan Miranda scored his side’s third goal on the night, taking a pass from Manu Garcia before poking the ball past the goalkeeper Igor Vekic.
In the other Group B match, Italy took on the Czech Republic. The Italians took the lead through Gianluca Scamacca, who flawlessly timed his run to latch onto a Patrick Cutrone pass before rounding the goalkeeper and tapping the ball into an empty net.
Czechs hit back and were rewarded for their persistence when Giulio Maggiore put the ball past his own goalkeeper. There was to be late drama in this one, as Italy’s Sandro Tonali received a straight red card in the 84th minute.
The Azzurri then went down to nine men when Riccardo Marchizza received his marching orders from the referee. Italy, however, clung on with nine men and shared the points with their opponents in the end.
In Group A of the tournament, hosts Hungary were thrashed 3-0 by Germany U-21, thanks to Wolfsburg’s Ridle Baku’s man-of-the-match performance.
Baku provided the assist for Lukas Nmecha’s opening goal in the 61st minute, dropping a pin-point cross into the box for the forward to head in. Later on, he scored his side’s second goal, latching on to a David Raum delivery inside the penalty area after Hungary had failed to clear a set-piece.
Germany went looking for the third goal and found it through Baku, who was the first to the ball after Mergim Berisha hit the crossbar with his shot. Germany face Netherlands in their next Group A encounter.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, could only muster a draw against Romania. Perr Schuurs gave the Oranje the lead in the 16th minute only for Andrei Ciobanu to equalize four minutes later, with the score remaining at 1-1 until the end of the match.
Groups C and D of the tournament will be in action today, March 25. England, Portugal, Croatia, Denmark, Russia, Iceland, Switzerland, and France are all in action on day two.
