Portugal thrash Germany

27 June 2015 18:47

Luis Figo and Rui Costa may have stumbled in the Under-21 European Championship final 21 years ago, but it will take a lot to stop Portugal's current crop from triumphing if their mauling of favourites Germany is anything to go by.

What was supposed to be an intriguing semi-final battle between the tournament's brightest lights ended in a one-sided masterclass from Rui Jorge's side at the Ander Stadium.

Boasting a three-goal advantage by half time, Portugal showed little let-up and bounded into their second ever Under-21s final with a 5-0 win as Germany fell to their heaviest ever competitive defeat at this age group.

The current Portuguese crop certainly look well-placed to go one better than the class of 1994 in Tuesday's Prague finale, where Sweden or Denmark nervously await.

Jorge's side had already hit the post by the time Bernardo Silva rifled home the opener in Olomouc, with Ricardo and Ivan Cavaleiro adding gloss to the Group B winners' half-time advantage.

Joao Mario added another seconds after the restart and Ricardo Horta grabbed the fifth as Germany's hopes of a second Under-21s crown in six years went up in smoke, making England's 1-0 defeat to the Portuguese look a whole lot more respectable.

They dominated from the outset, recovering impressively from Tiago Ilori's last-minute withdrawal and hitting the post in the 15th minute.

Man-of-the-match William Carvalho played a fine pass down the right flank, with winger Ricardo cutting back and squaring for captain Sergio Oliveira to hit a low strike which came back off goal frame.

A wayward Johannes Geis free-kick was the best Germany could muster by the time Portugal turned their dominance into a deserved 25th-minute opener.

Unsurprisingly Carvalho was involved, starting a move which resulted in Cavaleiro playing a deflected through ball for Silva to rifle past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The Barcelona goalkeeper was soon picking the ball out of his net again, with Silva's corner from the right glanced on for Ricardo to net from close range.

Germany attempted to rally and Joshua Kimmich produced a stinging shot that Jose Sa parried into the path of Nico Schulz, only for the winger to hammer over.

The Portugal goalkeeper did better when stopping a fierce Amin Younes strike at the end of a first half which would soon get worse for Horst Hrubesch's men.

Ricardo's cross all too easily found Mario at the back post, with the Sporting midfielder's cutback expertly thumped home by Cavaleiro.

The stoppage-time goal was followed up a minute into the second half, with Silva and Ricardo involved before Mario struck home via a deflection.

There was a slightly concerning moment as Silva limped off after 50 minutes, but it did little to change the way this match was going.

Horta wasted a glorious chance for a fifth but made no mistake in the 71st minute, turning Joao Cancelo's cross past Ter Stegen.

Leonardo Bittencourt ensured things would get worse for Hrubesch's side, with the substitute foolishly collecting two bookings within 15 minutes of his introduction - although the damage by that point had been done.

Source: PA