Germany

(0) 0-2 (1)

England

 

 

Walcott 84, 90

England win 3-0 on aggregate

UEFA European U21 Championship Play-Off second leg
Tuesday 10 October 2006
BayerArena, Bayer 04 Leverkusen 

Peter Taylor heaped praise in his team after they battled in Leverkusen on Tuesday night to a 2-0 win and qualify for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the first time since 2002.

England’s Under-21s fell at the play-off hurdle last year, when France came away with a 3-2 aggregate score line. But after a fine display in the first-leg to gain a 1-0 advantage, the Young Lions had something to protect in Germany.

But after a penalty miss from Germany in the first-half and some sterling defending from England, the home side were kept at bay for long enough to allow substitute Theo Walcott to steal the show with a late brace.

“I'm very proud because of the way they kept fighting all night,” said Taylor.

“We had a really good move in the first half, where their player [Brzenska] was sent off for a foul on Nugent, but apart from that we didn't pass the ball around well.

“But,” he added, “I thought after they missed the penalty that it might be our night.”

Before the game Taylor had wanted his side to go out in search of more goals, but with Germany, and their noisy crowd of over 20,000, wanting to see a response from the defeat in Coventry, England were restricted to very few opportunities.

“This is a difficult place, and they've got some good players as well,” added Taylor.

“Germany are a very good team so we had to work very hard to protect our lead. We had to defend as a team and I think we'd done that.

“Some of their play in the first half was better than us but I felt we worked incredibly hard.

“I'm very proud of them because of the way they played for two matches, the way they've prepared for the last week has been an absolute credit to them.”

With time ticking away in the match, Germany began to push men forward, and with both sides down to ten men, gaps began to appear in the German defence.

On came Walcott with 14 minutes left and his pace caused a number of problems and created two decent chances for Ashley Young and Nigel Reo-Coker before the Arsenal forward put England ahead with six minutes left, bursting through onto a Leighton Baines ball.

He added a second in stoppage time, collecting a Milner pass before outstripping the last defender and stroking confidently past Michael Rensing to seal the win.

"I think we knew he had fresh legs, we knew he could go and score," added Taylor.

"Those were two absolutely fantastic goals. I'm absolutely delighted for him and delighted for the team."

“I think they have done it in style so I'm very proud.''