| |
 |  |
|
| Under-21s: England make the Final |
Friday 26 June, 2009 |
|
Italy will face England in the European Under-21 Championship Final if they manage to beat Germany later this evening.
The Three Lions roared past Sweden, scoring three goals in the first half.
Martin Cranie put England ahead after just one minute.
James Milner floated in a corner, which found Cranie, who hit it back across goal.
Gabriel Agbonlahor looked to get a flick on the ball, as it went past Johan Dahlin, but the goal was given to Cranie.
England doubled their lead after 23 minutes when Nedum Onuoha swivelled in the box and fired into the net.
Things got worse for Sweden just before half time when Mattias Bjarsmyr put the ball into his own net.
Theo Walcott had found Lee Cattermole in the box, who had a shot, which smashed against Bjarsmyr's shin, leaving Dahlin helpless.
Sweden started to peg England back after the interval in an incredible turnaround.
Marcus Berg scored his sixth goal of the tournament with a neat finish after 68 minutes.
Sweden then really started to frighten England when Ola Toivonen curled a wonderful free kick past Joe Hart.
The comeback was complete when Berg found the net again with 10 minutes to go.
The game then went into extra time.
If the momentum wasn't already going Sweden's way, Frazier Campbell was sent off after 103 minutes.
Despite their best efforts, both sides couldn't find a breakthrough and the game went to penalties.
Milner slipped and missed England's first spot kick.
Berg did no better for Sweden, drilling his effort straight at Hart.
Speak of the devil, Hart stepped up for England's second penalty and put it away with real aplomb.
Elm then levelled the score at 1-1 before Cattermole put England back in the lead.
Bjarsmyr and Adam Johnson kept things level as did.
Things stayed the same until Molins hit the post, allowing England to go through.
England 5-4 Sweden
Scorers: Cranie 1 (Eng) Onuoha 23 (Eng) Bjarsmyr og 39 (Eng) Berg 68 (Swe) Toivonen 75 (Swe) Berg 81 (Swe)
Sent off: Campbell 103 (Eng)
England: Hart; Cranie, Richards, Onuoha, Gibbs; Muamba; Walcott, Cattermole, Noble (Rodwell 70), Milner; Agbonlahor (Campbell 59)
Sweden: Dahlin; Lustig, Bengtsson, Bjarsmyr, Johansson; Elm, Svensson, Landgren (Molins 45), Olsson (Harbuzi 45); Toivonen, Berg
Ref: Cakir (Tur)
Attendance: To follow.
|
|
|
| |
| |
