Tribal Football

England crash out of U19 Euros after defeat to the Netherlands

Paul Winters
The Netherlands' Givairo Read and Kees Smit celebrate a goal during the U19 Euros
The Netherlands' Givairo Read and Kees Smit celebrate a goal during the U19 EurosČTK / imago sportfotodienst / Alex Nicodim
The Netherlands' U19s ended their perfect group stage at the Under-19 European Championships in Romania with a 4-2 win over England, which sent the Three Lions packing.

The young Dutchmen had a perfect start to the group stage in Romania with a flawless 3-0 win over Germany and a 2-0 win over Norway, making the final group stage match against England near-redundant as a top-place finish was already secured.

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England, meanwhile, drew both their first two games at the tournament, playing 2-2 against Norway before spectacularly saving a point from 5-1 down in a 5-5 thriller against Germany.

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An evenly matched start to the match was interrupted by AZ talent Kees Smit, who opened the score with a fantastic effort from outside the box, curling the ball in the far corner behind Arsenal stopper Tommy Setford.

Feyenoord forward Zepiqueno Redmond added a second in the 35th minute, slotting the ball home in the right-hand corner on a pass from captain and Feyenoord team-mate Givairo Read.

Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink, son of former Celtic and Hull City striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, added salt to the English wounds shortly before half-time, adding a third for the Netherlands after a lucky bounce and calm finish in the bottom left corner.

The Three Lions responded swiftly after the break when Manchester United's Ethan Wheatley fired home out of a turn and handed the Dutch their first conceded goal of the tournament.

A quadruple substitution from the Dutch reinvigorated the side and soon earned them their fourth goal through Zepiqueno Redmond, who clinically finished his second big chance of the game.

The Netherlands had less control over the match in the second half, but barely got into trouble against an ineffective England side.

Will Antwi's U19s eagerly looked for a vital second goal, which could've sent them to the semi-finals with Norway and Germany drawing for the longest time, and scored the 4-2 in the 93rd minute through Crystal Palace's Jesse Derry via a delfection.

However, the young Germans scored a late goal that all but sealed England's fate and added more power to the already famous Gary Lineker quote: "Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, the Germans always win."

The Netherlands ended their group stage with a maximum score of nine points and will meet hosts Romania in the semi-finals on Monday. England's disappointing Euros campaign ended after conceding 11 goals in three games.

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