Reasons behind Germany success at U21 Euro

The Under 21 European Championship in Sweden has been one of the most exciting tournaments in competition’s history and no less than five teams had been hoping to go all the way. Spain proved to be a big disappointment since they had been eliminated in the group stage, whereas Italy impressed even though they failed to make it to the final. England and Germany fought for the coveted title, with Germany teaching their opponents a real lesson in the final game by beating them 4:0. Here are some reasons why Horst Hrubesch’s team won the big tournament.

First of all, Germany played as a team. There are no real stars in Horst Hrubesch’s side and that is something that is characteristic for all German sides. All the players were completely dedicated to the team’s cause and you couldn’t see anyone complaining for being benched or not awarded enough playing time (I am obviously referring to one Theo Walcott). Horst Hrubesch is known as a coach who dedicates a lot of his time to the fringe players and those that are not first team regulars, thus no wonder that Germany have a great team spirit. This is the area where England could learn a lot from their opponents.

We all know that defence is the basis needed for the good results. This the area in which Germans really excelled, having conceded just one goal during the entire tournament. The whole team contributed a lot in defending but back line led by outstanding keeper Manuel Neuer proved to be a stumbling block for all their opponents and that is definitely one of the reasons behind the big success.

Excellent defence allowed Germans to develop a direct counterattacking style of play and the final game showed just how much a team can accomplish with swift counterattacks. Once Germany took the lead, they started terrorizing England on the break and odd as it may sound, they could have scored more than four goals in the final thanks to the excellently executed counterattacks. The final result was a bit harsh on Stuart Pearce’s side considering that they had two great chances at the start of the second half, but it was no less than Germans deserved for excellent performances throughout the tournament.

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