Germany U21 3-0 France U21: Woltemade scores again in eye-catching semi-final win
Germany will face England in the final of the Under-21 European Championships after a fast start helped them past France in the last four.
Germany Under-21s reached the European Championships final in style with a 3-0 semi-final victory over France Under-21s at Kosicka Futbalova Arena on Wednesday.
Germany will face defending champions England in Saturday's showpiece game, as both teams bid to win the tournament for a fourth time.
France were blown away by a fast start from Antonio Di Salvo's team as much-vaunted duo Nelson Weiper and Nick Woltemade struck inside the first 14 minutes.
Weiper's close-range finish put Germany ahead after eight minutes, and the Mainz forward then turned provider for Woltemade to double their advantage.
Weiper pressed high to recover possession and feed Woltemade, who saw his first shot smothered by Guillaume Restes but tapped home on the rebound.
France pushed in the second half, with Germany goalkeeper Noah Atubolu making a spectacular save to deny Thierno Barry from close range, but they shipped a third in stoppage time as Brighton's Brajan Gruda tapped Paul Wanner's centre home.
That goal was initially disallowed for offside, only for a VAR check to show Wanner had timed his run to perfection before crossing from the right corner of the box.
Data Debrief: Woltemade among the goals again
Woltemade was heavily involved in Weiper's opener, but it was his close-range second that truly put France on the back foot.
That was his sixth goal at this tournament, and he is now eyeing a place in the history books when Germany face England in Saturday's final in Bratislava.
The Stuttgart forward is just one away from tying the record for goals at a single edition of the Under-21 European Championships, held jointly by Sweden's Marcus Berg (in 2009) and Germany's Luka Waldschmidt – neither of those players ended up with a winners' medal.
