It was a triumphant day for England on Saturday, the 8th of June, 2023 as they defeated Spain to win the European U21 Championship.
The Young Lions victory over Spain meant that they had won the European Under-21 championship for the first time in almost four decades.
Manchester City’s James Trafford produced a heroic penalty save in the 99th minute to deny Sporting Braga’s Abel Ruiz the chance to level matters in the proceedings.
The youngster also produced another magnificent stop on the follow-up before his teammates came to embrace him for his cat-like saves after the ball went out of play.
Trafford is edging closer to joining Burnley from Manchester City in a deal that is estimated to be about £19 million.
The deciding goal of the encounter was scored in the 4th minute of additional time of the first half.
Cole Palmer struck a free-kick which deflected off team-mate Curtis Jones and it went past Spain’s goalie Arnau Tenau to end up in the bottom corner.
La Rojita had a goal ruled out for offside after half-time, before Trafford’s magical save at the tail end of the encounter handed England the victory.
Did the Young Lions concede a single goal at the European Under 21 Championship?
England didn’t concede a single goal in the tournament, recording spotless victories against Czech Republic, Israel, Germany, Portugal and Spain.
They scored 11 goals in the competition while finalist Spain scored 13 goals throughout the tournament.
England became the first nation to have six consecutive clean sheets in the history of the European U21 Championship.
During the 2023 final, Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White and Real Madrid’s Antonio Blanco were given their matching orders for off-field conduct in the last minutes of the additional time.
The victory for Lee Carsley’s side meant that they are the third England team to win the European U21 Championship.
When last did England win the U21 European Championship?
England previously won the competition in 1982 and 1984 defeating West Germany and Spain respectively.
The players who achieved this remarkable feat will be hoping to transition to the national team as they continue to develop.
The encounter was played at the Batumi Stadium officially known as Adjarabet Arena in Georgia and it is a 20,000 capacity stadium.
Referee Espen Eskaas from Norway was the man saddled with the responsibility of officiating the showpiece and the 35-year-old was impressive on the night.
Spain enjoyed the larger share of the possession in the encounter with 65% to England’s 35%.
Santi Denia side also had the most shots in the game with 21 total shots to England’s 8.
However, they were profligate in the match as the Young Lions were more clinical with 6 shots on target to Spain’s 4.
Spain swept the corner kicks for the encounter as they had 9 total corners with England having none.
For Fouls, the Young Lions had 13 fouls while Santi Denia’s side had 17 fouls.
La Rojita had the ball at the back of the net through Abel Ruiz after half-time but his effort was ruled out for offside.
England attacker Anthony Gordon was named Under-21 EURO Player of the Tournament for his impressive showing.
After 90 minutes of action and additional time, England defeated Spain 1-0 to win the European U21 Championship.
Match Highlights Below
