Lukas Nmecha was the hero for Germany as he scored the winner to beat Portugal 1-0 in the final as the Germans won their third Under-21 European Championship.
The Manchester City player Nmecha, who spent 2020-21 on loan at Anderlecht in Belgium, scored from a tight angle after rounding the keeper following a superb pass by Wolfsburg midfielder Ridle Baku.
The final was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the Germans dominated the proceedings with Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz hitting the bar and Arne Maier having a shot tipped over.
Portugal’s final jinx at the U21 continues as they have now lost all three finals they have appeared in at the UEFA U21 Euro Championships.
Hamburg-born forward Nmecha has been raised in England and also played for England at the under-21 level before switching to Germany in 2019. His impressive showing might turn heads and if City do not promote him into the first team, we could well see trade requests coming in from other top European clubs.
Nmecha finished the tournament as not only Germany’s leading scorer but also the golden boot winner. The 22-year-old ended the tournament with 4 goals for Germany to lead all scorers.
His career has included loan spells at Preston North End, Middlesbrough and Wolfsburg.
Ironically, Nmecha scored the winner for the England Under-19s in the 2017 European Championship final against Portugal so he has now proven to be the bane for the Portuguese.
Portugal’s journey to this year’s final had included a 2-0 win over England in March.
Rui Jorge’s side knocked out defending European champions Spain in the semi-finals but they managed just one attempt on target against Germany in what seemed a mismatch in the final.
Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot and Tiago Tomas went close but Germany were the most threatening and didn’t seem threatened by Portugal.
Karim Adeyemi and Nmecha both had attempts saved by Diogo Costa in the closing stages and the scoreline could have been much bigger if the German’s took their chances.
Germany added to their previous triumphs in the competition in 2009 and 2017, and these are good signs going into the future as the senior team has struggled after winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
