Plucky U21s sunk by Germany

2021. március. 24., 23:13 |

Zoltán Gera's Under-21 team held off a dominant Germany team for more than an hour in their opening European Championship fixture in the Sostó Aréna in Székesfehérvár, but three goals in 13 minutes gave the visitors a deserved 3-0 victory. In the other group game, Netherlands and Romania drew 1-1.

Shorn of eight players selected in the original squad due to a combination of recent illness and injury, Zoltán Gera had no choice but to opt for a youthful starting lineup to take on Germany in Hungary's opening tournament fixture, his eleven starters taking to the pitch as follows in a 4-3-3 formation:

Balázs Bese - Bendegúz Bolla, Botond Balogh, Attila Mocsi, László Deutsch - Mihály Kata, Szabolcs Mezei, Norbert Szendrei - Martin Palincsár, Adrián Szőke, Tamás Kiss.

The pattern of the game was clear from the outset, Germany dominating possession and Hungary defending stoutly, and the hosts' plan worked perfectly for sixty minutes with the visitors restricted to the occasional shot off-target from distance. However, their resistance was broken when Manchester City striker Lukas Nmecha headed in a right-wing cross from close range in the 61st minute and two further strikes in the 66th and 73rd minutes from Wolfsburg forward Bote Baku meant there was no way back for Gera's men, who weren't able to even snatch a consolation goal against a supremely organised Germany team.

Hungary's 2nd group match is against Romania in the new Bozsik Stadion in Budapest at 18:00 on 27th March.