As in the dramatic quarter-final victory over Denmark, the Werkself youngster Wirtz was in the starting eleven - and he only needed 30 seconds to make a lasting impression: A cross with the outside of his foot from Lukas Nmecha was forced into the back of the net at the near post – a dream start for Germany with the first U21 goal scored by our midfielder.
But that was not enough for the 18-year-old: A few minutes later, Wirtz received the ball in the middle, set himself up with a fine dummy and hit the ball from the edge of the box into the bottom left corner – a goal that underlined the incredible quality of the forward (8').
Wirtz, at 18 the youngest player in the match, remained the most conspicuous player on the pitch even after his brace and he played a big part in the Germany U21s continuing to control the game against a strong Dutch side. He could have scored a hat-trick on 33 minutes but the Dutch keeper Justin Bijlow made the save. Mergim Berisha almost made it 3-0 for Germany just before that but the RB Salzburg striker hit the inside of the post with a free kick (20'). The best opportunity for the Oranje fell to Leipzig's Justin Kluivert but the Germany keeper Finn Dahmen was able to make the save (22'). The shot-stopper was again preferred to the Werkself keeper Lennart Grill who watched the game from the subs' bench.
After the restart, the team under coach Stefan Kuntz almost sealed victory but Berisha was twice denied by the post: The forward, who hit the frame of the goal in the first half, hit the woodwork twice within a few seconds on the hour mark. Germany were left with a tense finish as the Netherlands pulled a goal back with central defender Perr Schuurs scoring from a corner (67').
Wirtz was taken off just after the Dutch goal with a slight knock and he had to watch from the bench as the Dutch pressed for the equaliser in the closing stages. The nearest they came to scoring was a strike from Myron Boadu that was ruled offside (85'). They were unable to level and the two goals from Wirtz made the difference for Germany on the night.
Germany will play Portugal in the final on Sunday, 6 June (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) after the Iberian semi-final saw them beat Spain 1-0. A current Werkself player has scored for Germany in the last two finals of the U21 European championship: Mitchell Weiser scored the only goal of the game against Spain in 2017 and Nadiem Amiri scored against the same team in 2019 in a 2-1 defeat. A good omen for another Wirtz goal?
Twelve Werkself players have been selected for their national teams in the final international break of the year, with the Leverkusen's international players competing in the final group matches in the UEFA Nations League, in qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations. We round up all the results involving Bayer 04 players here.
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Show moreIt is already a fact that the Bayer 04 Women have had their best Hinrunde ever. The Werkself are fourth in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga on 23 points two behind the top team. Tickets are now on sale for the final games of the year. The tickets for the last two home matches in 2024 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium are available now. First up on Friday, 6 December (kick-off: 18.30 CET) are last season's runners-up VfL Wolfsburg and that is followed by the home game at the start of the Rückrunde against SC Freiburg on Saturday, 14 December (12.00 CET).
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