Mesut Ozil was the hero as Germany annihilated England to win the UEFA Under-21 championship in Sweden on Monday. Part architect and part butcher, the Werder Bremen midfielder scored once and created another two goals as Germany earned a convincing 4-0 victory in front of 18,769 fans at Malmo’s New Stadium.
After a frenetic start from both sides, Germany struck the opening blow when Ozil’s pass dissected the England defense and found the feet of Gonzalo Castro, who calmly chipped the ball over goalkeeper Scott Loach.
Ozil did the damage himself shortly after the restart. Following Michael Mancienne’s foul on Sandro Wagner in the 48th minute, the 20-year-old lofted an out-swinging free-kick past the England wall and beyond Loach, who had scampered the wrong way and could only get a single hand on the ball.
Although 2-0 might have been a fair scoreline on this night, England never really looked like scoring and were twice punished for their incompetence in the final 11 minutes. Again, it was Ozil, crafting lovely pass for the oncoming Wagner to finish through the legs of Roach in the 79th minute. Wagner struck again just five minutes later to round out the scoring and secure Germany’s first U-21 triumph.
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