UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Israel makes history – Spain continues to tremble – National teams

Goalkeeper Daniel Peretz is the famous hero of Israel. © Ansa / Yuri Kochetkov

The first quarter-final matches of the European Under-21 Championship were played on Saturday evening. In the end, both Israel and Spain just celebrated reaching the semi-finals.

01 July 2023

From: dpa/tu

Israel reached the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Football Championship for the first time, ending the dream of Georgia hosting the tournament. Israel prevailed 4:3 (0:0, 0:0) on penalties after a thrilling quarter-final match on Saturday night. A penalty saved by goalkeeper Daniel Peretz was crucial to the historic success, Saba Khvadzhiani also hit the post thus ending the high flight for the Georgians in front of a record crowd of 44,338 at the Boris Peshadze National Stadium in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, who also played for the first time in the U-21 quarter-finals. .

Likewise, the second quarter-final match between Spain and Switzerland was a close one. After La Furia Roja took a 1-0 lead through Sergio Gomez in the 68th minute, the Swiss equalized sensationally in stoppage time through Mohamed Andone and thus had to go into extra time. But during this period, Spain played in their favor and again took the lead through Juan Miranda (103rd). Switzerland could no longer respond to this and Spain qualified for the semi-finals.

The Spaniards celebrate reaching the semi-finals. © Ansa / Robert Gement

And there meet France or Ukraine, who will play the quarter-finals on Sunday at 9 pm. Israel’s opponents in the semi-finals on Wednesday are either England or Portugal, who also meet on Sunday (6:00pm).

Results

Georgia U-21 0-1 Israel U-21 on penalties

Spain U21 2-1 Switzerland U21 after extra time
Goals: 1-0 Gomez (68), 1-1 Amdoni (90 + 1), 2-1 Miranda (103).