Germany received a humbling at the hands of Portugal as the U-21 side were defeated 5-0 in a humiliating performance for the side.
Portugal reached their first European Under-21 Championship final for 21 years and did so in style, with a sweet victory over Germany. In doing so, they ensured it was their opponent’s worst ever competitive defeat at this level.
William Carvalho, Bernardo Silva, Ivan Cavaleiro and Ricardo were exceptional for Portugal, much like the rest of the team but for Germany, not even one player could be picked as the scoreline demonstrates how poor the entire unit was.
Emre Can, Liverpool’s highly rated midfielder was also a big disappointment. The 21 year old has a beautiful goal and assist in the tournament and has received a lot of praise because of his performances so far. However, he was largely sub-par against Portugal and failed to make a mark in the game.
Can said that he needed to come back to earth because he probably got too carried away with all the praise that came his way
a Maybe I thought before the game that Ia m the greatest,a Can told Bild.
a Ia ve no idea what that was today. I think I need to come back down to earth.
a We are all young people. If you always get praise and then praise, then you think youa re a great man.
a What we played there was just a joke.a
The player was left to reflect on a “dark day for Germany” and said that he was ashamed at not giving in his best.
a I talked a lot this tournament, big talk even,a he said. . a I wanted to win the title. I dona t know why, but for some reason, I didna t show my best out there. If I am honest, it is just shameful.
a From the first minute onward we failed to find our rhythm,a he said. a Our mentality also wasna t there a we just had everything missing tonight, but excuses and apologies are no help now.a