England Under-21s suffered more penalty semi-final heartbreak against Germany after Nathan Redmond’s miss sent them out of Euro 2017.
Julian Pollersbeck saved the Southampton winger’s spot kick as Germany won 4-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw after extra time.
It was hard on the Young Lions who battled hard but it is Germany who will face Spain or Italy in Friday’s final in Krakow.
Alfie Mawson said England were left “gutted” by their semi-final defeat.
Swansea defender Mawson told Sky Sports after the game: “There are a lot of down heads in there. A lot of people are genuinely gutted, which I think shows what this meant to us.
“It’s one of those things you’ve got to man up and deal with. I think tonight they were the better team and I think we did brilliantly well to hang in there.
“They should have had a few more goals but credit to us, we kept going and penalty shoot-outs are pot luck. But fair play to them, let’s see how they get on in the final.”
Jordan Pickford : 7
Mason Holgate : 6
Calum Chambers : 8
Alfie Mawson : 7
Ben Chilwell : 6
Nathaniel Chalobah: 7
Will Hughes : 8
James Ward-Prowse : 7
Lewis Baker : 7
Demarai Gray: 8
Tammy Abraham : 8
SUBS
Jacob Murphy (for Chalobah): 7
Nathan Redmond (for Gray): 6
John Swift (for Hughes): 6
Dominic Iorfa (for Holgate): 6
Julian Pollersbeck: 6
Jeremy Toljan : 8
Marc-Oliver Kempf : 7
Gideon Jung : 7
Yannick Gerhardt : 6
Janik Haberer : 6
Max Philipp : 7
Max Meyer : 7
Max Arnold : 7
Serge Gnabry: 7
David Selke : 7
SUBS
Felix Platte (for Selke): 6
Thilo Kehrer (for Jung): 6
Nadiem Amiri (for Gnabry): 7
Dominik Kohr (for Haberer) 6
Former England striker Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker): England’s lads gave their all but the better team won.
Nathan Redmond’s England Under-21 career ended with a semi-final penalty shoot-out miss.
Julian Pollersbeck dived to his right to stop the Southampton man’s spot kick and send England out 4-3 on penalties.
It was cruel on England who had battled hard even if Germany were the better side over all – bar a lightning first 20 minutes from the Young Lions.
England were left to rue their misses as Germany boss Stefan Kuntz broke their hearts again having been part of the senior side which beat the Three Lions on penalties at Euro 96.
Many of the group will be too old for Euro 2019 and boss Aidy Boothroyd will have a new crop of youngsters to work with.
Redmond, captain James Ward-Prowse, Alfie Mawson and Jordan Pickford all age out now with new faces needing to step into their shoes.
It will be difficult to get over the penalty defeat immediately but England are stronger than they were in 2015, when they exited at the group stages, and will recover.
Watford look to have bagged a bargain after paying Derby £8million for the midfielder, who completed a switch at the weekend.
Hughes may not have started the tournament but cemented himself in the side against Germany after a fine showing against Poland last week.
On Tuesday he was at the centre of England’s good work and skilfully set up Tammy Abraham’s goal which, briefly, looked to have put England in the final.
He did not shirk his defensive responsibilities, providing an extra screen for the back four when Germany threatened to win in normal time.
Provided by Press Association
: Player "Pinterest")
