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Lukas Nmecha (center) ensured the draw against the Netherlands
Photo: Matthias Koch / imago images / Matthias Koch
The German U21 national team missed the early entry into the quarter-finals of the European Football Championship.
The team of coach Stefan Kuntz played 1: 1 (0: 0) against the Netherlands in the second group game despite being behind, but would have needed a win to qualify for the knockout round.
Justin Kluivert took the lead after a goalkeeper mistake by Finn Dahmen (48th minute), Lukas Nmecha equalized for the DFB team (84th).
With the 3-0 win against Hungary and the draw against the Netherlands, the German selection leads Group A ahead of the Romanians with the same number of points (4 points), followed by the Netherlands (2 points) and Hungary (0).
The decision about the quarter-finals will be made in the last group game next Tuesday.
Then Germany meets Romania and would be safe with a win (6 p.m., SPIEGEL.de live ticker, TV: ProSieben), the Netherlands play against Hungary.
The knockout games of the two-part European Championship will take place from May 31st.
At the beginning, the Dutch secured possession of the ball over long stretches, the German team relied on pressing against the build-up game.
In the early stages, however, no team came dangerously into the penalty area.
It took half an hour before the DFB team got their first chance with a header from Amos Pieper, but the ball flew over the goal (32nd).
Shortly afterwards, the Dutch had a great chance to take the lead: Cody Gakpo crossed into the box from the left and Dani de Wit hit the post with a header (36th).
The game picked up speed, both teams played with more urge to goal, but no goal was scored before the break.
But immediately after the restart, the Netherlands took the lead - after a dropout by DFB keeper Dahmen.
Josha Vagnoman threw a throw back to his goalkeeper, but Dahmen couldn't control the ball.
The sprinting Justin Kluivert took the ball from him and pushed it into the empty goal to make it 1-0 (48th).
After conceding the goal, the German players took possession of the ball more often, but dangerous degrees were rare.
Nmecha hit the outside netting with a close from an acute angle (67th), and it remained one of the better German opportunities for a long time.
But in the final phase, coach Kuntz Jonathan Burkardt came on (82nd).
Shortly afterwards he dribbled to the baseline, played a cross pass into the six-yard box and Nmecha pushed in to equalize (84th).
One point was saved.
ptz
