July 6 – England and Spain set up a heavyweight clash in the final of the European under-21 Championship after breezing through their respective semi-finals on Wednesday.
England beat Israel 3-0 to bring the Israelis’ surprise run to an end following their equally unexpected third-place finish at the under-20 World Cup.
Manchester City midfielder Cole Palmer scored and set up two more as England’s Young Lions roared to their first under-21 final since 2009.
Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White atoned for missing a penalty by heading England into the lead shortly before half-time in Batumi. Palmer then doubled double the lead before exchanging passes with substitute Cameron Archer who smashed in England’s third.
England have yet to concede a goal in the tournament as they look to win the competition for the first time since 1984.
“It’s hard to put into words,” said Gibbs-White. “We’ve been working for the past two years just to get to this moment. It’s not an achievement yet, we still have loads of work to do. I feel like we have a good together team and the right team that can go all the way.”
However, on Saturday England will start underdogs against a Spanish side that cruised to a 5-1 victory over Ukraine in Bucharest to reach the final for the ninth time.
The five-time champions survived an early scare and by the end had overwhelmed their opponents with their best display of the tournament.
“This team believe. They believe in our idea of play – in having the ball, playing the ball from the back, speeding it up, working for each other, arriving from deep,” said Spain coach Santi Denia. “They keep believing, keep getting stronger.”
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