July 31 – Spain have won their second-straight UEFA Women’s U19 European Championship title after defeating Germany on penalties on Sunday evening.
The final, played at Den Dreef Stadion in Leuven, Belgium, saw Las Rojas win 3-2 in the shoot-out following a goalless 120-minutes.
Spain notched the first three penalties in the shootout which was enough to fend off the exhausted Germans, who played 120 minutes against France two days prior. Both goalkeepers were in fine form after making two penalty saves each. This kept the pressure on, despite Spain’s strong start, until the last kick of the match, which was put wide by Germany’s Pauline Deutsch.
It was an action-packed affair with 32 shots and 23 fouls, despite no shots finding the net, as both teams battled for the title in front of the 3,000 crowd.
Spain are now joint top UEFA Women’s European Championship title holders alongside France on five. Las Rojas have won four of the last five editions of the tournament.
The tournament saw 47 goals in 15 matches, averaging 3.13 goals per 90 minutes. French striker Louna Ribadeira came out as the competition’s top scorer as she found the net four times in as many games.
Speaking immediately after the match, Spanish captain Silvia Lloris said: “I’m thrilled to be a two-time Under-19 European Champion. I’m happy for my teammates who came from the Under-17s and had a tough game last time against Germany. This time we won it and we’re so happy. All the work we put in was worthwhile and I’m thrilled.”
“From the first moment we knew it would be a very tough game and that we’d have to fight until the end. It didn’t matter if it was over 90 minutes, 120 minutes or penalties, we had such high levels of confidence. We knew we would get there and we did it.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1734848650labto1734848650ofdlr1734848650owedi1734848650sni@o1734848650fni1734848650