The Juniors reached the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championship on Monday. Erwin van de Looi’s team fell behind title favorite Young France, but came back very well. In injury time, Myron Boadu tapped in the liberating 2-1, after the striker had also put the 1-1 on the scoreboard earlier in the second half. In the semi-final, the Juniors play against the promises of Denmark or Germany.
The first danger in the game came twice from Calvin Stengs. The right-wing striker of the Dutch Juniors first shot wide through Dayot Upamecano’s leg and then got an even greater chance, when Tyrell Malacia cleverly made it to the back line. Stengs did not hit the ball too hard with the right, which allowed Faitout Maouassa to block on the back line. On the other side, Jonathan Ikoné became dangerous with a shot from a distance, which Justin Bijlow was able to cross with difficulty.
Myron Boadu does it! In the final seconds of the match, he decides the quarter-final against France: 2-1 ?? The Dutch Juniors eliminates the title favorite and qualifies for the semi-finals #nedfra pic.twitter.com/wbk108PNff
– NOS Football (@NOSfootball) May 31, 2021
Young France made the opening goal from the following corner. Upamecano was released by Stengs and headed in hard: 1-0. The Juniors then had the better of the game and created a good chance for Justin Kluivert in the final phase of the first half. The attacker received a through ball from Perr Schuurs through the ashes of the field, but shot wildly from fifteen meters.
The the Dutch reserves came out of the dressing room very well and equalized six minutes after the break. A low shot from a great distance from Abdou Harroui was controlled by Myron Boadu, who finished with great freedom and from close range: 1-1. The Jong Oranje striker was on the verge of offside, but no VAR was present to check. After the equalizer, the French started an offensive, which led to some great opportunities.
First Jordan Teze clumsily lost the ball, after which Bijlow cleverly tapped Ikoné’s shot from the far corner. The latter was able to cross the field moments later and thought to hit the ball past Bijlow, but had not counted on Schuurs sliding. Ikoné got a rebound and hit the post, after which the opportunity was lost. Later in the second half, Aouar was strongly forced out in the penalty area by Schuurs. The Juniors came under heavy pressure in the final phase and allowed a header from Aouar, which went just over. The Netherlands struck the counter in injury time, when Kluivert put the ball wide on the sliding Boadu, who scored with some fortune: 2-1.