Heartbreak for England U21s as they are knocked out of the European Championship despite beating Croatia as 91st-minute screamer sends Igor Biscan’s side through – after Curtis Jones looked to have sealed unlikely progress for Aidy Boothroyd’s side
- England exited the U21s Euros in dramatic fashion despite beating Croatia 2-1
- Young Lions needed to win by two goals and hope Portugal won to go through
- Portugal did the business and Ebere Eze and Curtis Jones had put England 2-0 up
- But Domagoj Bradaric’s late stunner in injury-time put Croatia through instead
England leave with something. Regret, largely, because if they had played like this earlier then the Under 21s would be going back for the European Championship summer knockouts.
But how cruel. Gut-wrenching. They bossed this, magnificent all evening. This was an England performance to finally instil pride among these players and their manager.
They showed gumption on the ball. Progressive, lively, packing a punch. Everything that has been missing over the past week seemed to click into place just in time. On probably his final bow as manager, Aidy Boothroyd should have been taking great pleasure in his team coming back from the brink. They were through two minutes into stoppage time, the unlikeliest of resurrections.
England Under-21s crashed out of the European Championships even though they beat Croatia
Domagoj Bradaric’s late stunner sent Croatia through and England crashing out with a 2-1 win
Yet when Croatia full back Domagoj Bradaric wound up from 25 yards, and thwacked far and away into Aaron Ramsdale’s top left-hand corner – England bodies strewn across the grass – your mind cast back to Switzerland last Thursday. The opening day nightmare.
England went out on goals difference – more specifically, they went out on goals scored – and that is a harsh reality. Forget Portugal, Switzerland went on to concede six in their next two games. A clean sheet against England though. That is where this was lost, not to the boot of Bradaric.
‘I haven’t got the words for it,’ an emotional Ramsdale said. ‘Three minutes away from getting out of a group that we should’ve got out of anyway. It’s a learning curve but for us it’s as much about winning as it is learning. It’s heart-breaking.’
Curtis Jones and Eberechi Eze were England’s goalscorers and best players. Both made their first starts of the group. Perhaps therein lies the problem for the overall issues. Jones was eventually sent off after full-time for flaring up with celebrating opposing players, fighting off an England coach in the process before a second booking.
England looked like they were going through when Ebere Eze and Curtis Jones (left) gave the Young Lions the two-goal lead they were looking for
Eze (middle) had given the Young Lions the perfect start by scoring a 12th-minute penalty
England threatened to find the second goal they needed to go through, but Tottenham’s Japhet Tanganga missed a golden chance after the half-time break
There are questions for Boothroyd, who while winning the Toulon Tournament in 2018 and reaching the semi-finals of this competition a year earlier, has now presided over two miserable group stage exits with talent in abundance. The FA debrief is due in the next fortnight.
‘We got knocked out against Switzerland,’ Boothroyd said. ‘It hurts. We needed a big performance against Switzerland. We didn’t do anything we talked about doing.
‘I’ll carry on supporting Gareth (Southgate) as long as he needs me. Is it winning or development? It’s a little bit foggy at the minute. We’re not sure what it is. I know what it is, the rest of the coaches do – we’re part of a pathway to produce players for Gareth.’
Liverpool midfielder Jones hit a stunning effort with 16 minutes remaining to score a second
But Bradaric’s goal meant it was another group stage exit for England despite their victory
Aidy Boothroyd has overseen another Euros group stage exit with his contract up this summer
England hit the woodwork twice, through Jones and Dwight McNeil, had carved other major chances. Portugal were beating Switzerland comfortably and England, already a goal up after Eze’s 12th-minute penalty, only required one more.
At this point, there only seemed one outcome. The second owed much to the running of substitute Rhian Brewster, flashing a cross into the box and McNeil controlled, unselfishly finding Jones instead of shooting on the turn.
Jones saw one flicker of light between defenders, thundering into the far bottom corner with 16 minutes left. Boothroyd roared, Jones roared. Sadly, not for long.
‘It’s all about getting us to the seniors and we need to be reliable and see games out better than that,’ Ramsdale said. ‘It’s cost us again.’
Sportsmail’s SAM BLITZ was on the live blog for European U21 Championship coverage of Croatia vs England.
