England Under 21s face their Dutch counterparts tonight in the European Under 21 semi-final.
England will be without Tom Huddlestone after his harsh red card for swearing at the linesman (sorry, referee’s assistant) against Serbia on Sunday.
The game kicks-off at 5.15pm, line on Sky Sports 1.
Last night saw two good results for England fans as the Under 21s progressed to the semi finals with a 2-0 win over Serbia and David Beckham celebrated winning his first and last La Liga title in Spain.
It was a big night of football with 5 live games shown on Sky Sports, including the final day of the season in Spain. At kick-off, 3 teams were still in with a chance of the title. Real Madrid and Barcelona were level at the top with 73 points (with Madrid top due to a better head-to-head record), UEFA Cup winners Sevilla were 2 points behind.
At half-time, it was all going Barcelona’s way – they were 3-0 up and cruising at already-relegated Gimnastic, Madrid were 1-0 down to Mallorca and had lost top goalscorer Ruud Van Nistelrooy to injury. Into the second half, Barcelona went 4-0 ahead and Real coach Fabio Capello substituted Beckham on his final appearance in Spain. It seemed a strange decision at the time, but Capello was proved right as on-loan Arsenal star Jose Antonio Reyes struck twice to give Madrid a 3-1 win and their 30th La Liga title.
Over in Holland, England knew that a win would put them into the semi-finals. Reading’s Leroy Lita gave England the perfect start after 5 minutes with a header from close range. In the closing stages substitute Matt Derbyshire sealed the win for England in controversial circumstances. A Serbia defender was injured (and playing Derbyshire onside) when he netted the second. Cue the Serbia players confronting Derbyshire and a melee of pushing and shoving ensued.
To anyone not based in Britain, it may have looked unsportsman-like by England. However, in the Premier League the players are told it’s the referee’s decision when to stop the game, so in our view the Blackburn man was right to play on and fire England into the semi-finals.
Ugly scenes in the tunnel at the end of the game will probably result in a UEFA investigation as angry Serbia players (allegedly) racially abused Justin Hoyte and (allegedly) spat on goal scorer Derbyshire.
Despite the unsavoury scenes, England and Serbia both progress to the semi-finals where England will play the hosts Holland and Serbia will take on Belgium.
At DigitalFC, we’re hoping for wins for England and Serbia so that hostilities can be resumed in the final next weekend!
