Netherlands put five past Germany for U17 title

The Netherlands won the UEFA European Under-17 Championship for the first time courtesy of a record-breaking victory against Germany.

Beaten by the same opponents in the 2009 showpiece, Albert Stuivenberg's side defeated Germany 2-0 in their tournament opener here, but initially looked unlikely to repeat the feat. First Samed Yesil, and then Okan Aydin, gave Germany the lead only for Tonny Trindade de Vilhena to strike back twice. Then came a scintillating second-half performance which blew Germany away, Memphis Depay and Terence Kongolo scoring in quick succession before Kyle Ebecilio's late fifth. No team had ever struck five in a UEFA men's youth final and indeed this is the overall highest-scoring decider at this level.

Having not conceded in six successive matches prior to the final, it took a sizeable slice of fortune after just eight minutes for the Netherlands defence to be beaten. Yesil, one of four Germany players back from semi-final suspension, bucked the trend of a slow-paced start to the game when he picked up possession just outside the penalty area, accelerated into it and beat Boy de Jong via the aid of a deflection off of Kongolo to score for the eighth straight game in this competition.

It did not take the Netherlands long to revert to type, however, Trindade de Vilhena drawing them level on 23 minutes with a carbon-copy of Ebecilio's effort against England. Anass Achahbar was again the pivot, receiving the No10's pass before flicking back into his path for a toe-poked finish.

There was nothing quite so cute about Germany's second, Aydin letting fly with a fierce right-footed shot which whistled past De Jong from 25 metres. The Netherlands No1's Germany counterpart, Odisseas Vlachodimos, was also picking the ball out of his net just two minutes later having spilled Depay's cross to allow Trindade de Vilhena to gobble up the rebound from close range.

The 4,261-strong crowd had scarcely had the chance to catch their breath after an engaging first half by the time the Netherlands went in front for the first time. Depay was this time the scorer, showing exquisite control on the right to tee up a mazy run which was capped by a clinical finish.

Brimming with confidence, the Netherlands sensed their chance, Achahbar attempting an ambitious lob and Depay unleashing a vicious free-kick which was well saved. The resulting corner proved decisive, though, Ebecilio heading it back across goal for Kongolo to apply the finish despite the best efforts of a defender on the line.

Blown away, Germany never recovered. The Netherlands knew their work was done and were in rampant form, Achahbar, Depay and Trindade de Vilhena all going close to adding a fifth before Ebecilio did just that with three minutes remaining. The Arsenal FC midfielder snuck into the penalty area in combination with former Feyenoord colleague Achahbar, just as he had in the first Group B fixture, and swept past Vlachodimos to put the icing on the cake for Stuivenberg and his team.

*The Netherlands were also top of the Respect Fair Play rankings ahead of England and France.