Germany ease past Ukraine

Germany underlined their status as one of the favourites for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship title as they outplayed Ukraine for three well-earned Group A points.

Fans happy
Plenty of German supporters had crossed the Belgian border to Eupen and their team gave them plenty to shout about with a dominant performance. Toni Kroos, part of the squad which reached the semi-finals a year ago, dictated their play and deservedly struck late on to add to Sascha Bigalke’s first-half penalty.

German dominance
It took Germany 17 minutes to get behind the strapping Ukraine defence when Bigalke latched on to a long ball and forced a save from Vyacheslav Bazilevych, Dennis Dowidat firing the rebound over. Kroos then beat two defenders only to shoot into the sidenetting.

Penalty opener
Paul Schoman's side won a penalty soon after: Henning Sauerbier was fouled by Dmytro Niemchaninov following a corner and Bigalke dispatched the spot kick. Ukraine were obviously missing their key suspended pair, defender Kryrl Petrov and striker Dimytro Korishko, and their sole chance before the break was a late attempt from distance by Serhiy Shevchuk which did not trouble Germany goalkeeper Fabian Giefer.

Bigalke close
Schoman introduced Richard Sukuta-Pasu early in the second half and his pace and strength only added to their armoury, the No17 immediately running clear of the Ukraine defence and shooting just wide. Kroos then jinked to the edge of the box and fed Bigalke to his right, but the striker put his effort above the bar.

Assured defence
Ukraine’s diminutive playmaker Artur Karnoza did his best to inspire his team-mates, especially with a couple of free-kicks, but it was a tough task against a Germany team who were as assured in defence as Bigalke, Kroos and Sukuta-Pasu were further forward. And Kroos had the final word with three minutes left as he cut into the box and struck an angled shot which Bazileyvch could not hope to stop. For Ukraine, much now rests on Friday's opponents Spain, who earlier defeated Germany’s next challengers in Eupen, France.