Germany left hanging as Serbia fall

Germany face a nervous wait to see if they will defend their UEFA European Under-17 Championship title in Liechtenstein in May after ending the hopes of Serbia.

The holders were a point adrift of elite round Group 6 leaders Serbia at kick-off but were three up after half an hour and soon closed out a win. However, Switzerland – who beat Germany on Saturday – secured a 3-1 victory against Hungary and finished top on head-to-head record. Germany must now wait until the remaining three groups finish over the next two nights to see if they qualify as the runners-up with the best record against the teams first and third in their section.

"We knew Serbia played very well tactically and that by playing quickly and with small passes we would be able to outplay them," Germany coach Stefan Böger told UEFA.com. "I am happy we have done that well. We hadn't showed our true face against Switzerland and I'm happy my team was able to react today. We have done what we needed to do today : win and out on a good performance, now we have to wait to see if that was enough."

Anyone who had seen Serbia in their first two games would have been surprised at how they were overrun early on. Six minutes in Amir Younes attacked down the centre and played a superb pass into the path of Sonny Kittel on the left for him to cut in and shoot inside the far post.

Shawn Parker doubled the lead 12 minutes later, Younes crossing after Kittel's short corner and Shawn Parker volleying in. On the half-hour Younes made Germany's third, beating a defender on the left and cutting back for Leonardo Bittencourt to shoot past Filip Pajovič at the second attempt.

Dejan Georgijevič pulled one back before the break after good work from Lazar Marković but early in the second half Stevan Luković was sent off for a foul on Bittencourt and five minutes later Younes finished off a swift break to secure the goal his performance merited. Serbia coach Branko Vukašinović said: "Today I didn't recognise my team, who had conceded 11 goals in 27 games. Today we let in four. I think the pressure on our shoulders was too much."