Walcott fires England to finals
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Article summary
Germany 0-2 England (agg: 0-3) Theo Walcott returned to Germany to score two majestic goals as England reached the Under-21 finals next summer.
Article body
Theo Walcott came off the bench to score both goals as England made it successive victories against Germany to advance to the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship at the expense of their great rivals.
Two off
Germany recovered well from the 13th-minute dismissal of central defender Markus Brzenska and should have wiped out the 1-0 deficit from Friday's match in Coventry in the 22nd only for Gonzalo Castro to send his penalty wide. England also improved after being reduced to ten men, Steven Taylor's 59th-minute red card proving the catalyst for an improved display which culminated in two wonderful individual goals from a player whose last trip to Germany was as an unused member of England's FIFA World Cup squad.
Rested
Walcott and Wayne Routledge were both rested from the team which started the home leg, Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor replacing them out wide. The other man in England's attacking trident, David Nugent, was the first to make a mark on the game as the striker broke free of the German defence before being pulled down by Brzenska, who was shown a straight red as the last man. Dieter Eilts adjusted his team and they responded well to win a penalty as Taylor collided with Mario Gomez. Castro stepped up but shot wide as Carson correctly dived to his right.
Gomez chances
Germany continued to take the game to England in the second half and Gomez headed decent opportunities wide either side of Taylor's second yellow card. Micah Richards somehow kept out another Gomez header in the 68th minute before Walcott came on in the 77th and won the game for the visitors. The Arsenal FC forward, who scored in both of England's group games, broke the deadlock in the 84th minute after latching on to a raking Leighton Baines pass, racing clear and coolly picking his spot.
'Special'
The 17-year-old's second in added time was even better as he picked up the ball in his own half, outstripped Eugen Polanski and charged into the area before sending a super shot across Michael Rensing and into the far corner. "You can't get any better than that away from home," Walcott said. "I'm only 17 in the 21s but tonight was very special. The finishes were brilliant but it's all about a clean sheet."
