In the final!

The Germany U21s have reached the final of the European Championship after a spectacular ending to their semi-final against Romania (4-2). On Sunday, the Hertha boys and Co. will travel to Udine to face Spain in the final (20:45 kick-off).

Germany’s U21s took a big step towards defending the European Championship title on Thursday night as they fought back from 2-1 down to beat the tournament’s surprise package Romania 4-2 and reach the final. On Sunday, it is Spain who stand between Stefan Kuntz’s team and another U21 EURO title, as it was two years ago in Poland, when Germany won 1-0 courtesy of former Herthaner Mitchell Weiser’s winner. "I can only take my hat off to the lads, that was fantastic," summarised Stefan Kuntz after the game.

Maximilian Mittelstädt played the full 90 minutes in Bologna’s 40 degree heat, Arne Maier was brought on in the 88th minute and new signing Eduard Löwen was an unused substitute. Despite taking the lead after 21 minutes through Hoffenheim’s Nadiem Amiri, the Germans found themselves trailing at half time after a George Puscas brace. "The temperatures were unbelievable. At half time we talked about whether this is how we want to bow out of the tournament. You saw what happened in the second half," explained Kuntz. Shortly after the restart, Luca Waldschmidt equalised with his sixth goal of the tournament, but it wasn’t until the closing stages that Kuntz’s men began to celebrate. First, Waldschmidt converted a free-kick in the last minute of regulation time to put his team in the lead, before Amiri did the same deep into stoppage time to seal the deal. Wild celebrations ensued. "We are over the moon! Now we want to win the tournament, which will be very difficult against Spain, but we believe in ourselves," said Mitteslstädt.