Last-gasp Sweden free-kick denies Germany U19 victory
| Lewis Storey/Getty Images for DFB |
HSV striker Otto Stange had Germany U19’s first effort when his deflected shot narrowly missed the target in the tenth minute. From the resulting corner-kick, Montrell Culbreath saw his close-range header go over the crossbar.
Sweden started to play decent possession-based football after that, but they didn’t create a single clear-cut chance. And Mirza Jelecák had to make an early substitution due to David Isso’s injury.
A couple of minutes later, Germany found a breakthrough at the other end. Boris Mamuzah Lum won back possession in the middle of the pitch to start the move that brought the opening goal as Stange still had a lot to do before slotting it home with a powerful hit.
The striker who played his fourth Bundesliga game on the weekend against Borussia Dortmund netted in each of his last three appearances for Germany U19. He also hit the sidenetting at the end of the half following a decent save by the Swedish goalkeeper Elton Fischerström Opancar to deny Luis Engelns.
Sweden’s best chance of the first-half came with a decent curling effort by the left winger Oliver Kapsimalis. Eintracht Frankfurt’s Love Arrhov had their first chance early after the restart with a decent header. Arrhov was also involved in Florian Hellstern’s first save of the game with his audacious backheel pass saw Adrian Lahdo go one-on-one with the Stuttgart goalkeeper.
The hosts regained control after the hour mark, although Sweden still fashioned the best chances at the other end. Como’s midfielder Lahdo needed no further invitation as he scored a deserved equalizer in the 68th minute with a composed finish.
Stange nearly restored Germany’s lead a minute later, but he was unable to hit the target from a promising position. Suddenly, Germany were on top as Francis Onyeka also came close with a decent shot from outside of the box.
Considering his high profile, Culbreath had a quiet performance, but the Bayer Leverkusen wide player put Germany ahead once again. After a great solo run by Stange, the player who faced Bayern Munich and Arsenal earlier this month thought he won it for Germany U19, but the last kick of the game secured a deserved point for Sweden. Yannick Geiger scored a beautiful free-kick to close out a very entertaining fixture.
Greece and Austria also drew 1-1 in the other game of the group earlier today. Germany will host the two teams in the next six days as the group winners progress to the competition that will take place in Wales in the summer.
