Portugal U20 1-0 Germany U20: Successive U20 Elite League defeat for Wolf’s side
| Successive defeats for Germany U20 | Diogo Cardoso/Getty Images for DFB |
Rodrigo Ribeiro’s solitary strike helped Portugal to sit six points ahead of Germany in the U20 Elite League standings. The two teams first met on Friday in the same stadium, Estádio Municipal do Fontelo, when Portugal nicked it with the winner five minutes from time.
It was rather a slow start to the second-half that cost Germany on this one. Hannes Wolf made six changes to the starting lineup, with Borussia Dortmund’s midfielder Almugera Kabar the notable addition.
Germany U20 used three goalkeepers in these two games. Tim Pfeiffer and Lio Rothenhagen played a half each on Friday. And, Hertha Berlin’s Konstantin Heide made his U20 debut in today’s defeat. Heide was the starting goalkeeper for Hanno Balitsch’s U19 team in last summer’s European championship.
Portugal scored the only goal of the game in the 50th minute when Rodrigo Ribeiro got to the end of an inviting delivery by Tiago Parente. Portugal lead the annual tournament with a perfect record after four games. Germany, who won last year’s edition, are six points behind Oceano’s side.
Germany U20 will host Romania and Italy during the November international break.
