U19 Euros Qualifiers: Winning start for Germany after late comeback against Sweden

Germany started the second round of the U19 European Championship qualifying campaign with three points after their comeback victory over their Swedish counterparts. All the three goals of the game in Portugal were scored in the last 20 minutes.

The match was initially planned for Wednesday before it had to be postponed for the next day due to extreme weather. With the assistant coach Pascal Pellowski taking charge in place of the suspended Hanno Balistch, Germany U19 only had a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes.

Substitute Ahmed Saeed put Sweden in front from close range fifteen minutes before time. However, Germany found their way back in the game as two substitutes scored in the final five minutes of regular time.

Debutant Kevin Ekweribe tied the score after a cross from fellow Köln attacker Maik Akumu. Germany went on to push for the winner as Swedish goalkeeper John-Oliver Lacayo denied Noah Ringbeck a winning goal with a brilliant save.

Sweden failed to clear the resulting corner-kick from Mathieu Nguefack as Niklas Scheller completed the comeback from close range to secure a narrow victory for Germany in the opening game of Group A3. Last year's finalists will face hosts Portugal and Lithuania in the next five days as they now have a huge chance to advance for the Elite Round. Portugal beat Lithuania in the other game from the group as they also relied on a late goal. 

Germany's victory was shadowed by another injury setback for Cassiano Kiala as the FC Bayern talent had to be subbed off early in the second-half. The center-back has only returned from a long-term injury in August.