© EuroFootball.com
In the last matches of Group A at the ongoing UEFA U-21 European Football Championship in Germany, it was revealed that the winners of the group were the young Italian footballers, who defeated the underdog Croatia, while Serbia and Montenegro took the second place by defeating the Belarusian eleven.
Italy - Croatia 1 - 0 21' 63' sent off
The Croats dominated the first 20 minutes, but the excellent Italian goalkeeper, Amelia, didn't let them score. Approaching the middle of the half, Italy took the lead - after a penalty kick, Del Nero made a pass and De Rossi's long-range shot was on target. The difference could have increased later, but the defenders and goalkeeper defended against Sculli's shots. The Croats started the second half better, and after 63 minutes of play, their hopes increased as Del Nero was sent off the field for a second yellow card. Towards the end of the match, Italy withdrew to defend, and they did it successfully.
Belarus - Serbia and Montenegro 1 - 2 13' Oleg Shkabara [1 - 0] 47' Danko Lazovic 11m [1 - 1] 55' Dejan Milovanovic [1 - 2] 14' Timofei Kalachev 57' Aleksandr Hleb
After thirteen minutes of play, Belarus took the lead, but a minute later they were left with ten men as Timofei Kalachev received a red card. Soon after, Delibasic's header was cleared off the goal line, and in the other half of the field, the Hleb brothers played with passes, but the goalkeeper defended. The Serbs were unlucky again when Vukcevic's shot hit the crossbar. Just at the beginning of the second half, Serbia equalized - Delibasic was brought down in the penalty area, and Lazovic scored the penalty. In the 55th minute, Milovanovic defeated the goalkeeper Zhauno with a great shot from 16 meters and took his team into the lead. Two minutes later, Belarus' hopes were shattered - Aleksandr Hleb was sent off the field. For the remaining half-hour, the Serbs did not try hard, and the nine Belarusians held on without conceding more goals.
In one semifinal, the winner of Group A, the Italian national team, will face the team that finished second in Group B: Germany, Switzerland, or Portugal. In the other semifinal, the winner of Group B, Sweden, will play against Serbia and Montenegro.
Group A standings: (Position, Country, Wins, Draws, Losses, Goals Scored, Goals Conceded, Points) 1. Italy 2 0 1 4 3 6 2. S. and M. 2 0 1 6 5 6 3. Belarus 1 1 1 4 4 4 4. Croatia 0 1 2 3 5 1
