Internationals / Mike Norman / 23 June 2009 / Leave a comment

England and Germany both make it to the semi-finals of the U21 European Championship, but Mike Norman questions one manager's post match comments and wonders which team will react the better.

In complete contrast to the praise Stuart Pearce has bestowed upon his 23-man squad, I can't help but feel German coach Horst Hrubesch has gone way over the top in publicly condemning his team after last night's 1-1 draw with England.

At one point, Hrubesch was close to being put on suicide watch after admitting he was angry, completely dissatisfied, and couldn't live with the way that his young team had reached the semi-final stages of this summer's U21 European Championship.

So who is right and who is wrong? Both England and Germany remain unbeaten in their quest to become European Champions; the Germans were far more impressive in beating Finland than England were, and Hrubesch's men coped just as well defensively against a talented Spanish attack as the Three Lions did. Yet late last night we had Pearce proudly praising his team, whilst his opposite number was being highly critical of his own.

Perhaps the German coach is playing mind games with Pearce, after all, there is a real possibility of the two nations meeting in next Monday's final.

Pearce fielded a second-string side last night, but after seeing Jack Rodwell equalise Gonzalo Castro's early goal, Hrubesch must be seriously worried that, if they do meet again in the final, Germany will face a much stiffer task against an even stronger England side. His comments were probably aimed at getting a reaction from his team, but still, I don't think the young German lads deserved that criticism.

England have shortened slightly in the Winner market and are now available to back at [2.6] for European glory, whilst Germany are trading around the [4.0] mark. Spain were eliminated last night, this despite their 2-0 victory over Finland thanks to goals from Marc Torrejon and Pedro Leon.

I haven't mentioned the tournament Top Goalscorer market for a while, and that's because Sweden's Marcus Berg still has a clear advantage at the top of the scoring charts. Having scored three goals in the tournament so far, he is the clear favourite at [1.86] to win the golden boot, and bearing in mind that four goals have been enough to win this award at the last three U21 European Championships, Berg has an excellent chance of collecting here.

Those of you who have backed Berg at prices between [18.0] and [20.0] will already feel that Christmas has come early, but will have absolutely no shame in hoping that he scores again tonight in Group A's crucial encounter between Sweden and Serbia.

As I've mentioned previously, Italy are all but qualified (I'd be amazed if they lost to Belarus) meaning whoever wins between the Swedes and the Serbs will also reach the last four.

Sweden are available to back at [2.62] for victory tonight, but as our man James Eastham explains, a draw ([3.25]) will be enough for the host nation as it's Serbia who must take the three points in order to qualify. They can be backed at [3.15] to do so.

Italy are [3.5] second favourites to win the tournament outright, but will no doubt shorten in the market once tonight's games are concluded so back them now if you really fancy them. They will have little trouble getting the point they need to be absolutely certain of qualification, but I wouldn't put anyone of backing them at [1.39] to beat Belarus.

Have a read of James Eastham's full match preview and recommended bet by clicking this link.