Euro U19 Championship: Portugal to thwart Germany

Germany U19 coach Marcus Sorg's grip on the trophy is still loose

Michael Lintorn thinks Germany U19 are worth taking on in the European U19 Championship final...

Portugal U19 v Germany U19
Thursday, 18:00
Live on British Eurosport

Match Odds: Portugal U19 4.57/2, Germany U19 1.845/6, The Draw 4.03/1

Germany U19 were fancied pre-tournament to piggyback their senior side's World Cup success and are favoured again now following their 4-0 semi-final dismissal of Austria U19. However, in between those two checkpoints, Portugal U19 were the participants providing all the entertainment.

The three-time champions won each of their Group A games, the majority of them emphatically as Israel U19 were dismissed 3-0 and Hungary U19 ate a 1-6 reverse, with their one stutter coming in the last round against Serbia U19, when they required penalties to progress after a 0-0 draw.

However, Serbia U19 were the defending champions and best team in the competition besides the two finalists, and Germany U19 couldn't conquer them in regulation time either, spoiling the Group B shares 2-2, so Portugal U19's failure to beat them appears to have been overanalysed.

Portugal U19 have remained unbeaten throughout the whole process, with the Serbia U19 clash the first time in their ten fixtures that they didn't prevail in 90 minutes after flawless records in qualifying and their group, so there is no way that they should be odds-on to lose.

Germany U19 meanwhile finished as runners-up on three of the last four occasions that they reached the final, with Portugal U19 being the ones to deny them in 1994.

Both Teams to Score

The carefree atmosphere of the early group games has intensified as the tournament has developed, with four of the most recent seven encounters delivering under 2.5 goals and five of those rewarding punters who bet against both teams scoring.

Both the 2012 and 2013 finals of the European U19 Championship were decided by one goal, with Serbia defeating France 1-0 last year and Spain serving Greece the same dose in 2012.

Best Bet: Lay Germany U19 to win @ 1.855/6
Other Recommended Bet: Back Both Teams to Score? No @ 2.3211/8