Spain 6-5 Germany: Breaking down an absolutely wild game of football

New York Times

7 hours ago

Just when you thought you had seen everything that football had to offer.
How about a missed penalty, a calamitous own goal, and two separate hat-tricks — including a goal straight from a corner, three goals in stoppage time, four in extra-time, and a 119th-minute winner — all for a place in a tournament final?
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Spain vs Germany at the Under-19s European Championship on Monday night had it all, a thrilling game decided by the individual performance of a lifetime. With a dramatic 6-5 win, Paco Gallardo's side set up a meeting with the Netherlands on Thursday, where they will look to defend their title and win the tournament for a record-extending 10th time.
From rattled crossbars to goal-line saves, an olimpico to a lesser-spotted poker, this is how the madness quickly began to unfold.
Ever get the feeling that online highlights packages aren't quite enough? Finish watching and feel a bit short-changed?
You have to feel for the editors on this occasion, but UEFA's three-minute offering on their official site certainly falls into that category, averaging a goal every 16 seconds as it cut straight to Max Moerstedt's opener on 28 minutes, glossing over a frantic start to the game.
There were crunch challenges in midfield and brilliant efforts from distance as the game quickly found its rhythm, an end-to-end contest funnelled down the flanks with positive wingers desperate to take on their man. Jano Monserrate fired an early warning shot into the stands for Spain, before opposition captain Paris Brunner saw his bouncing effort deflected over, an instinctive knee from centre-back Andres Cuenca seeing the ball graze the top of the bar.
The deadlock was inevitably broken soon after by Moerstedt, diverting into the far corner on the slide following an out-to-in run down the left by tricky wide player Said El Mala.
The 18-year-old had a stellar campaign in the German third-tier with Viktoria Koln, and caused the Spanish full-backs problems all afternoon with his directness and ambition, this cross his fifth goal contribution of the tournament already. Snapped up by Bundesliga side FC Koln, keep an eye out for that name in the future.
Remarkably, that was the only goal of the first half, but it still didn't pass by quietly. Newcastle-bound Antonio Cordero missed a penalty seven minutes after Germany went ahead, his driven effort down the middle saved by the knees of Konstantin Heide, before the talented Assan Ouedraogo, picked up by RB Leipzig for €10million at the start of last season, almost won a spot-kick of his own after a mazy run into the box.
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That was just one example of the supreme technical quality on show, rangy box-t0-box midfielders chopping and spinning out of pressure in the middle, with fizzing one-vs-one battles out wide. None were more bright than Spain's Pablo Garcia, a stocky winger with tip-tapping feet and a sharp turn of pace who loves to cut inside onto his left foot and shoot, notably taking aim for all of 40-yards moments after winning that penalty with a probing run down the opposite flank.
We would soon see from where that confidence came.
The second 45 minutes started with the same intensity, but it felt as if Spain, chasing the game, were the side on top. Celta Vigo's Oscar Marcos tried a speculative swivel and volley five minutes after the break, but he really should have put his side back on level terms two minutes later, pulling wide from a Cordero cut-back from the penalty spot.
It didn't take long for the equaliser to arrive, however, as Garcia grabbed the first of his four goals — known as a poker in both Spanish and German football — with a remarkable finish directly from a corner. Intentional or not, the technique warrants attention, a player with a low centre of gravity enabling him to almost crouch over the ball as he strikes through it, helping to consistently generate power and whip on his stronger side.
This one sailed over Heide — no mean feat, the German goalkeeper is 189cm (6ft 2in) — and cannoned in off the back post.
Pablo García, remember the name 😮‍💨💎
This was one of his 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 goals for Spain U19 against Germany. He also delivered one assist 🤯
🎥 IG/ks7official pic.twitter.com/bGChXRaodt
— 433 (@433) June 23, 2025
Such an extraordinary goal seemed to encourage more logic-bending football from either side, as Spain were denied by a last-ditch clearance from a corner, a combination of Jon Martin and a trailing leg sending the ball onto the post and bobbling across the goal line.
Raul Jimenez Latorre then produced a fantastic save down to parry a powerful shot by Brunner, but he could do nothing to stop a crisp finish into the far corner by the lively El Mala, restoring Germany's lead with just twelve minutes to go.
That prompted a substitution, and a game-changing one, as Spanish winger Jan Virgili came on to try to salvage the game. He was signed by Barcelona from third-tier side Gimnastic de Tarragona last summer, with the aim of bolstering the Juvenil A (U19) team, but his progress has been so rapid that he is now a starter for Barcelona Atletic, fast-tracked to senior football way ahead of schedule.
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It took the 18-year-old moments to show what he is all about, a diminutive, fleet-footed dribbler who wasted no time getting at Maximilian Hennig. The full-back almost lost balance as Virgili shimmied from side to side, driving to the byline and picking out a cross for Omar Janneh to head wide.
With time running out, it was Garcia who popped up again with the equaliser, thumping home after the ball broke to him in the box. It sparked wild celebrations, but nothing compared to those as he chopped inside and curled into the far corner three minutes later, single-handedly turning the game with two sweetly-struck finishes on in the 91st and 95th minutes to complete his hat-trick.
But this contest was still nowhere near over. El Mala floated in a desperate ball into the mixer as the clock hit 98 minutes, with goalkeeper Heide on the scene for the last throw of the dice.
It caused inexplicable chaos in the penalty area; Latorre completely lost his footing under the flight of the ball, before Andres Cuenca reacted quickest in attempt to swipe the ball away.
He met the cross with a horrible miscue, scoring an incredible own goal to send the tie to extra time with the last kick of the game.
Thirty more minutes, and five more goals to come.
No prizes for guessing whose left boot was involved in the next goal.
His 14th — but crucially, not final — shot of the game, Garcia curled a free-kick onto the post six minutes into extra time, his effort rebounding into the path of Tomas Marques to poke home and make it 4-3.
Enjoy the shotmap, kindly provided by Opta, below. Fifteen shots.
Spain kept the pressure on, and an incredible solo run from Virgili, including a nutmeg on centre-back Leopold Wurm, might have put the game to bed were it not for his tame finish at the end.
But Germany, remarkably, came back, as Moerstedt grabbed his second from point-blank range.
Standing at 194cm (6ft 4in), the Hoffenheim forward needed every inch of his towering frame to nod home after Latorre parried a powerful, deflected cross into the air.
Moerstedt must have thought he had finally won it, sealing his hat-trick just after the extra-time break with a clinical finish on his weak side.
Latching onto a through pass from Jarzinho Malanga, he slid the ball through the legs of the goalkeeper, to complete the second mini-turnaround of the game, from 4-3 to 5-4 in the space of 10 minutes.
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But then came Virgili, first thumping the bar with a spectacular effort from the edge of the penalty area, before scoring a sensational equaliser after a driving run down the flanks.
Picking up the ball in front of his manager, he leaves poor Lukas Reich for dead with his extraordinary pace down the touchline, ducking into the box and toe-poking the ball between the goalkeeper's legs.
Last goal now, we promise. And it was fitting that Virgili was involved again, dragging the ball away from Mateo Kritzer, flitting into the space on the edge of the box and sliding it through perfectly for Garcia, who took the ball around Heide to bundle in his fourth.
Virgili almost knocks the goalscorer out with his celebration, charging into his teammate as the celebratory mob approaches. But even with 118 minutes on the clock, and three goals already to his name, Garcia's movement is sharp, darting from the defender's blindside to pick up the perfect slide-rule pass.
That concluded a crazy game, the highest-scoring contest in the history of the U19 European Championship, and one that we might look back on in fondness when Garcia, Virigili, El Mala and others go on to hit the heights that their undeniable talent suggests.