It was a night to forget for Paul Bodin’s Wales Under 21 side, as they suffered a heavy disappointing defeat against Euro finalists Germany.
Robin Hack scored a hat-trick inside half hour to make it an uphill task for Wales. Johannes Eggestein added once more in the first half. Adrian Fein then added a fifth after Mike Harris had reduced the deficit to four.
Germany started the better of the two teams, and began to dominate possession, with Wales having to sit back and defend for long periods.
The visitors finally broke the deadlock with their first real clear opportunity, as Bote Baku’s low cross was fired into the bottom corner by Robin Hack in the 18th minute.
Wales hopes were dealt a further blow just four minutes later.
Germany added a second goal. after a fantastic cross field pass by Eggestein found Schlotterbeck in acres of space down the left flank.
Schlotterbeck cut inside, then played a clever pass into Robin Hack, whose shot took a wild deflection to take it beyond George Ratcliffe.
There was no end in sight for Wales, as Germany continued to push, and they had their third goal just as time ebbed towards the half hour mark.
as Nico Schlotterbeck beat George Ratcliffe to a loose ball, before Robin Hack headed the ball in to the empty net to secure his hat-trick.
Captain Johannes Eggestein buried a header into the back of the net to add a fourth goal.
With the visitors looking dominant and in complete control following a fantastic first-half performance, Wales had to come out and put in a very good second-half performance to stand any chance of salvaging a point from the match.
The hosts were awarded a penalty as Cameron Coxe’s cross bobbled up and hit Julian Chabot’s hand. Mark Harris stepped up and duly smashed the penalty into the top corner, leaving Markus Schubert no chance.
However, just as slim hopes of a Welsh comeback were being ignited, Germany then extinguished all hopes. George Ratcliffe failed to keep a hold of Johannes Eggestein’s shot, which led to a goalmouth scramble where Adrian Fein fired into the back of the net.
Both teams struggled to create any further clear-cut chances, despite Germany continuing to dominate possession.
Wales: Ratcliffe, Coxe, Norrington-Davies, Evans, Poole (C), Cabango, Cullen (Stirk 65), Burton, Harris, Johnson (Harry Clifton 76), Mooney (Oliver Cooper 86)
Germany: Schubert, Schlotterbeck (Tim Handwerker 70), Chabot, Serra (Lukas Nmecha 60), Kilian, Hack (Makana Baku 70), Dorsch (Salih Özcan 60), Fein (Dzenis Burnic 60), Janelt, Baku, Eggestein (C)
(Featured Image: Lewis Mitchell)
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