Netherlands retain their U-17 European title

CAIRO – 20 May 2019: Netherlands defeated Italy 4-2 at 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Final to achieve their fourth title in the history and their second in a row.

Sontje Hansen opened the score for Netherlands after 20 minutes and his teammate, Naoufal Bannis, doubled the score 10 minutes later.

Netherlands scored the third goal seconds before the half time thanks to a strike from Ian Maatsen and the players went to the half time with a hand on the title.

At the second half, Italy’s performance improved and they scored their opening goal in the game by Lorenzo Colombo who gave the Italian fans hope to return in the game.

However, Naci Ünüvar scored the fourth to Netherlands to secure their victory over the Italian team who scored their second goal by Colombo seconds before the final whistle.

Netherlands became the first nation to win the title four times and the first to retain U 16 and U 17 title twice.

France’s Adil Aouchiche won the tournament’s top goal scorer after he netted 9 goals during his team’s campaign that ended with a 2-1 loss to Italy during the semi-final.

The Republic of Ireland hosted 16 European teams at the tournament between 3 and 19 May.