Mainz stars shine once more as Germany U21s reach EUROs final

The Germany U21 national team have reached the final of the European Championship thanks to an equally resounding and deserved 3-0 win over France. For the first time during the tournament, two current Mainz players started for the young German side, and Nelson Weiper and Paul Nebel proved their worth early on as they each had a hand in the game’s opening goal. After Nebel’s attempt to score struck the crossbar, 20-year-old Weiper kept his cool to steer home for 1-0.

Both of the 05ers’ attackers continued to look promising throughout proceedings, creating myriad further chances, albeit without either managing to add their names to the score board once again. Nevertheless, Weiper was directly involved in Germany’s second of the evening, slipping Nick Woltemade in on goal before the Stuttgart striker applied the finishing touch to the move (14’).

Only the Young Lions stand between Germany and continental glory

After Weiper (71’) and Nebel (87’) were brought off, the spotlight shifted to Brajan Gruda, who had worn the red and white of Mainz from 2018 until 2024. Although the initial jubilation following his goal was short-lived, since the assistant’s flag was raised for offside, VAR corrected the decision and confirmed Germany’s third goal, sealing their passage to the U21 EUROs final (90’+3).

In their last fixture of the tournament, the young Germans will face a previous opponent in England, who they already defeated 2-1 during the group stage last Wednesday. Following their 2-1 semi-final victory over the Netherlands, the reigning champions will look to defend their crown on Saturday, 28th June (kick-off 21:00 CEST).

As he turned his attention to the weekend’s battle for European glory, Nelson Weiper certainly did not appear short on confidence in an interview shortly after full-time in the semi-final: “We’ve knocked out France and now we want to do the same to England!”