10:06pm Monday 29th June 2009
By Anthony Matthews
Scott Loach suffered a torrid European Championship Under-21 final tonight as England were thumped 4-0 by old rivals Germany in Sweden to ensure their 25-year wait to lift the trophy continues.
The Watford keeper, given the chance to impress on the biggest stage of his life by Stuart Pearce after suspension ruled Joe Hart out of the showdown in Malmo, was beaten for the first time after 23 minutes when Gonzalo Castro nicked the ball past him after good work by play-maker Mesut Ozil.
But within three minutes of the restart, the 21-year-old suffered a moment all stoppers dread. Ozil hit a speculative 35-yard free-kick that swerved in the air and deceived Loach, who stuck out his left hand but was unable to prevent the ball bobbling over the line.
To add insult to injury, Loach was between twice more in the final 15 minutes - and on both occasions it was Sandro Wagner who scored.
The manner of this defeat was in marked contrast to the manner in which Jay DeMerit was denied Confederations Cup glory 24 hours earlier - seeing his American side let a two-goal slip as Brazil ran out 3-2 victors in South Africa - but both players have still ensured another chapter is written in Vicarage Road history.
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