Germany held their nerve in an exciting penalty shootout to claim the 2016 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, beating Spain 3-2 on spot-kicks after drawing 0-0 after 80 minutes.
Germany had the better of the chances in the game with Tanja Pawolllek's header hitting the crossbar and Janina Minge's shot hitting the post. But Spain also had chances with their best coming from Candela Andújar which was brilliantly saved by the German goalkeeper.
But the game went into penalties, and Germany raced into a 2-1 lead. But four penalties were missed in a row, and when Spain equalised it meant that Caroline Siems had to score, or it would go into sudden death. Siems blasted the ball into the net as Germany won their fifth tournament.
Few first half chances
Spain had the final's first chance of the game when Paula Fernández shot wide.
But the chances dried up and it would take until the 20th minute for the next chance when Kara Bühl forced the Spanish 'keeper Noelia Ramos into a good save.
Germany were looking for the opener with Minge seeing her free-kick blocked by the Spanish defence.
Towards the end of the first half, Marie Müller came close but her shot missed the target and once again Bühl forced Noelia Ramos into a save.
But the scores were level at half-time.
Woodwork saves Spain
Early on in the second half, Laia Aleixandri tested the German 'keeper Leonie Doege from a distance.
But then Germany came close to taking the lead. Kristen Kögel's corner picked out Pawolleck whose header hit the crossbar. The ball fell to Bühl whose shot was saved by Noelia Ramos' legs.
Then Verena Wieder played Bühl into the box and her left-footed shot hit the right post.
Spain were struggling to create chances but came close when Fernández's corner found Natalia Ramos who headed just wide.
And then they had their best chance of the game. Lorena Navarro played Candela Andújar into the penalty area but her shot was superbly saved by the charging Doege.
A remarkable set of circumstances kept the scores level in the 69th minute. Minge's brilliant run saw her pick out Bühl in the box and her shot was saved by Noelia Ramos. The ball was cleared straight back to Minge and her curled shot was aimed at the middle of the goal where the Spanish keeper just managed to get her left hand to it, and watched as the ball hit the left post. But the ball fell to Anna-Lena Stolze, who turned and blasted the ball, only to be denied by Noelia Ramos' finger-tipped save.
Germany win on penalties
The final ended goalless after 80 minutes, and so it went straight to a penalty shootout. Spain were to take the first spot-kick but before Lucía Rodríguez could take it, the referee Eleni Antoniou decided the penalty shootout had to take part at the other end.
After an even longer walk than normal, Rodríguez placed the ball towards the bottom right-corner, but it lacked power and Doege made a great save.
Giulia Gwinn blasted her effort into the corner and put Germany into the lead before Leyre Monente equalised for Spain. Minge's cheeky chip re-established the Germans' lead.
Spain missed their second penalty when Andújar's effort hit the right post. This was the start of a remarkable schedule where four penalties were missed. Germany's Pawollek missed the target, Spain's Navarro saw her spot-kick saved and then Müller's effort was placed down the middle but diverted over the crossbar by Noelia Ramos.
Natalia Ramos equalised for Spain with her kick finding the bottom corner but Siems had the chance to win the shootout and she did so by blasting the ball high into the net, with Germany crowned Champions of Europe.