Classy Dutch U-21 attack (Video)

It seems to the casual observer that the Dutch have a conveyer belt of young forwards. While teams all over Europe are drooling over Luuk De Jong and Adam Maher, there are other attackers in their under-21 team that have caught the eye.

One of them is Leroy Fer whose late strike gave the young Oranje squad victory over perennial rivals Germany. At 23 he is one of the veterans in this Netherlands side and has probably featured with the U-21s more than he would have wanted to. But the tall, powerful striker who reminds one a little bit of Togolese forward Emmanuel Adebayor has been crucial in the Dutch reaching the European U-21 Championship semi-finals.

The first of his two strikes off the bench was more crucial to the quest for a last-four slot. It came towards the end of a game that appeared destined for a draw after Germany had clawed their way back from two goals down. His next goal added gloss to a 5-1 spanking of Russia. The FC Twente forward’s talent hasn’t gone unnoticed; Everton were posed to sign him in January when the deal suddenly fell through.

With such quality coming through the ranks every year, it’s no wonder we’ve forgotten such names as Royston Drenthe.