Portugal to face Sweden in European Under-21 Championship final after thrashing Germany

Portugal are through to the final of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship following a resounding 5-0 win over Germany in Olomouc.

The Group B winners, who beat England earlier this month, underlined their status as one of the pre-tournament favourites in fine style as goals from AS Monaco's Bernardo Silva, Ricardo and Ivan Cavaleiro gave them a commanding half-time lead.

Ricardo Horta and Joao Mario added to the rout after the break and Portugal will move forward to the tournament's showpiece on 30 June bristling with confidence having conceded just once in their four matches to date.

"I am proud, I am really proud of them," coach Rui Jorge was quoted as saying by UEFA's official website.

"We have a lot of trust in these players – all this time they've been with us, they have shown total commitment, passion, respect, and I am delighted they are showing just how good they are. Our main role here is to help their development and to give them the right conditions to continue showing their ability.

"It is an historic moment for Portuguese football at Under-21 level. We've already reached one final in 1994 but that was in a different format so to get here is historic. When we picked this group, we knew they had a lot of quality. Of course we had some fears when they came here, about whether they could show all their qualities, but we knew what they were capable of – playing against big teams like this one we've faced today."

For Germany, it was a record defeat at U21 level and manager Horst Hrubesch lamented the team's uncharacteristic mistakes while expressing his gratitude that the manner of defeat was not even worse.

"When you lose 5-0 there are not many excuses you can give," he said. "We wanted to be aggressive from the start but we didn't get into the game. I was just relieved in the end that it was not more than five. The team have the character to accept it – we win together and we lose together.

"We lost our one-on-ones from the off. We missed our passes. We didn't do the easy things well. It was the entire team, not any individuals, and if you do this against a team of Portugal's quality, there is nothing you can do. They didn't let us play, we couldn't get into our game and when they made it 4-0 just after restart, the game was over, there was no way back."

Sweden will provide Portugal's opposition for the final after Hakan Ericson's side eased past Denmark 4-1 at the Letna Stadium in Prague.

Former Manchester City striker John Guidetti got the scoring under way from the penalty spot after 23 minutes and Simon Tibbling doubled the advantage soon afterward.

Denmark looked to have set up a nervy finish after Uffe Bech pulled one back after half-time, but late efforts from Robin Quaison and captain Oscar Hiljemark secured an emphatic victory.

Sweden and Portugal drew 1-1 in their first meeting in Uherske Hradiste on 24 June, a result that denied Italy a place in the last four despite their impressive defeat of England.

Goncalo Paciencia and Tibbling were the scorers that day.