England and Spain’s Under-21s clash descended into chaos on Saturday night as their stars sparked a scuffle after Lee Carsley’s men won 3-1.
A large mass of players came together at the end as tempers flared but team-mates and officials worked to keep any handbags to a minimum.
Spain striker Mateo Joseph looked particularly vexed at England star Charlie Cresswell before Jay Stansfield intervened, in footage filmed by Mail Sport’s Nathan Salt.
While it was unclear what caused the brawl, Cresswell had a handball decision against him overturned by VAR a few minutes into the game, a call which had left Spain furious.
James McAtee and Harvey Elliott bagged inside the first 15 minutes to put England on course for victory.
But Spain were handed a lifeline from the penalty spot when Jarell Quansah brought down Alberto Moleiro late in the first half – a chance Javi Guerra lapped up.
However, Elliot Anderson converted a late penalty late penalty to wrap up the win and seal a last-four showdown with the Netherlands as England seek to retain their title.
On the brawl, Carsley said: ‘I think there are better ways to build camaraderie! But I think awe had something similar in the final [two years ago].
‘Emotions run very high and in those kinds of scenarios you don’t want anyone to get sent off, anyone to throw a punch or get themselves in trouble. You try and be as respectful to both sides but you can see how much it means to the players.
‘To represent your country in a quarter-final, it means a lot. We probably have to give them a bit of leeway.
‘Thankfully it didn’t go over the top but it’s still not nice to see. We are always trying to fly the flag and encourage younger players especially to take up football and enjoy the game… but the passion was just a bit much.’
England captain McAtee said: ‘I never saw the challenge, I saw the boys start going into it, so always going in to help. It’s part of football, and you just have to stick together as a team.
‘It’s a big game, we know that. It’s two big teams in the tournament, so them kicking off, we can’t sit back and just let them do it, we have to give them a bit back, so I am happy with the boys.’
England won this tournament in Georgia two years ago but had flattered to deceive in the tournament so far, stumbling out of the groups and they arrived here as underdogs, not that any of the players agreed.
Carsley told some home truths to his players after they lost their final group game 2-1 to Germany and he shuffled his pack with four changes here.
In came captain McAtee and Livramento, while Tyler Morton and Stansfield received their first starts of the tournament.
Less than 90 seconds in it looked like it would be a case of deja vu for Carsley and his players when Italian referee Simone Souza pointed to the spot for a handball on Cresswell.
Germany took the lead three minutes in and here were Spain with the chance to punish England inside two minutes, only for VAR to intervene and overturn.
That was a game-changing moment for England, who looked a team transformed in the immediate aftermath.
They found a way to dominate possession, Morton and Alex Scott doing a brilliant job at passing it around frustrated Spanish markers and 10 minutes in England got their reward.
Scott’s whipped in corner was inadvertently flicked on at the near post by a Spanish head and it was McAtee who reacted quickest to the loose ball, firing into the corner from eight yards out.
Elliott then profited from a goalkeeping error off a shot from his Liverpool team-mate Quansah, before Anderson made it 3-1 in the 93rd minute after a Spanish penalty goal had set up a tense second half just before the interval.
