Meet Europe’s budding talent.
The lineup is complete for the European U-21 Championships to be held in Denmark in the summer of 2011. Seven countries joined hosts Denmark as they booked their places at next summer’s tournament with composed victories in the playoffs. Iceland and Belarus were the surprise packages as they joined England, Spain, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Switzerland.
Playoff Aggregate Results:
England 2-1 Romania
Ukraine 3-3aet Netherlands (Ukraine progress on away goals)
Spain 5-1 Croatia
Switzerland 5-2 Sweden
Iceland 4-2 Scotland
Czech Republic 5-0 Greece
Belarus 3-2aet Italy
History:
England and Spain has qualified for the finals the most often, with 10 appearances each. This will be Iceland’s first appearance.
Italy dominates at this level and has won the tournament five times.
Predictions:
With the elimination of both the strong Dutch and Croat teams, Spain are the early favourites to triumph; especially since their squad is filled with players who boast a wealth of La Liga experience, some already being household names. However with Ukraine and the unbeaten Czech Republic, still at large, Spain’s work is cut out for them. In addition both England and Switzerland should provide some competition with some useful players on tap. Expect a final four of Spain, England, Ukraine and Czech Republic.
Players to watch for:
Jack Wilshere, Mark Albrighton, Chris Smalling, Tomas Pekhart, Libor Kozak, David De Gea, Fran Merida, Bojan Krkic, Juan Mata, Sergio Canales, Volodymyr Lysenko.
Many of these players will hope to follow in the footsteps of 2009 Euro U-21 Champions Ozil, Khedira, Neuer and Jerome Boateng; who went on to help Germany dazzle while finishing third at the 2010 World Cup. Often used a stage for clubs and national associations to showcase their upcoming talent; it also provides a canvas for coaches to try out various combinations and player formations, sometimes with a view of reusing them, on the big stage, for the senior national team. Several youth teams from the past have been used to retool national teams, most notably the current German national team but also Ukraine, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
For players who are on the cusp of the national side as well as on the fringes of their club first eleven, the opportunity presents itself for making history by winning something, as well as displaying their abilities to potential employers and current managers. Many players have gone on to starring roles at some of the biggest clubs in the world. Many more will hope to do so again.
Past Winners (with notable team members):
1992 – Italy (Demetrio Albertini, Roberto Muzzi, Dino Baggio)
1994 – Italy (Christian Panucci, Filippo Inzaghi, Francesco Toldo)
1996 – Italy (Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Francesco Totti)
1998 – Spain (Guti, Michel Salgado, Juan Carlos Valeron)
2000 – Italy (Andrea Pirlo, Nicola Ventola, Gianni Commandini)
2002 – Czech Republic (Milan Baros, Petr Cech, Zdenek Grygera)
2004 – Italy (Alberto Gilardino, Daniele De Rossi, Marco Borriello)
2006 – Netherlands (Stijn Schaars, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Demy De Zeeuw)
2007 – Netherlands (Ryan Babel, Royston Drenthe, Hedwiges Maduro)
2009 – Germany (Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Manuel Neuer)
Focus:
Spain is reaping the rewards of strong youth programme across all the clubs in La Liga with a seemingly limitless supply of youth talent. With such riches in abundance, Spain’s chances of winning this tournament appear more than healthy as the youth team seems to be a smaller mirror image of the senior squad, who are currently World and European champions. We look at the potential team in some depth.
Goal - Young Atletico Madrid ‘keeper David De Gea is already first choice at club level, having made 25 starts. With his performances drawing rave reviews this season, along with transfer rumours, his ability to backstop Spain to the title is unquestioned.
Defence – A stalwart at La Liga side Osasuna since 2007, Cesar Azpilicueta earned a transfer to be starting right-back at 2010 Ligue 1 Champions Marseille. With over 100 top flight appearances to his name, he is the unquestioned leader at the back. Both the centre-halves Victor Ruiz and Mikel San Jose are established starters in La Liga, with the latter already having won the Euro U-19 championship with Spain in 2007. Left back Alvaro Dominguez is one of those rare things, a Spanish left back from Atletico, and has made over 30 La Liga appearances to date.
Midfield – This is where Spain’s embarrassment of riches is almost an anomaly as all four starters are on the verge of being world class players, who will entertain for the decade to come. Captain Juan Mata has come into his own with Valencia this season, being one of the bedrocks on which their charge up the La Liga table is built. Strong, creative and direct, his class belies his young age. Another Atletico player, via the famed Barcelona and Arsenal youth programme, Fran Merida, is the heartbeat of the current Rojiblancos who is a playmaker in the Fabregas mould welded with ferocious long range shooting. Getafe midfielder Daniel Parejo, is very much the accomplished finished product, who has gone from strength to strength since his debut with Real in 2008. Completing the quartet is the next big thing, Sergio Canales, whose sparkling displays for Real Sociedad over the past 2 seasons saw him snapped up by Real Madrid.
Attack – Spain’s forward line is led by Bojan Krkic, a standout from Barcelona’s youth academy. Krkic has already carved his niche with the Catalan giants, making over 80 appearances and scoring more than 20 goals since his debut in 2007, aged just 16. Completing the team is Adrian Lopez, the pacy Deportivo striker with close to 100 starts in La Liga.
Obviously selection and fitness will play a big part but expect this Spanish U-21 team to go all the way.
Dates:
The tournament starts 11th June 2011 with the final being played on 25th June at Aarhus Stadion in Aarhus.
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