Football - Under 21 European Championship

The above competition started yesterday in Denmark.
The contenders have been whittled down to two leagues of 4 teams..



Yesterday the Group A games got off to a start..

Saturday, 11 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Belarus U21 2-0 Iceland U21
Denmark U21 0-1 Switzerland U21

I didn't see the early game, but it was goalless until the 77 minute when Belarus received a penalty & Iceland went down to 10 men. Not a very inspiring game, I read.
The hosts against the Swiss was a cracker though. Denmark looked off the pace & as hosts had not played a competitive game for a while. The Swiss carried on from the good form the senior squad had suddenly developed against England & looked a classy passing side. Xherdan Shaqiri had excelled in the senior squad & again looked in fine form. He eventually netted to win the game with a fine solo goal that would grace any occasion.
They are probably in the easiest group to qualify from (especially now they have defeated Denmark) but will not be pushovers to anyone if they continue displaying this sort of football.

England are actually favourites to win this competition, but that maybe discounts the fact that they are missing at least 4 of the players who have made them look so impressive in the qualifiers.
Tonight the play Spain, which promises to be a real test for them...

Sunday, 12 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Czech Rep U21 v Ukraine U21, GpB, 17:00
Spain U21 v England U21, GpB, 19:45

Group A was certainly the group to be drawn into for further qualification...Group B is a tough, tough series of games

Even with only a handfull of teams its just another tournament that England wont win tho they are managed by a better candidate than Capello in Stu Pearce and theres more endeavour in the yoounger lads .

I dint even know this was sheduled ...... so what happened to the Itais , Krauts , Scandos and Frogs did they get knocked out early or couldnt they find enuff young lads to rake a team together ??. Obviuosly Scotland and Whales dont count any way cos they never qualify for nowt unless its curling ,hurling or gurning !!!!!!!

mash...........thinking of becoming the European minister for sport ???

Yes, all the teams you mention were knocked out Jon.

The 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship started with a qualifying competition which began on 27 March 2009 and finished on 13 October 2010.

52 teams were formed into 10 leagues. The winners & top 4 second placed teams qualified for the play offs.
They then were drawn into 7 home & away play off games - hosts Denmark automatically qualifying.
This was the result of those games..

France came 3rd. in group 8 - won by Ukraine.
Germany came 3rd. in group 5 - won by Czech Republic, although Iceland qualified as a 2nd. placed team out of that group.
Scotland were very unlucky not to qualify, losing to Iceland after winning group 10.
England were rather fortunate, beating Romania after finishing second in group 9 to Greece.

Sunday, 12 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Czech Rep U21 2-1 Ukraine U21
Spain U21 1-1 England U21

The Czech Republic continued their good showing from the qualifiers to rather sweep aside Ukraine. They went into a 2 goal lead which the Ukrainians only managed to get one back right at the death.

Spain defied the games so far by scoring in the first half, the first side to do so. England equalised right near the end.
It was a strange match to watch. Spain played a pretty passing game in the Arsenal mode, but with even less penetration than that side managed at season end. The early lead that enabled them to do so came rather surprisingly from a corner. The score contained two blatant fouls by the Spanish & should not been allowed to stand.
The English defence looked good & seemed capable of handing the Spanish attack. Chris Smalling enhanced his reputation with a couple of last ditch penalty area tackles that his mentor Vidic would have been proud of. The English midfield was pretty woeful though. The defence were too often left with no option but to boot the ball upfield as no other option presented itself. Sturridge & Welbeck did not receive enough good ball to enable them to settle into any sort of rhythm.
The best attacking player on the pitch, without any doubt, was right full back Walker. When given the ball he proceeded to race past the Spanish midfield & defence as if they were wearing lead boots. Sadly the rest of his team mates were not clever enough to get the ball to him. Eventually Smalling produced a pass up the line which Walker cut inside the defence & produced the pass to allow Welbeck to turn & score. The goal had more than a bit of a hint of offside about it, but given the circumstances surrounding the Spanish goal was rightly allowed..

So Spain dominated possession but did little with it. I have a feeling that if someone can get a goal infront of them then we are in for a very exciting match.
England were disappointing. I think that they know that themselves, but still managed to pull off a result. I hope that they recognise the value that Walker attacking can have for the result a little earlier in the next game & that the midfield can be a bit more creative...

Next games are on Tuesday & Wednesday..

Tuesday, 14 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Switzerland U21 v Iceland U21, GpA, 17:00
Denmark U21 v Belarus U21, GpA, 19:45
Wednesday, 15 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Czech Rep U21 v Spain U21, GpB, 17:00
Ukraine U21 v England U21, GpB, 19:45

nbm47 wrote:WHAT TV SATELLITE OR CABLE CHANNEL IS THIS ON PLEASE

Not sure, sorry nbm. I am in England at the moment & it is on Sky satellite.
Matches so far have all been on 4pm, 6pm British Summer Time so about 11pm & 1am Thai time. I guess that there is not much conflicting sport or soaps on Thai TV at that time, so Channel 3 or 7 might show it - they did show the European Cup games live, but that was even later Thai time.

Tuesday, 14 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Denmark U21 2-1 Belarus U21
Switzerland U21 2-0 Iceland U21
Wednesday, 15 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Czech Rep U21 0-2 Spain U21
Ukraine U21 0-0 England U21

Denmark (the hosts) looked like a team who were very much in need of a competitive match in their first game against the Swiss. That continued against Belarus in the first half, although they managed to go into the break at one all. They improved considerably in the second half & were worthy winners.

Switzerland continued their good showing in this competition. Maybe the opposition have not been of the best but they have looked an organised & professional team who are looking to win their matches. Iceland showed in the qualifiers that they are no mugs at the under 21 level, but they rarely got a look in during the game.

The Czech Republic were many peoples' favourites to win this competition. They looked good in their first game against Ukraine but were brought back down to earth by a classy passing Spanish side. I still feel that if someone can get on top of the Spanish side they can be beaten, but it needed a better team than this.

England were woeful. I was hoping that something had been learnt from the Spanish encounter, but it had not. Cleverly off & Rodwell on was the only team change. It was insufficient. The 5 man midfield never saw the ball for any period of time. The ability to hold onto the ball was poor & no midfield player ever seemed to be willing to work himself into space for an easy pass. Sturridge was the only one who ever looked like scoring & was unlucky with at least two efforts.
Jones & Smalling were both excellent at the back, again, but were not exactly under huge pressure - except when trying to find an English player forward of them to pass the ball to...After fullback Walker was the attacking player of the English side against Spain, he was as subdued as most of his colleagues for this one.

England MUST win against the Czech Republic the on Sunday or they will be out of the competition.

Saturday, 18 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Iceland U21 v Denmark U21, GpA, 19:45
Switzerland U21 v Belarus U21, GpA, 19:45
Sunday, 19 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
England U21 v Czech Rep U21, GpB, 19:45
Ukraine U21 v Spain U21, GpB, 19:45

Sunday, 19 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
England U21 1-2 Czech Rep U21
Ukraine U21 0-3 Spain U21
Saturday, 18 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Iceland U21 3-1 Denmark U21
Switzerland U21 3-0 Belarus U21

Switzerland continue to impress in this competition. 3 games, 3 wins, no goals conceded. Not that they appear to be a particularly defence minded team - just seem to have their act together all round the park. Xherdan Shaqiri has been my player of the tournament so far. While some other players have shown individual skills Shaqiri has been one of the few who is happy to give others the opportunity to score as well as taking them himself.

Iceland chose their final game against the hosts to show some of the form that got them to this competition. Denmark showed why actually holding this competition is such a poisoned chalice. Without a competitive game for nearly 2 years they have looked way short of match sharpness. This result meant that both were condemned to leave the competition, with Belarus sneaking through despite being soundly beaten by the Swiss.

Spain continue to look impressive. I still think that they are actually not a brilliant team - when compared to their senior squad anyway - but they seem to be sailing past their competitors in this competition.

England appeared to have done just enough, until the last 5 minutes. Disappointing that they went out but I don't think anyone associated with the squad can claim to have been robbed. They just were not good enough. Not taking the strongest squad certainly did not help & many of the replacements played like they thought they were second best as well. Best part of 18 months of competing thrown away because some 20 year olds are too tired to play a few more games seems rather ridiculous to me. No doubt those concerned will still be refreshed enough to still take part in some meaningless (but financially lucrative) club competition before season start.

Wednesday, 22 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Spain U21 v Belarus U21, SF, 17:00
Switzerland U21 v Czech Rep U21, SF, 20:00

If it goes by performance so far then it is very difficult to look beyond a Swiss v Spain final.

Wednesday, 22 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Spain U21 3-1 Belarus U21 (After Extra Time)
Switzerland U21 1-0 Czech Rep U21 (After Extra Time)

Well, Spain were within 1 minute of exiting this competition. They scored an 89th. minute equaliser & then went onto score 2 more in extra time to record what looks like a comprehensive victory.
The Swiss also had to wait until extra time until they confirmed their place in the final as well.

I think it is reasonable to say that the final will be between the two sides who should the best footballing ability throughout this competition.

Spain did, as I suggested they might, struggle against a reasonable side who managed to get a goal ahead of them.
The Swiss against Czech Republic was a turgid affair (as semi finals often are) with the Czech side certainly playing to nullify the strengths of the Swiss side & they looked comfortable with the prospects of going to penalties. This certainly looked like the most likely prospect for large parts of a rather boring game.

So the Swiss go into the final still not having conceded a goal in this competition. With players missing through suspension in the semi final they did not look half the team going forward that they had looked in previous matches. It will be interesting to see if their style of play was 'found out' by the Czechs, or if the suspensions were that serious.
To some extent the Spanish were found out by Belarus as well....put them under pressure & they rather struggle to look as impressive as all the pretty passing looks when infront.
It should be a good final, especially if the Swiss can score an early goal...

Saturday, 25 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Belarus U21 v Czech Rep U21, 3rd , 17:00
Spain U21 v Switzerland U21, F, 19:45

Saturday, 25 June 2011 European Under-21 Championship
Belarus U21 1-0 Czech Rep U21
Spain U21 2-0 Switzerland U21

So Spain conquers another championship.
On reflection they probably deserved to do so although i am still not quite convinced of them as a side - they certainly were the best in this competition.
The Barcelona & senior Spanish squad have shown the success in playing the game where when you get possession you go backwards rather than lose the ball. In the Barcelona squad that is luckily aided by having the genius that is Messi. A player who in the blink of an eye can turn midfield possession into a goal. I am unconvinced that the possession game works so well without that spark & the Spanish under 21's do not possess it. Arsenal showed at season end that possession without goals can be a worthless point to win & resilient sides can have scant possession & still win or draw a match. It can also lead to pretty dreadful football games as far as the spectator is concerned & this under 21 competition did not often set the stage alight with breathtaking skill - Swiss Shaqiri apart.
I see that the Spanish success has already started rumours of Premiership transfers, with United being linked with Thiago Alcantara & the Gunners with Juan Mata.