Euro U21 Championship Thread

[LoyalRoyalFan]

England are taking part in the European Under 21 Championships this summer in Sweden. Stuart Pearce will be guiding the team.

Groups

Group A

Sweden
Belarus
Italy
Serbia

Group B

Spain
Germany
England
Finland

2007's Winner's Holland did not even make it to the finals.

Group Stage Fixtures

Match kick-offs are listed in CET.
15/06 Grp B England 18:15 Finland
15/06 Grp B Spain 20:45 Germany
16/06 Grp A Sweden 18:15 Belarus
16/06 Grp A Italy 20:45 Serbia
18/06 Grp B Germany 18:15 Finland
18/06 Grp B Spain 20:45 England
19/06 Grp A Sweden 16:00 Italy
19/06 Grp A Belarus 18:15 Serbia
22/06 Grp B Finland 20:45 Spain
22/06 Grp B Germany 20:45 England
23/06 Grp A Serbia 20:45 Sweden
23/06 Grp A Belarus 20:45 Italy

Tournemant Odds

From Coral :


Spain U21 3/1
Italy U21 10/3
England U21 7/2
Germany U21 11/2
Serbia U21 13/2
Sweden U21 9/1
Belarus U21 20/1
Finland U21 40/1

England's Participation in this thread is highlighted in Bold.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

England's Squad

Joe Hart (Manchester City) - GK
Joe Lewis (Peterborough) - GK
Scott Loach (Watford) - GK
Martin Cranie (Portsmouth)
Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal)
Michael Mancienne (Chelsea)
Nedum Onuoha (Manchester City)
Micah Richards (Manchester City)
Andrew Taylor (Middlesbrough)
Steven Taylor (Newcastle)
James Tomkins (West Ham)
Lee Cattermole (Wigan)
Andrew Driver (Hearts)
Craig Gardner (Aston Villa)
Adam Johnson (Middlesbrough)
James Milner (Aston Villa)
Fabrice Muamba (Bolton)
Mark Noble (West Ham)
Jack Rodwell (Everton)
Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
Frazier Campbell (Manchester United)
Danny Welbeck (Manchester United)

[Deathy]

That's a bloody good squad!

[FiNeRaIn]

That's a bloody good squad!

Agree, happy with that.

[rg6royal]

Bloody hell that is a strong squad. What about Andy Carroll though?

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Aaron Lennon is 22 and he didn't get in the squad. Ashley Young is 23 and didn't get in. James Milner is 23 and he got into the squad.

[moo]

surely players should be under 21??

[Murts-is-Lej]

surely players should be under 21??

All players had to be 21 or under when the qualification process began at the start of the 2007/8 season.

[FiNeRaIn]

surely players should be under 21??

All players had to be 21 or under when the qualification process began at the start of the 2007/8 season.

Thats a bit ridiculous. As soon as they hit their 22nd b-day they shouldn't be eligible.

[Dirk Gently]

Interesting to note that none of the matches are on a Saturday or Sunday. There's been quite a bit of speculation why this is, as it obviously makes it harder for people to attend matches as a "one off" if they're only on weekdays.

The only possible suggestion can be to benefit TV companies as they'd much rather screen matches on weekday evenings rather than weekends.

[RG30]

Get your money on Serbia, they were 11's at one stage last week

[papereyes]

This and Confederations cup >>> Ingerland at the world cup and loads of plastic flags

[Royal Rother]

surely players should be under 21??

All players had to be 21 or under when the qualification process began at the start of the 2007/8 season.

Thats a bit ridiculous. As soon as they hit their 22nd b-day they shouldn't be eligible.

It would mean too much disruption of squads (is the argument). It's just a cut-off point really - might be more accurate if they called it the U23 Championship and left the citeria as it is I suppose - doesn't really matter though, it's just a tournament for the younger players.

Rather looking forward to this as it is a strong squad and certainly provided some good entertainment last time around.

(Mind you the last tournament will forever be remembered by many RFC fans as the time when it became fully apparent that Leroy Lita was becoming a Grade A twat.)

[Silver Fox]

My memories of that tournament are of Lita playing really well actually

[Thaumagurist*]

'greed, Lita really played well at the last tournament, he hadn't been the same for Reading since.

Well, what about this tournament, are Germany and Spain's youth teams any good?

[Stranded]

surely players should be under 21??

All players had to be 21 or under when the qualification process began at the start of the 2007/8 season.

Thats a bit ridiculous. As soon as they hit their 22nd b-day they shouldn't be eligible.

All age group football has a particular date as a cut off. If you are under the age for that group as at that date you can play that level for the entire season/competition regardless of if you have a b'day during the time. It seems more pronounced at U21 as its a 2 year cycle rather that a 1 year cycle.

[TBM]

Pointless tournament.

[Thaumagurist*]

Pointless tournament.

'greed.

[Royal Rother]

My memories of that tournament are of Lita playing really well actually

My memories of Lita are as follows:

1. Dribbling round the 'keeper and putting it wide from a yard or 2 out.
2. Missing penalty.
3. Knocking one in with his head from a foot out (good reaction actually) then going preposterously / embarrassingly mental and giving it the big I AM in front of a TV camera.
4. Playing better as the tournament progressed.

1-3 outweighed 4 in my memory book.

[Royal Rother]

Pointless tournament.

Hmm, I'm surprised you think that.

Good education for them. Getting experience of well-contested tournament football won't do them any harm at all.