2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
| Europees kampioenschap voetbal onder 21 - 2007 | |
|---|---|
| File:2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.png | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands |
| Dates | 10–23 June |
| Teams | 8 (finals) 51 (qualifying) (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg Serbia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 34 (2.27 per match) |
| Attendance | 211,999 (14,133 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Netherlands Maceo Rigters (4 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Netherlands Royston Drenthe |
← 2006 2009 → | |
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The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 to 23 June 2007. It was the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship.
Summary
For the first time, a host nation was chosen ahead of the competition – the Netherlands, who were also the defending champions, were exempt from qualifying. The host nation was chosen on 15 December 2005. England, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Sweden also submitted bids. Of UEFA's 52 member countries, only the Faroe Islands did not compete in the qualification round for the tournament. That left 50 nations attempting to qualify for the seven remaining spots at the finals. This was the first time that the competition's final matches took place in an odd-numbered year. UEFA took this decision with the will to give more visibility to the tournament, since during even-numbered years the competition was clouded by the approaching FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. The tournament also served as the European qualifying tournament for the 2008 Summer Olympics, with a place for the four semi-finalists of the tournament.[1][2] However, as England is not an Olympic nation, their team was ineligible for the Olympics; since England reached the semi-finals, a fifth-place playoff was necessary. In this competition, a new UEFA penalty shoot-out record was established.[3] The semi final between The Netherlands U21 and England U21 finished 1–1. Thirty-two penalties had to be taken before the tie was decided. The Netherlands U21 won 13–12,[4] and went on to win the tournament by defeating Serbia U21 4–1 in the final.[5] After the final, some commotion arose in the Netherlands because several Dutch internationals with Surinamese roots carried the flag of Suriname with them during the trophy presentation.[citation needed] Dutch coach Foppe de Haan expressed the actions of these players as "inappropriate".[citation needed]
Qualification
In order to make the switch from even to odd-numbered years, the 2007 edition was a shortened version, condensed from a two-year campaign into a one-year campaign. Therefore, a completely new qualification format was devised to eliminate the weaker nations early, and saw a decrease in the size and duration of qualification groups.
Finals tournament
Draw
The draw for the finals took place in Arnhem on 24 November 2006, putting the eight qualifying nations into two groups. The provisional dates for the group games are 10 June to 17 June 2007, with Heerenveen and Arnhem each staging a semi-final on 20 June. The final took place on Saturday 23 June at Euroborg in Groningen. The opening game was between the Netherlands and Israel at 10 June.
Venues
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Arnhem | Gelredome | 25,000 |
| Heerenveen | Abe Lenstra Stadion | 26,100 |
| Groningen | Euroborg | 20,000 |
| Nijmegen | De Goffert | 13,000 |
Squads
Group stage
| Team qualified for the knockout stage | |
| Team went to play-off for Olympics |
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 |
| File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |
| File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 4 |
| File:Flag of Israel.svg Israel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 |
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| Netherlands File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg | 1–0 | File:Flag of Israel.svg Israel |
|---|---|---|
| Maduro File:Soccerball shade.svg 10' | Report |
| Israel File:Flag of Israel.svg | 0–1 | File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Mirallas File:Soccerball shade.svg 82' |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg Serbia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| File:Flag of England.svg England | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 |
| File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 |
| File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 |
| Serbia File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg | 1–0 | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Milovanović File:Soccerball shade.svg 63' | Report |
| Czech Republic File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg | 0–1 | File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg Serbia |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Janković File:Soccerball shade.svg 90+3' |
| England File:Flag of England.svg | 2–0 | File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg Serbia |
|---|---|---|
| Lita File:Soccerball shade.svg 5' Derbyshire File:Soccerball shade.svg 77' |
Report |
Knockout stage
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 20 June – Heerenveen | ||||||
| File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | 1 (13) | |||||
| 23 June – Groningen | ||||||
| File:Flag of England.svg England | 1 (12) | |||||
| File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | 4 | |||||
| 20 June – Arnhem | ||||||
| File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg Serbia | 1 | |||||
| File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg Serbia | 2 | |||||
| File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium | 0 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Serbia File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg | 2–0 | File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium |
|---|---|---|
| Kolarov File:Soccerball shade.svg 4' Mrđa File:Soccerball shade.svg 87' |
Report |
Final
|
Man of the Match:
|
Awards
Best player
- Royston Drenthe (Netherlands)
Team of the tournament
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Serbia Branislav Ivanović |
Netherlands Royston Drenthe |
Belgium Kevin Mirallas |
Goalscorers
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
- Italy Alberto Aquilani
- Netherlands Ryan Babel
- Italy Giorgio Chiellini
- Belgium Kevin Mirallas
- Serbia Dragan Mrđa
- Portugal Miguel Veloso
1 goal
- Netherlands Otman Bakkal
- Netherlands Luigi Bruins
- England Matt Derbyshire
- Netherlands Royston Drenthe
- Portugal Manuel Fernandes
- Serbia Boško Janković
- Serbia Aleksandar Kolarov
- Netherlands Hedwiges Maduro
- Serbia Dejan Milovanović
- Portugal Nani
- England David Nugent
- Czech Republic Michal Papadopulos
- Belgium Sébastien Pocognoli
- Italy Giuseppe Rossi
- Portugal Ricardo Vaz Tê
Medal table and Olympic qualifiers
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st place, gold medalist(s) | File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands (H) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 11 | Champions |
| 2nd place, silver medalist(s) | File:Flag of Serbia (2004–2010).svg Serbia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 9 | Runners-up |
| 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) | File:Flag of England.svg England | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | Eliminated in semi-finals |
| 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) | File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 5 | |
| 5 | File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 4 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 6 | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | |
| 7 | File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 | |
| 8 | File:Flag of Israel.svg Israel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 |
(H) Hosts
Olympic qualifying play-off
The 2007 European Under-21 Championship also served as the European qualifying round for the 2008 Olympic football tournament. Europe's four places at the Olympics were to be filled by the four semi-finalists; however, because England, one of the semi-finalists, cannot compete independently at the Olympics, a play-off match between Portugal and Italy, the two third-placed teams in each group, was arranged to identify the fourth European team to go to Beijing. Italy defeated Portugal through a penalty shoot-out.
| Portugal File:Flag of Portugal.svg | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
| Moutinho soccer ball with check mark Nani soccer ball with check mark Fernandes soccer ball with red X Veloso soccer ball with check mark Antunes soccer ball with red X |
3–4 | soccer ball with check mark Pellè soccer ball with check mark Montolivo soccer ball with check mark Criscito soccer ball with check mark Palladino |
References
- ↑ "De Sart wants Belgium's backing". David Bano & Michael Harrold. Archived from the original on 21 September 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2007.
- ↑ "Match schedule". UEFA. Archived from the original on 4 June 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2007.
- ↑ "Netherlands News". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
- ↑ "Holland U21 1-1 Eng U21 (aet)". BBC Sport. 20 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
- ↑ "Holland U21 4-1 Serbia U21". BBC Sport. 23 June 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
External links
- Draw and Fixtures at uefa.com
- 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
- 2006–07 in European football
- 2007 in Dutch sport
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship
- International association football competitions hosted by the Netherlands
- Football qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics
- June 2007 sports events in Europe
- 2007 in youth association football