European Under-21 Championships 2011

[Cripps_orig]

Starts 11th June

Group A

Denmark
Switzerland
Iceland
Belarus

Group B

England
Ukraine
Spain
Czech Republic

The holders arent in it :s

First match is Belarus v Iceland

Englands first match is against Spain

Gibbs and Lansbury is Arsenals interest

[WMUG]

Who are the holders?

[Marc Overmars]

Germany

[Cripps_orig]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13698266.stm

Gibbs is out with an injury.

What a surprise

[Cripps_orig]

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01323/DavidDeGea_1323880a.jpgHOT PROPERTY ... Manchester United have already snapped up Spain keeper David De Gea



THE European Under-21 Championship kicks off this week with some of the hottest players in world in action.

Below, SunSport looks at six players who are expected to shine over the next two weeks in Denmark.



David de Gea, 20, Spain
The keeper (above) has gone from fourth choice at Atletico Madrid to an £18million move to Manchester United in just 18 months.
His incredible rise is down to brilliant agility and shot-stopping ability. Tipped to replace Iker Casillas as Spain's No1.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01323/ChristianEriksen_1_1323885a.jpgMAKING HIS MARK ... great Dane Christian Eriksen will be watched by some of the Premier League's big boys




Christian Eriksen, 19, Denmark
The Ajax midfielder is one of the most-wanted talents in Europe after becoming the pin-up boy for the senior squad.
Composed on the ball, he loves to burst forward from midfield and unleash piledrivers. The hosts' key man.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01323/TomasPekhart_12_68_1323882a.jpgTAKE HART ... Czech striker Tomas Pekhart has grabbed goals galore in qualifying




Tomas Pekhart, 22, Czech Republic
Tottenham fans may recognise the tall striker from his unsuccessful three-and-a-half year spell with the club as a teenager.
Since leaving Spurs last January, he has netted 20 goals in 48 matches in the Czech top flight, earning a switch FC Nuremberg this summer.
He has an impressive scoring record at youth level with 16 in 22 for the Under-21s.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01323/XherdanShaqiri_12__1323881a.jpgSWISS BLISS ... Xherdan Shaqiri is the big hope for Switzerland at the finals




Xherdan Shaqiri, 19, Switzerland
The FC Basel winger has already shown what he is capable of with a stunning long-range goal against England in September last year.
A tricky left-footer who cuts in from the right wing to cause no-end of trouble for defenders - as Ashley Cole found out at Wembley on Saturday.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01323/GylfiSigurdsson_12_1323883a.jpgCOME ON MY SON ... Gylfi Sigurdsson will have the chance to shine for Iceland




Gylfi Sigurdsson, 21, Iceland
Many would have baulked at his £7million price tag as he left Reading last summer to join German side Hoffenheim.
Despite being mainly used as a sub, the midfielder has scored 10 goals and was named Fans' Player of the Season.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01323/DanielSturridge_12_1323884a.jpgSTURR CRAZY ... Daniel Sturridge is rejuvenated after his loan spell at the Reebok Stadium




Daniel Sturridge, 21, England
His loan spell at Bolton this season has finally seen him prove his potential after his career stalled at Chelsea.
A lethal finisher in and around the box, his goals will be vital if the Three Lions are to do well in Denmark.




Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3623253/Six-players-to-watch-at-European-Under-21-Championships.html#ixzz1One8OcUp

Would love the top 2 here. Mancs have a great young keeper in De Gea.

[Cripps_orig]

Belarus won 2-0

Denmark v Swiss on atm

[Cripps_orig]

0-1 Swiss

What a goal from Shaqiri

[Cripps_orig]

0-1 FT

Good game.

Swiss keeper looks good.

Should get him

[Master Splinter]

Spain leading 1-0 against England.

Herrera with the goal.

Lansbury on the bench.

[Marc Overmars]

1-1 FT. Welbeck scored at the death. Hint of offside.

[Cripps_orig]

Czechs beat Ukraine 2-1

[Cripps_orig]

Swiss beat Iceland 2-0

[Cripps_orig]

Denmark beat Belarus 2-1

England v Ukraine tomorrow

[Cripps_orig]

Spain beat Czechs 2-0

0-0 atm between Ukraine v England in to the 2nd half

Wellbeck just misses a one on one

[Cripps_orig]

0-0 FT

England are awful

Thank fuck Sir Jack isnt anywhere near this garbage.

[Cripps_orig]

Final Group A games on tonight

All 4 teams can still go through

Denmark v Iceland on Sky

The other game on the red button

[Cripps_orig]

Iceland won 3-1

Swiss beat Belarus 3-0

Swiss top the group with maximum points

Belarus, Denmark and Iceland all finished on 3 points with 3 goals scored and 5 conceded but Belarus get 2nd cos they had a better goal difference between the 3 teams.

Englands must win game is on tonight

[Japan Shaking All Over]

..England need nothing less than a win to reach the semi-finals of the Under-21 European Championship in Denmark when they face Czech Republic on Sunday evening.


have to see for this result in the morning

[Cripps_orig]

Spain lead 2-0 so they are through and have won the group unless we see a comeback there.

0-0 unsurpisingly in Englands match

[Cripps_orig]

Lansbury on

Czech keeper has probably had the easiest game of his career

[Cripps_orig]

Finally

1-0 England

Wellbeck

Good header

[Cripps_orig]

Spain lead 3-0

[Cripps_orig]

1-1 :haha:

In the last minute as well

Pearce :wave:

[Cripps_orig]

1-2 FT

:haha:

England kids bar Wilshere are awful

[Cripps_orig]

Semi line up

Spain v Belarus

Swiss v Czechs

[Rors]

:wave:

"All those here will learn from this" - Tyler.

[Cripps_orig]

Henderson btw is awful

Liverpool for spending £20m :haha:

[Ironing]

Disgraceful from Wilshere over this whole tournament.

He should have at least stepped in after the equalizer to try and salvage something

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Who'd have known having Stuart Pearce as the coach wouldn't help matters?

[GP]

Who'd have known having Stuart Pearce as the coach wouldn't help matters?

Who could have seen this coming?

He's got passion and everything!

[Marc Overmars]

England. :doh:

Looks like it will be a seamless transition then from U21 to senior level.

[Özim]

As good a player as Pearce was, he's not a great manager. There was mention of him managing the Olympic team...not sure that should happen though.

Great player in his day though, will always remember the England game when he took that free kick with blood flowing down his face and rattled the bar after being elbowed, we could use someone like that!

[Master Splinter]

Everyone was calling for Lansbury to be in the team, even though he has little top-level experience.

Why? Because he has some technical ability.

As long as people like Pearce are in charge of young players, rubbish like Muamba, Henderson and Mancienne will continue to stink up the place. Thank fuck Wilshere and Gibbs weren't tarnished by this shit.

But Pearce was a terrier!

And displayed passion in a vigorous manner!

Engurrlund! Fuck yeah!

[Toronto Gooner]

Everyone was calling for Lansbury to be in the team, even though he has little top-level experience.

Why? Because he has some technical ability.
But he is English, so therefore is head and shoulders above those Johnny Foreigners. Talent is irrelevant. ;)

[Cripps_orig]

0-1 Belarus v Spain HT

Spain :lol:

[Toronto Gooner]

0-1 Belarus v Spain HT

Spain :lol:
The stats are looking like one of Arsenal's "classic" games:

Possession 65% vs 35%
Goal attempts: 10 vs 2
On goal: 3 vs 1

Score: 0 vs 1

[Kaiser]

Spain won 3-1 after ET, equalising in the 89th minute. Adrian with two and a stunning goal from Jeffren. They play at pace, like the proper Spain team and Barcelona, and do it consistently, unlike us, who press and play at a high tempo for about 6 games a season.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Spain are dominating, it's pretty annoying.

[Cripps_orig]

Swiss won 1-0 v Czechs

Spain v Swiss final

[Cripps_orig]

Just saw Spains goals.

The first goal was impressive.

Last minute and they still pass it to death and open Belarus up.

Imagine England needing a last minute goal. What would we do? Put a CB up front and lump it up there.

[Cripps_orig]

Belarus finish 3rd with a 1-0 win over Czechs.

Spain lead Swiss 1-0 in the final. Not long left

[Cripps_orig]

Spain won 2-0

Herrera and Thiago scored

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Thiago's was a 40 yard freekick apparently.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Found it.

eOdwgGwBd7E

The sheer amount of talent Barcelona (and Spain too) is just plain sickening. Better to watch it on Youtube though really.

[Toronto Gooner]

Found it.

eOdwgGwBd7E

The sheer amount of talent Barcelona (and Spain too) is just plain sickening. Better to watch it on Youtube though really.
Sickening, yes, bur they are running into the problem of keeping all of these players happy. How long will players like Thiago be happy with occasional games, or being put further down the pecking list should players like Fabregas re-join?

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Sickening, yes, bur they are running into the problem of keeping all of these players happy. How long will players like Thiago be happy with occasional games, or being put further down the pecking list should players like Fabregas re-join?

Well Thiago will be sold or be part of the deal to take cesc to barca.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sickening, yes, bur they are running into the problem of keeping all of these players happy. How long will players like Thiago be happy with occasional games, or being put further down the pecking list should players like Fabregas re-join?

The difference is, say compared with us, they are playing for a team they've grown up with and most importantly, grown up whilst they are successful too. It's also worth noting even should Barcelona sign Sanchez their squad isn't particularly deep, at least not in the same way as Real Madrid. The likes of Jeffren and Thiago (should they still be there) will get enough games; in the same way Pedro and Busquets would've needed to be patient but they are in there now (and that as first team players when they were in their early 20's).

[fari]

Well Thiago will be sold or be part of the deal to take cesc to barca.


is that the official word b/c i thought he was excellent in the final (did not get a chance to see the other games tho) as was the captain javi martinez (think thats his name). they are both two players or the two type of players we need to shore things up in midfield (plus thiago is good with the dead ball!). we also need a change or adjustment in our defensive mentality tho but that is another story.

[Master Splinter]

Stuart Pearce has signed a two-year extension to his contract as manager of the England U21 side.

The former Three Lions skipper first took the role in 2007 and has guided the Young Lions to an unprecedented three successive European Championships.

His charges reached the semi-finals in 2007, before going one better two years later as they graced the final.

Things did not go entirely to plan this summer, as England failed to make it out of the group stage, but Pearce is pleased with the progress being made by England's youngsters.

He takes as much satisfaction from the job now as he has ever done, and under his tutelage the likes James Milner, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young and Adam Johnson have gone on to earn senior recognition.

His new deal will take him through to the conclusion of next European Championship, which is set to be staged in Israel in 2013.

Upon seeing Pearce pen fresh terms, FA chairman David Bernstein told the FA's official website: "Continuity is vital as we continue to build our club ethos, and Stuart is an important member of the England coaching structure.

"I know he was as disappointed as anyone at the U21s' most recent tournament results at the European Championships in Denmark, but we mustn't forget the team had an excellent qualifying campaign and continues to produce young players ready and prepared for senior team experience."

Pearce added: "I am delighted to have signed my new contract and to be able to continue in a role I very much enjoy.

"In my time with the England U21s we have experienced an excellent record and my aim now is to qualify for Israel in 2013 and hopefully go on to secure silverware with another exciting group of young players.

"It remains a privilege for me to represent my country and contribute to the FA's work at international level, but also at grassroots level and significantly into the St George's Park development and to the future of coach education in England."



http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12010_7032470,00.html

England :rose: