2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 June 2007 to 23 June 2007. It was the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship.

2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship
Europees kampioenschap voetbal onder 21 - 2007
Tournament details
Host country Netherlands
Dates10 June–23 June
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Netherlands (2nd title)
Runners-up Serbia
Tournament statistics
Top scorer(s) Maceo Rigters (4 goals)
Best player(s) Royston Drenthe

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. Therefore, with the event of England reaching the semi-finals, a fifth-place playoff was necessary.

In this competition, a new UEFA penalty shootout record was established.[3] The semi final between The Netherlands U21 and England U21 finished in 1-1. No less than 32 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 ceremony of the European Champion in the Euroborg. Dutch coach Foppe de Haan expressed the actions of these players as "inappropriate".

Qualification
Steward outfit displaying the logo of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007
Main article: 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 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 Dutch team celebrating their victory after the final

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 the Euroborg stadium 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 22,550
Nijmegen De Goffert 13,000

Squads
Main article: 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

Finals group stage
The final, Netherlands–Serbia, in the rain

In the following tables:

Team qualified for the knockout stage
Team went to play-off for Olympics

Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Netherlands 3 2 1 0 5 3 +2 7
 Belgium 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5
 Portugal 3 1 1 1 5 2 +3 4
 Israel 3 0 0 3 0 6 −6 0
Source:
Netherlands 1 – 0 Israel
Maduro  10' Report
Attendance: 22,013
Portugal 0 – 0 Belgium
Report
Attendance: 7,197
Israel 0 – 1 Belgium
Report Mirallas  82'
Attendance: 5,239
Netherlands 2 – 1 Portugal
Babel  33' (pen.)
Rigters  75'		 Report Veloso  77'
Attendance: 19,498
Netherlands 2 – 2 Belgium
Rigters  13'
Drenthe  37'		 Report Mirallas  9'
Pocognoli  70'
Attendance: 24,099
Israel 0 – 4 Portugal
Report Fernandes  37'
Vaz Tê  45'
Veloso  49'
Nani  50'
Attendance: 10,833

Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Serbia 3 2 0 1 2 2 0 6
 England 3 1 2 0 4 2 +2 5
 Italy 3 1 1 1 5 4 +1 4
 Czech Republic 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
Source:
Czech Republic 0 – 0 England
Report
Attendance: 9,382
Serbia 1 – 0 Italy
Milovanović  63' Report
De Goffert, Nijmegen
Attendance: 8,347
Czech Republic 0 – 1 Serbia
Report Janković  90+3'
De Goffert, Nijmegen
Attendance: 6,109
England 2 – 2 Italy
Nugent  24'
Lita  26'		 Report Chiellini  36'
Aquilani  69'
Attendance: 17,103
Italy 3 – 1 Czech Republic
Aquilani  4'
Chiellini  29'
Rossi  45+1'		 Report Papadopulos  14'
Attendance: 7,167
England 2 – 0 Serbia
Lita  5'
Derbyshire  77'		 Report
De Goffert, Nijmegen
Attendance: 9,133

Olympic Qualifying Play-Off

The 2007 European Under-21 Championship also doubled up as the European qualifying round for the 2008 Olympic football tournament. Europe's four places at the Olympic tournament were to be filled by the four semi-finalists. However, because England, one of the semi-finalists, do not compete independently at the Olympics, a play-off between Portugal and Italy, the two third-placed teams in each group, decided the fourth European qualifier. Italy defeated Portugal through a penalty shoot-out booking their Olympic place in Beijing.

Portugal 0 – 0 (a.e.t.) Italy
Report
Penalties
Moutinho
Nani
Fernandes
Veloso
Antunes 		3 – 4 Pellè
Montolivo
Criscito
Palladino
De Goffert, Nijmegen
Attendance: 5,161

Knockout stage
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
20 June – Heerenveen
 
 
 Netherlands1 (13)
 
23 June – Groningen
 
 England1 (12)
 
 Netherlands4
 
20 June – Arnhem
 
 Serbia1
 
 Serbia2
 
 
 Belgium0
 

Semi-finals
Netherlands 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) England
Rigters  89' Report Lita  39'
Penalties
Babel
Drenthe
Janssen
Beerens
Maduro
De Ridder
Zuiverloon
Rigters
Kruiswijk
Waterman
Beerens
Drenthe
Maduro
Janssen
De Ridder
Zuiverloon 		13 – 12 Young
Milner
Noble
Hoyte
Derbyshire
Ferdinand
Carson
Rosenior
Reo-Coker
Taylor
Young
Milner
Noble
Hoyte
Derbyshire
Ferdinand
Attendance: 23,467
Serbia 2 – 0 Belgium
Kolarov  4'
Mrđa  87'		 Report
Attendance: 17,438

Final
The teams enter the field for the final
Netherlands 4 – 1 Serbia
Bakkal  17'
Babel  60'
Rigters  67'
Bruins  87'		 Report Mrđa  79'

NETHERLANDS:
GK1Boy Waterman
RB2Gianni Zuiverloon
CB4Arnold Kruiswijk
CB18Ryan Donk
LB5Erik Pieters 89'
DM6Hedwiges Maduro (c)
CM8Royston Drenthe 9' 78'
CM11Daniël de Ridder
AM10Otman Bakkal
CF13Maceo Rigters 69'
CF9Ryan Babel
Substitutes:
MF12Luigi Bruins 69'
FW14Roy Beerens 89' 78'
DF19Calvin Jong-a-Pin 89'
Coach:
Foppe de Haan

SERBIA:
GK1Damir Kahriman
RB3Antonio Rukavina 89'
CB2Branislav Ivanović (c) 62'
CB11Duško Tošić 43'
LB6Aleksandar Kolarov 28'  62'
DM7Milan Smiljanić
LM13Nikola Drinčić 65'
RM19Dušan Basta 73'
CM10Dejan Milovanović
SS8Boško Janković
CF9Đorđe Rakić 73'
Substitutes:
MF21Zoran Tošić 65'
MF14Stefan Babović 73'
FW18Dragan Mrđa 82' 73'
Coach:
Miroslav Đukić

Man of the Match:
Ryan Babel

Assistant referees:
Manuel Navarro
Tomas Mokos
Fourth official:
Stéphane Lannoy

2007 UEFA Euro Under-21 Championship
Winners

Netherlands
Second title

Awards

Golden player
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards

Scott Carson
Paulo Ribeiro

Branislav Ivanović
Giorgio Chiellini
Leighton Baines
Steven Taylor
Manuel da Costa
Gianni Zuiverloon
Duško Tošić

Royston Drenthe
Otman Bakkal
Nigel Reo-Coker
Miguel Veloso
Manuel Fernandes
Jan Vertonghen
Alberto Aquilani

Kevin Mirallas
Maceo Rigters
Leroy Lita
David Nugent
Alessandro Rosina
Ryan Babel
Ashley Young

Goal scorers
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Countries to participate at the 2008 Summer Olympics
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References
  1. "De Sart wants Belgium's backing". David Bano & Michael Harrold. Archived from the original on September 21, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2007.
  2. "Match schedule". UEFA. Archived from the original on June 4, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2007.
  3. "Netherlands News". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
  4. "Holland U21 1-1 Eng U21". BBC Sport. 2007-06-20. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  5. "Holland U21 4-1 Serbia U21". BBC Sport. 2007-06-23. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
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