A good group for Italy, but of course no games will be easy at the tournament.

 

It will be extra special to attend the games for the azzurrini :shades:

 

Not only is the games to far away for me. It will also be 10 years until I see them play for Milan. :rollani: :moan:

 

i think serbia has a great chance of winning it.. very good talents coming through their ranks

 

YEah, they are a european BRazil; great youth talent and they all get sold by the time they are 18 or 19.

 

I'd rather us be underdogs IMO. Whenever we play like we own this tournament, we always end up losing. Look at the last 8 years. 1 semi and 2 finals. Never won it =/

So, if we do win...I'd rather it be a suprise than a "I knew we would win" kind of thing. If you get what I mean

 

I think all 8 teams have good talents coming through and with the lack of knowledge of every team on all parts, then it is obvious you think your own can win. Italy has 2 very good attacking players in the squad, which gives us a good shot of winning this, but personally, I think alotof this team is average compared to recent squads.

 

I was just screwing around, Osman knows that :smileani:

 

Globalise dude.

 

Sorry, but the guy lives in Sweden, obviously isn't Italian based on the name. NTs aren't clubs so cheering for Italy when the country you live in is hosting it and in the same group seems a bit strange to me. But maybe I just need to globalize.

 

Larsson sets Swedish goal standard
Friday 5 June 2009
in uefa.com

Sweden striker Henrik Larsson is hoping attack dominates defence at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, telling uefa.com: "People want to be entertained and scoring a goal is the best entertainment there is." Having played over 100 matches for Sweden, the 37-year-old will be keeping a keen eye on the progress of his nation's U21 side this month as the next generation of stars showcase their talent in Sweden. The Helsingborgs IF striker and tournament ambassador knows just what it takes to realise potential after starring for the likes of Celtic FC, FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC, and is confident a youthful Sweden side will deliver on their promise after being drawn in Group A alongside Belarus, Italy and Serbia.

uefa.com: What can we expect in Sweden?
Henrik Larsson: We are going to see tomorrow's stars. I'm sure we're going to have one or two players who will break through and make their mark on the tournament and be very good players in the future in the big leagues around Europe.

uefa.com: What are Sweden's chances and who are their biggest rivals?
Larsson: It's a great tradition that the hosts always do well. They have a big chance, but I don't think there is much difference between the teams here. There are a few with bigger names, but once you're here you still have to play the games. Sweden are a talented team and I don't want to put any pressure on them. If they do what they set out to do and try to achieve their goals, everyone will be happy that they go as far as possible. The strength of Swedish teams down the years has been the collective and for Sweden to play well in this tournament, we need a strong collective with room for the individual to express themselves.

uefa.com: Does playing at home put added pressure on Sweden or can it only help?
Larsson: It will help. They are not in a strange environment. Friends and families are going to be close by. Between games you have to live as normally as possible and where can you do that if not in your own country?


uefa.com: What is the key to building a harmonious squad during a tournament like this?
Larsson: First and foremost, you have to have respect for each other and work towards the same goal. If you do that and have a great comaraderie there is no problem. The most important thing is that everybody is aware of what we're aiming for. What do we want to achieve? If we don't have any goals then we might as well stay at home. You have to have ambitions, you have to have the urge to go out and try to win every game. Then you see how far you can go. If you meet a better team along the way, you must be able to say 'We lost against a better team'. You can't ever give up. You have to fight all the way.

uefa.com: Is there any match in particular you are looking forward to? Sweden against Italy perhaps?
Larsson: That's going to be a very tight game. Italy are known for the way they play defensively and Sweden are not bad at that either, but I'm looking forward to all the games because I want to see modern football. We have a lot of pace all over the park. You are looking to score goals and I hope it is going to be a good tournament in that respect. You mustn't forget people want to be entertained and scoring a goal is the best entertainment there is.

uefa.com: How important is a tournament like this for a young player's development?
Larsson: It is very important for the future. The U21s are a road to the big team. It's important to get as much experience as you can to make it when it really counts when you make it to the big team. To know what it's like to play in tournaments like a European Championship or the World Cup, what you need to do to be able to perform under pressure. It's a very good place to start, so you know what to expect. To grow into a superstar is a big step to take. There are a few players that can do it. You have to perform in the big games in the group stages, quarter-finals or semi-finals and final. That's when you show yourself and others what type of player you are.

 

GROUP A

SWEDEN

Goalkeepers
* Johan Dahlin
* Pär Hansson
* Kristoffer Nordfeldt

Defenders
* Rasmus Bengtsson
* Mattias Bjärsmyr
* Joel Ekstrand
* Emil Johansson
* Per Karlsson
* Andreas Landgren
* Mikael Lustig
* Martin Olsson
* Gustaf Svensson

Midfielders
* Emir Bajrami
* Pierre Bengtsson
* Rasmus Elm
* Labinot Harbuzi
* Gabriel Özkan
* Ola Toivonen
* Pontus Wernblom

Forwards
* Denni Avdic
* Marcus Berg
* Guillermo Molins
* Robin Söder

__________________________

ITALY

Goalkeepers
* Andrea Consigli
* Andrea Seculin
* Salvatore Sirigu

Defenders
* Marco Andreolli
* Salvatore Bocchetti
* Domenico Criscito
* Lino Marzoratti
* Francesco Pisano
* Andrea Ranocchia

Midfielders
* Ignazio Abate
* Antonio Candreva
* Luca Cigarini
* Paolo De Ceglie
* Daniele Dessena
* Claudio Marchisio
* Piermario Morosini
* Marco Motta
* Andrea Poli

Forwards
* Robert Acquafresca
* Mario Balotelli
* Alessio Cerci
* Sebastian Giovinco
* Alberto Paloschi

__________________________

BELARUS

Goalkeepers
* Pavel Chesnovski
* Artyom Gomelko
* Anton Kovalevski

Defenders
* Aleksandr Martynovich
* Igor Shitov
* Oleg Veretilo
* Dmitri Verkhovtsov
* Aleksei Yanushkevich

Midfielders
* Mikhail Afanasiev
* Nikolai Osipovich
* Sergei Balanovich
* Maksim Bordachov
* Andrei Chukhlei
* Sergei Gigevich
* Sergei Kislyak
* Sergei Kryvets
* Anton Putilo
* Aleksandr Sachivko
* Mikhail Sivakov
* Aleksandr Volodko

Forwards
* Dmitri Komarovski
* Leonid Kovel
* Vladimir Yurchenko

__________________________

SERBIA

Goalkeepers
* Željko Brkić
* Bojan Šaranov
* Živko Živković

Defenders
* Rajko Brežančić
* Marko Jovanović
* Gojko Kačar
* Marko Milinković
* Ivan Obradović
* Nemanja Pejčinović
* Nikola Petković
* Nenad Tomovic
* Milan Vilotić

Midfielders
* Ljubomir Fejsa
* Nikola Gulan
* Nemanja Matić
* Milan Smiljanić
* Dušan Tadić
* Nemanja Tomic
* Zoran Tošić

Forwards
* Filip Djordjević
* Miralem Sulejmani
* Rade Veljović
* Jagoš Vuković

____________________________
____________________________

GROUP B

SPAIN

Goalkeepers
* Antonio Adán
* Sergio Asenjo
* Roberto

Defenders
* Chico
* Iván Marcano
* Nacho Monreal
* Sergio
* Marc Torrejón
* Miguel Torres

Midfielders
* César Azpilicueta
* Raúl García
* Javi García
* Sisi
* Esteban Granero
* Javier Martínez
* Mario Suárez

Forwards
* Diego Capel
* Xisco
* Jurado
* Bojan Krkić
* Adrián López
* Jonathan Pereira
* Pedro Leon Sanchez Gil

________________________

ENGLAND

Goalkeepers
* Joe Hart
* Joseph Lewis
* Scott Loach

Defenders
* Martin Cranie
* Michael Mancienne
* Nedum Onuoha
* Micah Richards
* Jack Rodwell
* Richard Stearman
* Andrew Taylor
* James Tomkins

Midfielders
* Lee Cattermole
* Andrew Driver
* Craig Gardner
* Kieran Gibbs
* Adam Johnson
* James Milner
* Fabrice Muamba
* Mark Noble
* Daniel Rose

Forwards
* Gabriel Agbonlahor
* Fraizer Campbell
* Theo Walcott

__________________________

GERMANY

Goalkeepers
* Florian Fromlowitz
* Manuel Neuer
* Tobias Sippel

Defenders
* Dennis Aogo
* Andreas Beck
* Jerome Boateng
* Sebastian Boenisch
* Gonzalo Castro
* Benedikt Höwedes
* Mats Hummels
* Fabian Johnson
* Marcel Schmelzer
* Daniel Schwaab

Midfielders
* Daniel Adlung
* Änis Ben-Hatira
* Sami Khedira
* Marko Marin
* Mesut Özil

Forwards
* Ashkan Dejagah
* Patrick Ebert
* Chinedu Ede
* Dennis Grote
* Sandro Wagner

______________________

FINLAND

Goalkeepers
* Lukas Hradecky
* Anssi Jaakkola
* Jukka Lehtovaara

Defenders
* Joni Aho
* Ilari Äijälä
* Ville Jalasto
* Jonas Portin
* Jukka Raitala
* Tuomo Turunen
* Petri Viljanen

Midfielders
* Kasper Hämäläinen
* Mehmet Hetemaj
* Perparim Hetemaj
* Pyry Kärkkäinen
* Nicholas Otaru
* Tim Sparv
* Joona Toivio
* Jussi Vasara

Forwards
* Juha Hakola
* Aleksandr Kokko
* Jarno Parikka
* Teemu Pukki
* Berat Sadik​

 

Goalkeepers
* Željko Brkić
* Bojan Šaranov
* Živko Živković

Defenders
* Rajko Brežančić
* Marko Jovanović
* Gojko Kačar
* Marko Milinković
* Ivan Obradović
* Nemanja Pejčinović
* Nikola Petković
* Nenad Tomovic
* Milan Vilotić

Midfielders
* Ljubomir Fejsa
* Nikola Gulan
* Nemanja Matić
* Milan Smiljanić
* Dušan Tadić
* Nemanja Tomic
* Zoran Tošić

Forwards
* Filip Djordjević
* Miralem Sulejmani
* Rade Veljović
* Jagoš Vuković

Jagos Vukovic is a central defender. Not a striker.
Marko Milinkovic is a striker. Not a defender.
Gojko Kacar is mainly a midfielder but can play as defender but not usually.

 

Jagos Vukovic is a central defender. Not a striker.
Marko Milinkovic is a striker. Not a defender.
Gojko Kacar is mainly a midfielder but can play as defender but not usually.

Thanks for the corrections. You should let uefa.com know that because that's the source I used for my post.

 

Impressive display from Filipe, more info on the Italy squad

Name - Club - Age - U21 caps - Goals

Goalkeepers

Andrea Consigli (Atalanta) - 22 - 19 - 0
Andrea Seculin (Fiorentina) - 19 - 1 - 0
Salvatore Sirigu (Ancona/Palermo) - 22 - 3 - 0

Defenders

Marco Andreolli (Sassuolo/Roma) - 23 - 19 - 0
Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa) - 22 - 7 - 0
Domenico Criscito (Genoa/Juventus) - 22 - 25 - 1
Paolo De Ceglie (Juventus) - 22 - 15 - 0
Lino Marzoratti (Empoli/Milan) - 22 - 18 - 0
Marco Motta (Roma/Udinese) - 23 - 31 - 1
Francesco Pisano (Cagliari) - 23 - 10 - 0
Andrea Ranocchia (Bari) - 21 - 2 - 0

Midfielders

Ignazio Abate (Torino/Milan) - 22 - 6 - 1
Antonio Candreva (Livorno/Udinese) - 22 - 5 - 0
Luca Cigarini (Atalanta) - 23 - 18 - 1
Daniele Dessena (Sampdoria) - 22 - 19 - 5
Claudio Marchisio (Juventus) - 23 - 11 - 0
Piermario Morosini (Vicenza) - 22 - 19 - 0
Andrea Poli (Sassuolo/Sampdoria) - 19 - 3 - 0

Strikers

Robert Acquafresca (Cagliari/Inter) - 21 - 13 - 7
Mario Balotelli (Inter) - 18 - 6 - 3
Alessio Cerci (Atalanta/Roma) - 21 - 7 - 2
Sebastian Giovinco (Juventus) - 22 - 18 - 1
Alberto Paloschi (Parma/Milan) - 19 - 2 - 1

I was stating in the Italian forum this is a hugely experienced squad. Possibly one of the most experienced teams going to such a championship from Italy, and in the past we have had alot of talented squads. I wouldnt say this is the best squad ever from Italy, just very experienced for such an age group and certainly one which is well equipped to win this tournament. Obvious players to watch is the attacking trident of Balotelli, Giovinco and Acquafresca, but as yet these have really gelled for Italy U21, so maybe it will happen here. Also the FBs in the squad are very impressive. All 4, Motta, De Ceglie, Criscito and Pisano. In midfield Marchisio is the star.

 

Cigarini > Marchisio, easily.

The Italians really should win this though, they have an incredible squad.

 

Marchisio is a superb team player. Very complete, defends and attacks with lot of enthusiasms, is techinically good, veru intelligent doing tactical fouls, excellent in transitions,...

Cigarini has better pass and vision, but I think the value of Marchisio for the team is higher.


My favourite for winning the Championship is Serbia. Take a look at Obradovic and Pejcinovic, bright defenders.

 

My favourite for winning the Championship is Serbia. Take a look at Obradovic and Pejcinovic, bright defenders.

..but very different, Obradović is an attacking fullback while Peјčinović is better as a CB. The big revelation of Partizan this season has been Nemanja Tomić and he continues to impress with the serbian U21's, watch out for Marko Milinković and Nemanja Matić as well, both very good at Košice this season, the first one even got voted as the best player of the slovakian league. We've got plenty of good offensive players, besides our senior NT-trio (Obradović, Sulejmani and Kačar), add Dušan Tadić to that list as well.

However, Serbia have problems defensively as we won't be able to field Slobodan Rajković because of that ridicolously long suspension from FIFA while Neven Subotić is simply too tired to take on a tournament of this size at this point.

Finally, Željko Brkić is a great goalkeeper and he's very dominant in the air. It's just the central defence that's a bit worrying.

 

England's squad isn't as strong as it has been previously. Still I'd expect a decent showing from us. It's great to see Walcott there. We'll probably play this:

-------------Hart
Richards--Onuoha--Mancienne--Taylor
--------------Muamba
---------Noble------Milner
Walcott-----------------Johnson
-----------Agbonlahor

 

Serbia 4-1 FYR Macedonia(Friendly)
Serbia coach Slobodan Krčmarević was delighted to report that his side were "positive and full of motivation" after a routine victory in their final friendly before the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Sweden.

Confident display
Playing at their training base up in the Zlatibor mountains, Serbia were on top throughout the contest. Filip Djordjević put them ahead in the 32nd minute, and while Petar Stojkov exploited a lapse in concentration to level with a 20-metre shot not long afterwards, Jagoš Vuković restored the hosts' lead with a header from a corner after the break. Dušan Tadić made it 3-1 on 72 minutes, with his long-range strike the pick of the goals, and Milan Vilotić headed home from Marko Milinković's cross to finish the scoring three minutes from time.

Senior call-ups
"Even though we were without three players who are with the senior team – Ivan Obradović, Gojko Kačar and Miralem Sulejmani – I am very satisfied with our game," said Krčmarević. "We were positive and full of motivation, which is very important at the end of season. Of course, I saw some weaknesses but we will use these next days to eliminate those." After the match, MFK Košice midfielder Nemanja Matić was called into Radomir Antić's senior team for Wednesday's FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands in Torshvan. Along with Obradović, Kačar and Sulejmani, he will rejoin the U21 squad in Sweden on Thursday.

 

Impressive Hoeman, most non-Serbs know little to nothing about our football and you know even more than some of the guys on our forum. :thumbsup:

 

Dilemma. Watch England vs. Finland or England's must win Twenty20 match against the West Indies?

 

Problem solved, Sky have lost their picture for the U-21s at the moment.

 

1-0. Lee "the new Joey Barton" Cattermole with the goal

 

1:1

Mancienne sent off and Sparv scores the penalty

 

And thats why I don't rate Mancienne, absolutely shocking decision making.

Cattermole is the new Essien. :stuckup:

 

I can't believe how Mancienne didn't anticipate the ball better after almost screwing up in the first couple of minutes. He knows that they're not watering the pitch before a game. He made the same misstake twice and ended up getting sent off.

The tempo is also to Finlands advantage, they're playing rather well, good defensively actually.

Sparven is making a name for himself :thmbup:

 

I like the way Finland are playing, impressed by them but it was really an uneventful first half.

 

England look to be in a bit of trouble here. The problem is it is hard to get back on track if you have a bad start in this competition with the low numbers of teams and quality.

Mancienne didn't look comfortable with an earlier ball that was played over the top that he should have left to Hart but instead ran the ball to the goal line and put it out for a throw. Funny hearing Hart trying to shout down the penalty taker.

Sadik the No.9 has looked prettty good for Finland.

England should be looking to pressurise and isolate the Finnish No.4 CB if they can. He was poor with Agbonlohar for England's goal and doesn't look the best. A weak point in the Finnish defence.

England badly lack a real creative force in the central midfield with Noble and Cattermole. Noble done well in the last championships in holland but that was from a more obvious holding role. Physical play and workrate doesn't quite play into England's hands against these Scandinavian sides as it does with other nations. These teams can match England in that sense and compete.

 

2:1

Micah Richards header from a corner