2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship
Europees kampioenschap voetbal onder 21 - 2007

Tournament details
Host country	Netherlands
Dates	10 June–23 June
Teams	8 (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)
Best player	Royston Drenthe

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

For the first time, a host nation was chosen ahead of the competition – the Netherlands, who are 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:

Pld = total games played
W = total games won
D = total games drawn (tied)
L = total games lost
GF = total goals scored (goals for)
GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
GD = Goal difference
Pts = total points accumulated

	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

Netherlands v Israel

10 June 2007
18:15 CEST

Netherlands	1 – 0	Israel
Maduro 10'	Report

Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen
Attendance: 22,013
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

Portugal v Belgium

10 June 2007
20:45 CEST

Portugal	0 – 0	Belgium
	Report

Euroborg, Groningen
Attendance: 7,197
Referee: Robert Małek (Poland)

Israel v Belgium

13 June 2007
18:15 CEST

Israel	0 – 1	Belgium
	Report	Mirallas 82'

Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen
Attendance: 5,239
Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)

Netherlands v Portugal

13 June 2007
20:45 CEST

Netherlands	2 – 1	Portugal
Babel 33' (pen.) Rigters 75'	Report	Veloso 77'

Euroborg, Groningen
Attendance: 19,498
Referee: Knut Kircher (Germany)

Netherlands v Belgium

16 June 2007
20:45 CEST

Netherlands	2 – 2	Belgium
Rigters 13' Drenthe 37'	Report	Mirallas 9' Pocognoli 70'

Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen
Attendance: 24,099
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)

Israel v Portugal

16 June 2007
20:45 CEST

Israel	0 – 4	Portugal
	Report	Fernandes 37' Vaz Tê 45' Veloso 49' Nani 50'

Euroborg, Groningen
Attendance: 10,833
Referee: Zsolt Szabó (Hungary)

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

Czech Republic v England

11 June 2007
18:15 CEST

Czech Republic	0 – 0	England
	Report

Gelredome, Arnhem
Attendance: 9,382
Referee: Zsolt Szabó (Hungary)

Serbia v Italy

11 June 2007
20:45 CEST

Serbia	1 – 0	Italy
Milovanović 63'	Report

De Goffert, Nijmegen
Attendance: 8,347
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)

Czech Republic v Serbia

14 June 2007
18:15 CEST

Czech Republic	0 – 1	Serbia
	Report	Janković 90+3'

De Goffert, Nijmegen
Attendance: 6,109
Referee: Robert Małek (Poland)

England v Italy

14 June 2007
20:45 CEST

England	2 – 2	Italy
Nugent 24' Lita 26'	Report	Chiellini 36' Aquilani 69'

Gelredome, Arnhem
Attendance: 17,103
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

Italy v Czech Republic

17 June 2007
20:45 CEST

Italy	3 – 1	Czech Republic
Aquilani 4' Chiellini 29' Rossi 45+1'	Report	Papadopulos 14'

Gelredome, Arnhem
Attendance: 7,167
Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)

England v Serbia

17 June 2007
20:45 CEST

England	2 – 0	Serbia
Lita 5' Derbyshire 77'	Report

De Goffert, Nijmegen
Attendance: 9,133
Referee: Knut Kircher (Germany)

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 v Italy

21 June 2007
20:45 CEST

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
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)

Knockout stage

Semi-finals		Final

20 June – Heerenveen
Netherlands	1 (13)
England	1 (12)

		23 June – Groningen
		Netherlands	4
		Serbia	1



20 June – Arnhem
Serbia	2
Belgium	0

Semi-finals

Netherlands v England

20 June 2007
18:15 CEST

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

Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen
Attendance: 23,467
Referee: Knut Kircher (Germany)

Serbia v Belgium

20 June 2007
20:45 CEST

Serbia	2 – 0	Belgium
Kolarov 4' Mrđa 87'	Report

Gelredome, Arnhem
Attendance: 17,438
Referee: Robert Małek (Poland)

Final

The teams enter the field for the final

Netherlands v Serbia

23 June 2007
20:45 CEST

Netherlands	4 – 1	Serbia
Bakkal 17' Babel 60' Rigters 67' Bruins 87'	Report	Mrđa 79'

Euroborg, Groningen
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)


NETHERLANDS:
GK	1	Boy Waterman
RB	2	Gianni Zuiverloon
CB	4	Arnold Kruiswijk
CB	18	Ryan Donk
LB	5	Erik Pieters		89'
DM	6	Hedwiges Maduro (c)
CM	8	Royston Drenthe	9'	78'
CM	11	Daniël de Ridder
AM	10	Otman Bakkal
CF	13	Maceo Rigters		69'
CF	9	Ryan Babel
Substitutes:
MF	12	Luigi Bruins		69'
FW	14	Roy Beerens	89'	78'
DF	19	Calvin Jong-a-Pin		89'
Coach:
Foppe de Haan


SERBIA:
GK	1	Damir Kahriman
RB	3	Antonio Rukavina	89'
CB	2	Branislav Ivanović (c)	62'
CB	11	Duško Tošić	43'
LB	6	Aleksandar Kolarov	28', 62'
DM	7	Milan Smiljanić
LM	13	Nikola Drinčić		65'
RM	19	Dušan Basta		73'
CM	10	Dejan Milovanović
SS	8	Boško Janković
CF	9	Đorđe Rakić		73'
Substitutes:
MF	21	Zoran Tošić		65'
MF	14	Stefan Babović		73'
FW	18	Dragan 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

Royston Drenthe

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

Maceo Rigters

3 goals

Leroy Lita

2 goals

1 goal

Countries to participate at the 2008 Summer Olympics

References

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

External links

Draw and Fixtures at uefa.com

UEFA European U-21 and U-23 Championship

Under-23 Championship

Without host	1970–1972 1972–1974 1974–1976

Under-21 Championship

Without host	1976–1978 1978–1980 1980–1982 1982–1984 1984–1986 1986–1988 1988–1990 1990–1992

With host	France 1994 Spain 1996 Romania 1998 Slovakia 2000 Switzerland 2002 Germany 2004 Portugal 2006 Netherlands 2007 Sweden 2009 Denmark 2011 Israel 2013 Czech Republic 2015 Poland 2017 TBA 2019

Qualification	1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

Finals	1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Squads	1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

National under-21 football teams of Europe (UEFA)

Active	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands Finland France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland Israel Italy Kazakhstan Kosovo Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales

Defunct	Czechoslovakia East Germany USSR Yugoslavia

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