2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| 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 U-21 Championship 2007 were held from June 10, 2007, to June 23, 2007. It is the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Football 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 December 15, 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 7 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 4 semi-finalists of the tournament.[1][2] 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.[citation needed] Dutch coach Foppe de Haan expressed the actions of these players as "inappropriate".[citation needed]
[edit] Qualification
In order to make the switch from odd to even-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.
[edit] Finals Tournament
[edit] 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 June 10 to 17 June 2007, with Heerenveen and Arnhem each staging a semi-final on June 20. The final is scheduled take place on Saturday 23 June at the Euroborg stadium in Groningen.
The opening game was between Netherlands and Israel at June 10.
[edit] Venues
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Arnhem | Gelredome | 30,000 |
| Heerenveen | Abe Lenstra Stadion | 28,000 |
| Groningen | Euroborg | 20,000 |
| Nijmegen | De Goffert | 13,000 |
[edit] Squads
[edit] Finals group stage
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 |
[edit] Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
.svg){kind=small} 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 |
| 10 June 2007 18:15 CEST |
Netherlands |
1 – 0 | Israel |
Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen Attendance: 22,013 Referee: Damir Skomina  |
Maduro  10' |
Report |
| 10 June 2007 20:45 CEST |
Portugal |
0 – 0 | Belgium |
Euroborg, Groningen Attendance: 7,197 Referee: Robert Małek  |
| Report |
| 13 June 2007 18:15 CEST |
Israel |
0 – 1 | Belgium |
Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen Attendance: 5,239 Referee: Craig Thomson  |
| Report | Mirallas 82' |
| 13 June 2007 20:45 CEST |
Netherlands |
2 – 1 | Portugal |
Euroborg, Groningen Attendance: 19,498 Referee: Knut Kircher  |
| Babel 33' (pen) Rigters 75' |
Report | Veloso 77' |
| 16 June 2007 20:45 CEST |
Netherlands |
2 – 2 | Belgium |
Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen Attendance: 24,099 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy  |
| Rigters 13' Drenthe 37' |
Report | Mirallas 9' Pocognoli 70' |
| 16 June 2007 20:45 CEST |
Israel |
0 – 4 | Portugal |
Euroborg, Groningen Attendance: 10,833 Referee: Zsolt Szabó  |
| Report | Fernandes 37' Vaz Té 45'Veloso 49'Nani 50' |
[edit] 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 |
| 11 June 2007 18.15 CEST |
Czech Republic |
0 – 0 | England |
Gelredome, Arnhem Attendance: 9,382 Referee: Zsolt Szabó |
| Report |
| 11 June 2007 20:45 CEST |
Serbia |
1 – 0 | Italy |
De Goffert, Nijmegen Attendance: 8,347 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy |
| Milovanović 63' |
Report |
| 14 June 2007 18:15 CEST |
Czech Republic |
0 – 1 | Serbia |
De Goffert, Nijmegen Attendance: 6,109 Referee: Robert Małek |
| Report | Janković 90+3' |
| 14 June 2007 20:45 CEST |
England |
2 – 2 | Italy |
Gelredome, Arnhem Attendance: 17,103 Referee: Damir Skomina |
| Nugent 24' Lita 26' |
Report | Chiellini 36' Aquilani 69' |
| 17 June 2007 20:45 CEST |
Italy |
3 – 1 | Czech Republic |
Gelredome, Arnhem Attendance: 7,167 Referee: Craig Thomson |
| Aquilani 4' Chiellini 29'Rossi 45+1' |
Report | Papadopulos 14' |
| 17 June 2007 20:45 CEST |
England |
2 – 0 | Serbia |
De Goffert, Nijmegen Attendance: 9,133 Referee: Knut Kircher |
| Lita 5' Derbyshire 77' |
Report |
[edit] 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 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.
| 21 June 2007 20.45 CEST |
Portugal |
0–0 (a.e.t.) |
Italy |
De Goffert, Nijmegen Attendance: 5,161 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy |
| Report |
| Penalties | |||
| Moutinho Nani Fernandes  Veloso Antunes |
3 – 4 | Pellè Montolivo Criscito Palladino |
[edit] Knockout stage
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[edit] Semi-finals
| 20 June 2007 18.15 CEST |
Netherlands |
1 – 1 (a.e.t.) |
England |
Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen Attendance: 23,467 Referee: Knut Kircher |
| Rigters 89' |
Report | Lita 39' |
| 20 June 2007 20.45 CEST |
Serbia |
2 – 0 | Belgium |
Gelredome, Arnhem Attendance: 17,438 Referee: Robert Małek |
| Kolarov 4' Mrđa 87' |
Report |
[edit] Final
| 23 June 2007 20.45 CEST |
Netherlands |
4 – 1 | Serbia |
Euroborg, Groningen Referee: Damir Skomina |
| Bakkal 17' Babel 60'Rigters 67'Bruins 87' |
(Report) | Mrđa 79' |
