2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship

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
← 2006 2009 →

The UEFA U-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 June 2007 to 23 June 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 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. 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. 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, and went on to win the tournament by defeating Serbia U21 4-1 in the final.

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]}

Qualification

Steward outfit displaying the logo of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 2007

Main article: 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 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.

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	30,000
Heerenveen	Abe Lenstra Stadion	28,000
Groningen	Euroborg	20,000
Nijmegen	De Goffert	13,000

Squads

Main article: 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football 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

10 June 2007 18:15 CEST	Netherlands	1 – 0	Israel	Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen Attendance: 22,013 Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
	Maduro  10'	Report

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10 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Portugal	0 – 0	Belgium	Euroborg, Groningen Attendance: 7,197 Referee: Robert Małek (Poland)
		Report

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13 June 2007 18:15 CEST	Israel	0 – 1	Belgium	Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen Attendance: 5,239 Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)
		Report	Mirallas  82'

---

13 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Netherlands	2 – 1	Portugal	Euroborg, Groningen Attendance: 19,498 Referee: Knut Kircher (Germany)
	Babel  33' (pen.) Rigters  75'	Report	M. Veloso  77'

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16 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Netherlands	2 – 2	Belgium	Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen Attendance: 24,099 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)
	Rigters  13' Drenthe  37'	Report	Mirallas  9' Pocognoli  70'

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16 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Israel	0 – 4	Portugal	Euroborg, Groningen Attendance: 10,833 Referee: Zsolt Szabó (Hungary)
		Report	M. Fernandes  37' Vaz Tê  45' M. Veloso  49' Nani  50'

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 (Hungary)
		Report

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11 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Serbia	1 – 0	Italy	De Goffert, Nijmegen Attendance: 8,347 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)
	Milovanović  63'	Report

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14 June 2007 18:15 CEST	Czech Republic	0 – 1	Serbia	De Goffert, Nijmegen Attendance: 6,109 Referee: Robert Małek (Poland)
		Report	Janković  90+3'

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14 June 2007 20:45 CEST	England	2 – 2	Italy	Gelredome, Arnhem Attendance: 17,103 Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
	Nugent  24' Lita  26'	Report	Chiellini  36' Aquilani  69'

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17 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Italy	3 – 1	Czech Republic	Gelredome, Arnhem Attendance: 7,167 Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)
	Aquilani  4' Chiellini  29' Rossi  45+1'	Report	Papadopulos  14'

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17 June 2007 20:45 CEST	England	2 – 0	Serbia	De Goffert, Nijmegen Attendance: 9,133 Referee: Knut Kircher (Germany)
	Lita  5' Derbyshire  77'	Report

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.

21 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Portugal	0 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Italy	De Goffert, Nijmegen Attendance: 5,161 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (France)
		Report
		Penalties
	J. Moutinho Nani M. Fernandes M. Veloso Antunes	3 – 4	Pellè Montolivo Criscito Palladino

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

20 June 2007 18:15 CEST	Netherlands	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	England	Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen Attendance: 23,467 Referee: Knut Kircher (Germany)
	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

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20 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Serbia	2 – 0	Belgium	Gelredome, Arnhem Attendance: 17,438 Referee: Robert Małek (Poland)
	Kolarov  4' Mrđa  87'	Report

Final

The teams enter the field for the final

23 June 2007 20:45 CEST	Netherlands	4 – 1	Serbia	Euroborg, Groningen Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
	Bakkal  17' Babel  60' Rigters  67' Bruins  87'	Report	Mrđa  79'

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 DM 13 Nikola Drinčić 65' RM 19 Dušan Basta 73' CM 10 Dejan Milovanović LM 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

• Alberto Aquilani
• Ryan Babel
• Giorgio Chiellini
• Kevin Mirallas
• Dragan Mrđa
• Miguel Veloso

1 goal

• Otman Bakkal
• Luigi Bruins
• Matt Derbyshire
• Royston Drenthe
• Manuel Fernandes
• Boško Janković
• Aleksandar Kolarov
• Hedwiges Maduro
• Dejan Milovanović
• Nani
• David Nugent
• Michal Papadopulos
• Sebastien Pocognoli
• Giuseppe Rossi
• Ricardo Vaz Tê

Countries to participate in Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics

• Netherlands
• Serbia
• Belgium
• Italy

External links

• Draw and Fixtures at uefa.com