UEFA U-21 C'Ship (1 Viewer)

dpforever

Prediction Game Champ 2003 & 2005
Jan 12, 2002
3,794
#1



With just a few weeks remaining before the EURO2004 championship, football fever have struck Europe and football fans worldwide. Before the 'main dish' of Europe's most thrilling competition, some appetizers will be served in the form of the UEFA Under-21 Championship that will be held in Germany (Mainz, Mannheim, Bochum and Oberhausen) between May 27 and June 08.

The following participating teams have been divided into 2 groups with the first 2 advancing to the semifinal and then the final. The final 3 teams qualify automatically to the Athens Olympics.

Group A:
Italy
Belarus
Serbia and Montenegro
Croatia

Group B:
Germany
Switzerland
Sweden
Portugal

-----------

Fixtures:

May 27
Italy-Belarus
Serbia-Croatia

May 28
German-Swtizerland
Sweden-Portugal

May 29
Belarus-Croatia
Italy-Serbia

May 30
Germany-Sweden
Switzerland-Portugal

Jun 1
Italy-Croatia
Belarus-Serbia

Jun 2
Germany-Portugal
Switzerland-Sweden

Jun 5
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2

Jun 8
3rd place playoff
Final

----


During the past edition of the UEFA U-21 C'ship, the Czech Republic emerged as 2002 winners, having defeated pre-match favourites France 3-1 on penalties after a scoreless draw in Basel, Switzerland. Prior to that, Italy had won four of the previous five Under-21 Championships, in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2000. The USSR, England and Spain have all been champions on two occasions !!
 

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dpforever

dpforever

Prediction Game Champ 2003 & 2005
Jan 12, 2002
3,794
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #2
    Italy coach Claudio Gentile has named his squad for the forthcoming UEFA European Under-21 Championship - and Parma AC's Alberto Gilardino is among the 23 players selected.

    Italian supporters had been pressing Gilardino's claims for a place in Giovanni Trapattoni's squad for UEFA EURO 2004™, and with that in mind, the 21-year-old striker's inclusion in the U21 set-up had not been expected.

    Gilardino is one of seven Parma players in the U21 squad, which is made up entirely of Serie A talent. Brescia Calcio have four U21 squad members, AS Roma have three and the remaining eight players hail from five different clubs, although Milan, S.S. Lazio, FC Internationale and Juventus FC are not represented.


    Italy U21 squad

    Goalkeepers
    Federico Agliardi (Brescia Calcio)
    Marco Amelia (Parma AC)
    Carlo Zotti (AS Roma)

    Defenders
    Andrea Barzagli (AC Chievo Verona)
    Daniele Bonera (Parma AC)
    Paolo Cannavaro (Parma AC)
    Cesare Bovo (US Lecce)
    Emiliano Moretti (Bologna FC)
    Alessandro Potenza (Parma AC)
    Cristian Zaccardo (Bologna FC)

    Midfielders
    Matteo Brighi (Brescia Calcio)
    Simone Del Nero (Brescia Calcio)
    Marco Donadel (Parma AC)
    Fabio Gatti (AC Perugia)
    Giandomenico Mesto (Reggina Calcio)
    Angelo Palombo (UC Sampdoria)
    Giampiero Pinzi (Udinese Calcio)
    Alessandro Rosina (Parma AC)
    Gaetano D'Agostino (AS Roma)
    Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma)

    Forwards
    Andrea Caracciolo (Brescia Calcio)
    Antonio Floro Flores (UC Sampdoria)
    Alberto Gilardino (Parma AC)
    Giuseppe Sculli (AC Chievo Verona)
     
    OP
    dpforever

    dpforever

    Prediction Game Champ 2003 & 2005
    Jan 12, 2002
    3,794
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #5
    ++ [ originally posted by Vilhelmas ] ++
    nice looking squad.

    could you do the same with other favorites of this tournament, i mean post their squads. or just give me the site :D
    Well, I don't want to fill the thread with squads of all teams. But you can choose a team from a list and get to know the team's complete squad from this link :

    http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/Under21/Teams/index.html

    ---

    Some of the players expected to shine in the tournament:

    Moreira and Hugo Viana (Portugal)

    Thomas Hitzlsperger (Germany)

    Johan Elmander (Sweden)

    Eduardo da Silva (Croatia)
     
    OP
    dpforever

    dpforever

    Prediction Game Champ 2003 & 2005
    Jan 12, 2002
    3,794
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  • Thread Starter #7
    ++ [ originally posted by Vilhelmas ] ++
    nice to see that croatia has some good home grown talent. :D
    :D

    In case you are wondering, da Silva is Brazil-born ;)

    And Croatia has another good striker: Domagoj Abramovic :eek:
     

    Slagathor

    Bedpan racing champion
    Jul 25, 2001
    22,708
    #8
    Yikes, that's frightening.

    Nice to see we didn't qualify again - I suppose there's a price to be paid for letting a lot of youngsters into your 'real' NT...
     
    OP
    dpforever

    dpforever

    Prediction Game Champ 2003 & 2005
    Jan 12, 2002
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  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #9
    Paolo Cannavaro dropped out of the squad through injury as he failed to recover from surgery.

    Gentile has instead called up Bologna centre-back Alessandro Gamberini to replace him.

    Too bad as he played extremely well in the past friendlies, and had a good partnership with Parma teammate Bonera at the back.

    ------

    I think the probable Azzurrini lineup would be:

    Amelia

    Zaccardo/Bonera/Gamberini/Moretti

    Pinzi/Brighi/De Rossi/D'Agostino

    Del Nero

    Gilardino

    (or play with 2 forwards: Sculli/Gilardino)
     
    OP
    dpforever

    dpforever

    Prediction Game Champ 2003 & 2005
    Jan 12, 2002
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  • Thread Starter #10
    Italy are 48 hours away from their European Under-21 Championship debut, but Claudio Gentile is keeping his cards close to his chest.

    “The lads are all doing well,” assured the Coach after today’s training session. “Our morale is high and that goes for our fitness levels too.”

    The Azzurrini will open their Championship account against Belarus on Thursday evening and the tactician is refusing to give away his secrets.

    “Our line-up will depend on the system our opponents choose to start with,” explained the 1982 World Cup winner.

    “Belarus are a very strong side physically, and we cannot leave any detail to chance when going into this match.”

    There are a couple of midfield doubts, with Parma's Marco Donadel currently ahead of Roma's more creative Daniele De Rossi.
    Italy are certainly among the favourites for the tournament in Germany, although Gentile has lost Paolo Cannavaro and Fabio Gatti to injury.

    The Coach also revealed a split with the Serie B clubs, as the Second Division is still in full swing.

    “I did everything possible to have Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Gasbarroni with the squad, but there was nothing we could do to convince their clubs.”

    Livorno defender Chiellini and Palermo winger Gasbarroni – who is owned by Juventus – were considered too important for the current promotion battle in Serie B.

    “We really needed them here,” he continued, “both for a tactical balance and for their individual talent. I don’t want to force the clubs into giving up players, but I am particularly sorry for the lads who’ll miss out on this tournament.”

    One player who is raring to go is Giuseppe Sculli, who must shake off a disappointing season at Chievo.

    “Belarus are tricky customers,” noted the hitman, “but we are aware of our own potential. I am dreaming of a debut with plenty of goals.”
     

    Mark

    The Informer
    Administrator
    Dec 19, 2003
    95,899
    #13
    Italy lost 2-1 in the first game against Belarus. Gilardino scored and Bonera got red carded + mistake on one Belarus goal. :rolleyes:

    Kirenkin 6min B
    A.Hleb 44min B
    Gilardino 58min I
     

    Majed

    Senior Member
    Jul 17, 2002
    9,630
    #14
    ++ [ originally posted by mark77 ] ++
    Italy lost 2-1 in the first game against Belarus. Gilardino scored and Bonera got red carded + mistake on one Belarus goal. :rolleyes:

    Kirenkin 6min B
    A.Hleb 44min B
    Gilardino 58min I
    sokay.. Italy always suck in the group stages of any tournament :D
     

    Stu

    Senior Member
    Jul 14, 2002
    17,557
    #15
    Italy 1-2 Belarus
    Kirenkin (B) 6, A Hleb (B) 44, Gilardino (I) 58

    Italy’s U-21 European Championship campaign got off to the worst possible start as Daniele Bonera was sent-off in a 2-1 defeat to Belarus.

    The Azzurrini went into the event as one of the favourites but they now have a mountain to climb to even qualify from their Group.

    Coach Claudio Gentile opted for a more solid 4-4-2 to start the tournament which saw Roma starlet Gaetano D’Agostino relegated to the bench for a more robust midfield. His club colleague Daniele De Rossi was also left out given his recent physical problems.

    The side was still full of a host of the players who proved crucial in qualification such as Daniele Bonera, captain Matteo Brighi and star striker Alberto Gilardino - who just missed out on a place in Giovanni Trapattoni’s Euro 2004 squad.

    Gentile spoke before the game that he feared Belarus and he was proved right within six minutes. They took advantage of a nervous Italian start to go one up after Kirenkin beat Gilardino in the air to head home a corner.

    It took the Azzurrini around 20 minutes to settle and, after Belarus looked dangerous again, Italy finally created a real opportunity to level the scores. Sculli was played in but with only the ‘keeper to beat he incredibly fired wide of goal.

    Donadel, Gilardino and Zaccardo all had half chances before Italy went within inches of an equaliser. Pinzi did well on the right wing and his cross beat the ‘keeper but Gilardino’s header finished on the roof of the net. A Sculli header then forced Belarus ‘keeper Zhaunou into a fine flying save on 40 minutes.

    The leveller seemed on the cards but Italian fans were left stunned on the stroke of half time. The highly talented and dangerous Alexander Hleb took advantage of a quick counter attack to strike home a beautiful 22-yard low strike past the hapless Amelia.

    Gentile changed his midfield in the second half with the introduction at various stages of D’Agostino, Mesto and De Rossi. The half-time oranges did seem to pep up the Italians as Sculli went close again before the side got back into the game.

    Mesto settled in well on the right and his inch perfect cross was met by Gilardino’s superb glancing header as he made it 2-1. The peninsula youngsters increased the pressure but there was no way past a rather defensive Belarus side.

    Gilardino again proved a danger with his head but is was Belarus substitute Suchkov who almost increased his side’s lead on two separate occasions.

    To make matters worse, Bonera was harshly sent off in injury time. He was dismissed for leading with an elbow in an aerial challenge but TV replays suggest he struck his opponent accidentally with his head and not his arm.

    Italy: Amelia; Zaccardo, Bonera, Barzagli, Moretti; Pinzi (De Rossi 80), Donadel, Brighi (Mesto 56), Del Nero (D'Agostino 51); Gilardino, Sculli

    Belarus: Zhaunou; Baha, Tarasenka, Kirenkin, Pankavets (Suchkov 63); Kalachev, Molash, Shkabara, V Hleb (Kantsavy 64); A Hleb (Sokal 83), Kornilenko

    Ref: Messias (Eng)

    Sent -off: Bonera (I) 92

    ....
    Gila - :thumb:
    Bonnie - :rolleyes:
     
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    dpforever

    dpforever

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    Jan 12, 2002
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  • Thread Starter #18
    What a shocking start for the Azzurrini !!

    Well, the team played well but Belarus were very deadly at the counter-attack. They were just there waiting for a mistake to hunt Italy down. The poor central defensive midfield pairing of Brighi and Donadel also made it all the easier for them. The defenders weren't as solid as they should be too.

    Gentile should've started with D'Agostino on the left wing (and not as a 2nd half substitute). Del Nero played there (out of position) and didn't do well. Sculli too looked out of touch. Gilardino tried his best, scored a goal but also received a booking for diving inside the box, looking for a penalty kick. Bonera was also sent off late on for elbowing a player before heading the ball out, which seemed a bit harsh.

    Belarus' Hleb was their danger man and he lead most of their counter-attacks successfuly. I though Amelia could've done better in saving the 2nd goal but it wasn't meant to be.

    Now that the Azzurrini have been brought back to earth, maybe they could improve their display and win both of the remaining matches (against Serbia and Croatia) to reach the semifinal. It would be shameful for an extremely talented side like this one to leave the tournament so early.
     

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