The summer is always a difficult time for the ‘football addict’ such as myself. Saturday afternoons that used to be solely focused on the beautiful game now feature such activities as shopping with my girlfriend and general household chores etc – very boring indeed. Hurrah then for the European Under 21 Championships which at least gives me two weeks of football to enjoy while I wait for the new season to begin.
There are just two groups in the under-21 tournament, Group A has sees Belarus, Italy, Serbia and the hosts Sweden battle it out while Group B is a bit of a ‘group of death’ with England, Finland, Germany and Spain all drawn together. The top two go through to a semi final stage with the final taking place on June 29.
Sweden also looks to be a good place for the competition to take place. The cooler climate will keep the games flowing, rather than players being dead on their feet at the end, and the organisers seem to have done a good job. The Finnish took a lot of support as it is a bit of a success for their youngsters to make it to the competition at all, with current holders Holland missing out on qualification altogether. The Swedish team will obviously also be well supported and the stadiums, though small, should be packed for most fixtures.
To be honest the opening game on Monday June 15 was hardly a game for the purists. England defeated Finland 2-1 but were reduced to 10 men when Chelsea’s Michael Mancienne hauled down Finland’s Berat Sadik to give the Finnish a penalty. England’s squad features some already proven Premier League players such as Mark Noble (West Ham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton wanderers) and Gabby Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) so it is worth watching them and they’re quite rightly among the favourites to win the competition.
