Belgium and Israel claimed the two remaining places at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with respective play-off victories against Bulgaria and France tonight to bring the qualifying campaign to a close.
They join the Italy, Czech Republic, England, Portugal and Serbia, who all booked their spots with play-off victories 24 hours earlier, as well as the Netherlands, the host nation, in next summer's eight-team tournament. The Dutch accepted the offer of hosting the tournament after winning the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Portugal last summer.
Of the eight finalists, the Azzurrini - the most successful European country, Czech Republic, England and the Netherlands are all past champions. Serbia take part as an independent nation for the first time after enjoying success alongside their neighbours Montenegro in recent years, reaching the final in 2004 and the semi-finals last summer. Including Serbia, four of this year's eight finalists also featured in Portugal last summer, with the Czech Republic, England, Israel and Belgium the new faces for 2007.
The draw for the final tournament will be held at the City Hall in Arnhem, Holland at 17:00 (UK Time) on 24 November when the eight teams will be divided into two groups of four. Arnhem is one of four venues, along with Heerenveen, Groningen and Nijmegen, selected to host matches during the tournament. Group games will provisionally be played between 10 and 17 June next year, with Heerenveen and Arnhem each staging a semi-final three days after that.
The final will be on Saturday 23 June at FC Groningen's 20,000-capacity Euroborg. The biennal tournament has been moved to odd years to raise its profile and prevent it clashing with the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
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