1 UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 FINAL TOURNAMENT DRAW PRESS KIT Lamborghini Factory, Bologna, Italy Friday 23 November 2018 | 18.00 CET #U21EURO UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Draw Press Kit 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ………………………………….…………………………………………....... 3 AMBASSADOR ………………………………….………………..…………………..…........ 4 BACKGROUND ………………………………….………………..…………………..…........ 5-6 HOW TO FOLLOW THE DRAW ………….…..………………..…....................... 7 HOW THE DRAW WILL WORK ………………..………….……………..…............ 8-11 TEAM PROFILES ………………………….……………................................... 12-81 UNDER-21 FINALS .………………………….…………...................................... 82-91 FACTS & FIGURES ………..…………………….…………................................. 92-95 UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Draw Press Kit 3 INTRODUCTION UEFA President, Aleksander Čeferin: “The UEFA European Under-21 Championship provides young players with a crucial transition between youth football and the full international stage. We have seen previously how many of the game’s big stars have displayed their blossoming talents at this level over the years. Many of the players competing next summer in Italy and San Marino are already showing their talents for their clubs, and they have every chance of becoming superstars of the future.” FIGC President, Gabriele Gravina: “Italy is proud to have been chosen to host this prestigious and acclaimed tournament, which will see many of the top players of the not-too-distant future take another important step along their career paths. We are looking forward to seeing them in action in Italy and San Marino and we are sure that the many fans and visitors who come to our countries for the event will enjoy a unique and memorable experience.” UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Draw Press Kit 4 AMBASSADOR ANDREA PIRLO Date of birth: 19/05/1979 Position: Midfielder Clubs: Brescia, Internazionale, Reggina (loan), Brescia (loan), AC Milan, Juventus, New York City • Perhaps the finest deep-lying playmaker of his generation, Pirlo was touted for greatness the moment he made his debut for hometown club Brescia two days after his 16th birthday. His skills were quickly noticed by Inter, who signed him in 1998. • Still playing as a fantasista behind two fowards, Pirlo failed to make his mark with the Nerazzurri. A loan spell back at Brescia, however, changed his career completely. Carlo Mazzone transformed him into a deep-lying regista and Carlo Ancelotti then brought him to Milan the following summer. • In ten brilliant seasons with the Rossoneri, Pirlo won the UEFA Champions League twice – his free-kick leading to the opening goal in the 2007 showpiece – and several other trophies including two Serie A titles. • 2011 saw him join Juventus where he continued to shine, winning the Scudetto four times and reaching the 2015 UEFA Champions League final as ‘Keep calm and pass the ball to Pirlo’ t-shirts proved popular among Juventus fans, summing up his relaxed style. He finished his career in the United States with New York City. • Captained Italy to UEFA European Under-21 Championship glory in 2000, scoring both goals in the final defeat of the Czech Republic. Feted for Italy’s 2006 FIFA World Cup triumph in which he collected three man of the match awards. • Pirlo was known as L’Architetto (the Architect) among his Azzurri team-mates and Italy’s surprise run to the UEFA EURO 2012 final was built on his solid foundations – an audacious chipped penalty against England in the quarter-finals helped, too. Won 116 caps for the Azzurri, scoring 13 goals. UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Draw Press Kit 5 BACKGROUND What is the background to the UEFA European Under-21 Championship? Held every two years, the UEFA European Under-21 Championship has become one of the national-team calendar’s premier competitions. It consists of a qualifying stage and a 12-team final tournament, usually held in June Qualifying is open to all UEFA member associations. Teams initially compete in a group stage, with the section winners and a set number of best runners-up paired off in two-legged play-offs to determine the eleven sides that will join the tournament hosts in the finals. The final tournament consists of three groups of four, with the winners and the best runner-up advancing to the semi-finals, where it becomes a knockout competition. In finals held a year before a summer Olympic Games (eg 2011, 2015, and 2019) the championship also serves as qualification for the Olympic Football Tournament. History of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Today’s prestigious UEFA European Under-21 Championship enjoys worldwide acclaim, but it has evolved considerably since UEFA first put the idea to its member associations in January 1967. What is now the UEFA European Under-21 Championship has its roots in the late 1960s but there have been many stages in its evolution to the high-profile biennial tournament of today. The format has changed down the years, but the competition’s raison d’être has remained the same: to provide a stepping stone from youth football up to the full international stage. The roll call of great players who have graduated from European football’s élite finishing school is testament to its enduring success. Andrea Pirlo, Zinédine Zidane, Rudi Völler, Davor Šuker, Luís Figo, Raúl González and Frank Lampard to name but a few have all played their part in making the UEFA European U21 Championship one of the highlights on the football calendar. Today’s prestigious 12-team final tournament enjoys worldwide acclaim, but it has evolved considerably since UEFA first put the idea to its member associations in January 1967. The concept then was for a ‘Challenge Cup for national representative teams aged under-23’. Seventeen associations signed up, from which Bulgaria and East Germany were drawn to play the first match. It was held in Stara Zagora on 7 June 1967, with Bulgaria winning 3-2 to become the first champions. Like in boxing, they were simply required to defend their title against a series of challengers and Bulgaria then Yugoslavia dominated the early years. The foundations for today’s competition had been laid. UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Draw Press Kit 6 It was not until 1976 that the age limit was changed to U21, when UEFA decided the gap between U18 and U23 levels was too great. By now the Challenge Cup format had given way to qualifying groups followed by a knockout competition from the quarter-finals onwards. Yugoslavia prolonged the early eastern dominance by winning that first final in Mostar. Italy, though, would leave the greatest mark on the competition, winning the U21 championship on five occasions, most recently in 2004 when they defeated Serbia and Montenegro 3-0 in Bochum. Italy were first crowned champions in 1992 and successfully defended their title two years later when for the first time the semi-finals and final were played as a single tournament in France. Pierluigi Orlandini scored the extra-time Golden Goal winner for Italy in Montpellier in the first final to be decided by a single match. The final tournament was expanded to eight teams in Romania in 1998, when Spain interrupted Italy’s run of success, but the Azzurrini were back on top in 2000, the year the group stage was introduced in the final tournament. The current format came into place in 2002 when the Czech Republic triumphed in Switzerland. In 2007 the event was switched to odd years to avoid clashing with the UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup. So, with the U21 Championship taking centre stage, the Netherlands put on a show on home soil beating Serbia 4-1 in the final to lift the crown. They failed to make it a hat-trick two years later as Switzerland knocked them out in qualifying and it was Germany’s time to shine, Horst Hrubesch’s team avenging the 1982 final defeat by England with a record 4-0 triumph in Malmo. Spain made it three victories in 2011, overcoming Switzerland 2-0 in Denmark, and two years later retained the title by defeating Italy 4-2 in Israel. Sweden won in 2015 in the Czech Republic; Poland were the hosts of the currently expanded 12- team tournament in 2017 and Germany beat Spain 1-0 for a second title. UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Draw Press Kit 7 HOW TO FOLLOW THE DRAW On UEFA.com and official social media channels. UEFA.com is the official website of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The fully responsive Under-21 section – available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – will provide in-depth coverage of the competition, including live streaming and detailed editorial coverage of the draw. With over 160 million visitors per year, the website has extensive reach, both for UEFA and its member associations, as do the official social media channels. The UEFA European Under-21 Championship will be covered via the following established and popular accounts: 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship social media: Twitter: @UEFAUnder21 Facebook: Under21 Instagram: UEFAcom Hashtag: #U21EURO Match hashtags: #IOCIOC (#FRAGER, #ESPENG etc.) UEFA Corporate social media: Twitter: @UEFA Facebook: @UEFA Instagram: uefa_official Useful link UEFA European Under-21 Championship: http://www.uefa.com/under21/index.html Key dates 23 November 2018: Final tournament draw 16–30 June 2019: Final tournament across six venues in Italy and San Marino UEFA European Under-21 Championship | Draw Press Kit 8 HOW THE DRAW WILL WORK Competition Regulations (excerpt) Paragraph 13.03.: The nine group winners in the qualifying group stage qualify for the final tournament, while the four best runners-up qualify for the play-offs. The two winners of the play- offs qualify for the final tournament. Draw Principle Article 16: • By means of a draw, the UEFA administration allocates the 12 teams that qualify for the final tournament into three groups (A, B, C) of four teams each.