TECHNICAL REPORT 2 CONTENTS ENGLISH SECTION 3 Tournament Overview 4 The Final 6 Talking Points 8 PARTIE FRANÇAISE 9 Vue d’ensemble du tournoi 10 La finale 12 Points de discussion 14 DEUTSCHER TEIL 15 Turnierüberblick 16 Das Endspiel 18 Diskussionspunkte 20 STATISTICS 21 Results 22 Team of the Tournament / Leading Scorers 25 UEFA Technical Study Group 26 Match Officials 27 Austria 28 France 29 Germany 30 Greece 31 Portugal 32 Russia 33 Serbia 34 Spain 35 Fair Play 36 Media Coverage 37 All-Time Winners 38 Front Cover: Couverture: Titelseite: No wonder Juan Santisteban looks happy. Rien d’étonnant à ce que Juan Santisteban ait l’air heureux. Juan Santisteban hat gut lachen. Dank dem spanischen Spain’s victory at the Linzer Stadion allows him to La victoire de l’Espagne au Linzer Stadion lui permet Sieg in Linz ist er seit Brian Kerr, der die Republik Irland become the first coach to achieve a youth de devenir le premier entraîneur à réaliser un doublé dans 1998 sowohl zum U16- als auch zum U18-Titel geführt hatte, tournament ‘double’ since Brian Kerr led the Republic of un tournoi junior depuis que Brian Kerr a remporté, der erste Juniorentrainer, der das «Double» schafft. Ireland to the Under-16 and Under-18 titles in 1998. à la tête de la République d’Irlande, les titres des moins DAVID MAHER / SPORTSFILE de 16 ans et des moins de 18 ans, en 1998. ENGLISH SECTION Introduction In comparison with the previous year, the 2007 finals yielded some interesting contrasts. Whereas none of the 2006 finalists had been present in Northern Ireland in 2005, Spain and Portugal joined the hosts, Austria, for repeat performances. But continuity had its price. In 2006, one motivating factor had been the competition for six places at the FIFA World Under-20 Championship. As an after-effect of their success, Austria, Portugal and Spain took to the Under-19 field in 2007 without nine key players who were on duty in Canada. The final round was played at four venues in the Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) area: Pasching, Ried, Steyr and Austria’s third-largest city, Linz, where the UEFA headquarters was located and the eight teams were accommodated in two neigh- bouring hotels. After the group phase, the four semi-finalists were in the same hotel. As had been the case in Poland a year earlier, the sultry July weather proved to be an influential factor, as mentioned elsewhere in this report. The high temperatures prompted match officials to allow players to gather on the touchline at a convenient juncture in play to take water during each half of the game, not restarting play until they were back in position. This was a sensible policy in order to minimise risks of dehydration and protect the welfare of the youngsters. The teams were unanimous in their praise of the top-class playing and training surfaces, even though thirsty grass sucked in pre-match watering so avidly that pitches were often slower than some participants would have liked. However, they could hardly have wished for better atmospheres at the four stadiums, where attendance figures – despite the early exit of the Austrian team – registered a significant increase with a crowd of 7,200 at the final bringing the tournament total to just over 76,000. Doping controls were conducted during the final tournament, with Dr Mogens Kreutzfeldt, a member of UEFA’s Medical Committee, also leading educational sessions with players, coaches and delegation leaders. The tournament was also included in UEFA’s ongoing study into injuries. In sporting terms, the tournament could not match the 63-goal extravaganza of the 2006 finals and registered a 33% decrease, even though the three matches played by a flamboyant Serbian side yielded 20 goals. Spain and Greece, qualifying from a Group A where defences prevailed, met for the second time in a week to dispute a final in which the Greeks suffered their only defeat of the tournament and the Spaniards’ clean sheet enabled them to win the title with an extraordinary record of only one goal conceded in their five matches. DAVID MAHER / SPORTSFILE DAVID Austrian forward Marc Sand has plenty to shout about after being grounded by a challenge from Portuguese captain Daniel Carriço during the decisive group match which sealed the hosts’ exit from the competition. 3 4 TOURNAMENT In goalscoring terms, the two groups produced a stark contrast. The six games played by Austria, Greece, Portugal and Spain in Group A yielded nine goals at an average of 1.5, while in Group B, France, Germany, Russia and Serbia scored 27 goals at 4.5 per match. The complexion of the two groups also differed substan- tially. Whereas three of the four teams in Group B had reason to go for a result on the final matchday, Spain and Greece met in Linz knowing that a draw would see both of them into the semi-finals, whatever the outcome of the other game. Had the MATT BROWNE / SPORTSFILE MATT Spanish goalkeeper Felipe Ramos not saved a second-half penalty, the closing stages might have been a different story. But the Spaniards, after a punchy first half in which they enjoyed clear chances, ultimately joined the Greeks in taking a cautious approach. During the goal-less draw, the last time Danish referee Peter Rasmussen had to whistle for a foul was in the 67th minute. In that group, the Austrian team attracted capacity crowds, which generated tremendous atmospheres. Unfortunately for their supporters, the hosts failed to capi- The only goal conceded by Spain during the entire talise on home advantage – not least because their only goal came from a penalty. tournament. From a corner, Portugal’s captain Daniel Carriço Hermann Stadler’s team played a fluid 4-4-2 and based their game on an attractive gets across Jon Echaide (5) to head the ball home. mix of high-tempo short, long and diagonal passing. They dominated the first half of their opening match against Spain, only to concede two quick-fire goals when Juan Santisteban’s team turned up the heat in the second half. The trend continued during the 1-1 draw with Greece and the 2-0 defeat by Portugal, when first-half domination failed to yield goals. Four of the five goals in their debit column were scored in the second half. The Portuguese were the other early fallers in Group A, also betrayed by the lack of a cutting edge in the attacking third. There was no shortage of quality in Edgar Borges’ tactically mature squad, and goals from set plays emphasised that good work had been done on the training ground. But ultimately their undoing was down to the 1-0 opening day defeat by the Greek side, which emerged as the dark horse MATT BROWNE / SPORTSFILE MATT of a highly competitive group. Nikolaos Nioplias, despite limited preparation time, had built a compact unit which was defensively well-organised and very difficult for opponents to break down. The only goal conceded was a penalty converted by Austria. The Greeks opted for a back four when confronted by opponents who fielded a single striker and two wingers but switched to three central defenders and two wing-backs against the Austrians – the only team in the group to operate with twin strikers. In the other group, the Russians were also lone exponents of the two-striker formula. Spain and Greece met twice in a week at the Linzer Stadion – and in both cases the duel between Spanish forward The Spaniards, sticking to the philosophies and structures which have earned Aarón Ñiguez (10) and Greek right-back Michail Boukou- them so many youth titles, missed four key players but still displayed enough tech- valas was riveting. At this juncture in the group match, nical ability and strength-in-depth to top a group where, as Juan Santisteban put it, the Greek defender emerges with the ball under control. “the teams didn’t have a defensive mentality but had a lot of defensive qualities.” The result was a closely-fought group with excellent passing and movement but very few goals. Group B was a different story. Russia and Serbia went home despite scoring more goals than any of the Group A contenders. The common denominator, however, was that performances were undoubtedly influenced by kick-off times, with the Rus- sians wilting – and posting the two defeats that eliminated them – in the afternoon heat. Of the ten goals conceded by the Serbs, seven were scored in the second half. Guy Ferrier’s impressively athletic French side came from behind to earn four points against Serbia and Germany before resting players in the final game and settling for the group’s only – uncharacteristic – goal-less draw. DAVID MAHER / SPORTSFILE DAVID All four teams operated with zonal back fours featuring strong, athletic central defenders equipped to dominate aerial combats. In midfield, the Russians were the only team to field a fairly flat four: France operated with one deeper-lying screening midfielder; Germany and Serbia with two. On the flanks, France and Germany were especially good at combining the efforts of full-backs and wide midfielders/wingers. By and large, transition from defence to attack was via good combination play Spanish winger Carlos Coto prepares to take with only the Serbs, ahead after two minutes, opting for counter-attacks based on a corner during the opening group match against long passes to the lone striker during the decisive match against Germany. the Austrian hosts in Linz. Transitions from attack to defence were conditioned by temperatures which acted OVERVIEW as a deterrent to forechecking.