NETHERLANDS V ITALY MATCH PRESS KIT Municipal, Aveiro Monday, 29 May 2006 - 19:45 Local Time Final Tournament - Group Phase Group B - Matchday 6
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NETHERLANDS v ITALY MATCH PRESS KIT Municipal, Aveiro Monday, 29 May 2006 - 19:45 local time Final tournament - Group phase Group B - Matchday 6 For two countries with rich heritage at all levels, it is perhaps surprising that when the Netherlands and Italy come face to face in the third and final round of Group B matches at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, it will be their first competitive meeting. Italy sit top of the group with four points thanks to Giorgio Chiellini's added-time winner against Ukraine which followed their similarly dramatic 3-3 draw with Denmark. The Netherlands are still looking for their first victory after losing to Ukraine then drawing with Denmark, and must win to advance. • The countries have rarely come into opposition at youth level either, although when they have crossed paths it has invariably been a close contest. At the 2005 European U17 Championship hosts Italy won through to a semi-final against the Dutch but home advantage proved irrelevant on this occasion with Melvin Zaalman getting the only goal for the Netherlands in extra time. Italy had had the better of their four meetings at U16 level with three victories including a 6-1 triumph in the 1990 qualifying round and edged out the Dutch on penalties to reach the U18 finals in 1998/99, when they went on to the final before losing to Portugal. • At senior level perhaps their most significant meeting was in the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2000™ when, on home soil, the Dutch missed two penalties in normal time against ten-man Italy with Frank de Boer and Patrick Kluivert both failing from the spot. After 120 goalless minutes there was more spot-kick misery in store for the Dutch with De Boer again, Jaap Stam and Paul Bosvelt all missing in the shoot-out as Italy won through 3-1 on penalties only to lose 2-1 to a David Trezeguet golden goal in the final against France. • Previously the teams met in qualifying for the 1976 tournament, each winning their home games, but it was the Dutch who went on to win Group 5 and eventually finish third and the final tournament. The Netherlands also had the upper hand at the 1978 FIFA World Cup finals, defeating Italy 2-1 in Group 1 to reach the final where they lost 3-1 to hosts Argentina while the Italians were defeated by Brazil in the third-placed play-off. More recently, the two countries met in a friendly international in Amsterdam in November 2005 when Alberto Gilardino, Mauro Camoranesi and Luca Toni all found the net in response to Ryan Babel's opener to inflict a first defeat on Netherlands coach Marco van Basten. Team facts Netherlands After negotiating their way out of a treacherous qualifying group, the Netherlands will be looking to make an impression at the 2006 UEFA Under-21 European Championship, with much of their hopes resting on the shoulders of AFC Ajax striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Qualifying The Dutch missed out on a place in the finals two years ago as they finished eleven points behind section winners Czech Republic, and expectations were not high when they were drawn together again, along with Romania, this time around. Foppe de Haan's side then collected just eight points from their first five fixtures, before storming to the summit with five consecutive victories. Much was down to Huntelaar, the then-SC Heerenveen forward taking his qualifying tally to ten with two in the second leg of the play-off victory against Slovenia which sealed a place in Portugal. Last Updated 29.5.2006 17:29:43CET uefa.com 1 NETHERLANDS v ITALY MATCH PRESS KIT Team guide Having finished as the top scorer in the entire qualifying competition, Huntelaar moved to Ajax in a €9m deal - making him the most expensive Dutch player ever to switch Eredivisie clubs. His success continued at the Amsterdam ArenA as he ended the season as the league's top scorer with 33 goals and was unsurprisingly named Netherlands' Young Player of the Season. He has more records in his sights as he now lies just three goals behind Roy Makaay and Arnold Bruggink's national mark of 15 U21 goals. Should he fail, Feyenoord's Romeo Castelen and RC Celta de Vigo's Daniël de Ridder could step into the goalsoring breach, while the likes of Collins John provide strong backup. De Haan favours a 4-3-3 formation with captain Stijn Schaars dictating things from midfield. Urby Emanuelsson is expected to provide his foil on the left, while Feyenoord's Nicky Hofs has made a timely return from injury although he could find his position in the starting XI tested by 17-year-old Ismaïl Aisatti, who has made an impression since opting for the Dutch over Morocco. The starting team in Portugal will be built on a sturdy defensive bedrock, with Ron Vlaar's name one of the first on the team sheet after he, Huntelaar and Castelen were all surprisingly left out of Marco van Basten's FIFA World Cup squad. The likes of Arnold Kruiswijk, Ramon Zomer and Gijs Luirink will all be vying for a place alongside the Feyenoord man, ahead of either FC Twente's Remko Pasveer or Kenneth Vermeer in the Dutch goal. SC Heerenveen goalkeeper Boy Waterman is out. UEFA European Under-21 Championship record: semi-finals 1988, 1998; quarter-finals 1992. Italy Italy have enjoyed a stranglehold on the UEFA Under-21 European Championship in recent years, winning five of the last seven tournaments, and Claudio Gentile's team are again among the favourites to clinch the 2006 title in Portugal this summer. Qualifying Italy breezed through the group stage after winning eight of their ten games, dominating a section that also included Slovenia and Norway. After winning their first five matches, their one slip came against the Norwegians in Drammen, but that result failed to take the gloss off a campaign which saw them concede just three goals as they ended ten points clear at the summit. That earned a play-off tie against Hungary and after being held in Budapest, the Azzurrini won the return leg thanks to a solitary second-half strike from Gianpaolo Pazzini. Team guide Voted Serie A's Young Player of the Year, the onus will be on Pazzini to provide more goals at the finals after Rolando Bianchi was ruled out for much of the season with a long-term knee injury. The Reggina Calcio forward ended the qualifying campaign as Italy's leading scorer but Claudio Gentile will have to assess his physical condition after a six-month lay-off. Former U21 linchpin Alberto Gilardino, now at AC Milan, believes Pazzini can step into his shoes if needed. "He is a complete striker," he said. "He looks destined to become a key player both for Fiorentina and the senior national team." Pazzini will be in good company in attack, with in-form Raffaele Palladino expected to partner him in Gentile's favoured 4-4-2 formation. The Juventus forward made a big impression on loan at Serie A high-fliers AS Livorno Calcio, while the same can be said of Fiorentina midfielder Marco Donadel. Pasquale Foggia also caught the eye this season, missing only a handful of games while on loan at Ascoli Calcio 1898 and Gentile is expected to look to his pace and creativity on the right flank. Italian teams are historically based on a sound defensive platform, and the current U21 crop is no different. Giorgio Chiellini established himself as first choice left-back as Juventus claimed the Scudetto, while another Serie A regular, Michele Canini, has enjoyed a prodigious rise at Cagliari Calcio. He should slot into the back four alongside Cesare Bovo, a player looking to add another winners' medal having claimed this title in 2004. UEFA European Under-21 Championship record: winners 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004; runners-up 1986; semi-finals 1984, 2002; quarter-finals 1978, 1980, 1982, 1988. Last Updated 29.5.2006 17:29:43CET uefa.com 2 NETHERLANDS v ITALY MATCH PRESS KIT Records for single match finals (since 1992-94 competition) 1992-94 20.04.1994 - Italy 1-0 Portugal (After extra time) (Stade La Mosson, Montpellier, France - 6,263 - Serge Muhmenthaler (SUI)) 1994-96 31.05.1996 - Italy 1-1 Spain (After extra time, Italy win 5-4 on penalties) (Estadio Olímpico de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain - 35,500 - Günter Benkö (AUT)) 1996-98 31.05.1998 - Greece 0-1 Spain (Ghencea stadium, Bucharest, Romania - 7,000 - L'uboš Michel' (SVK)) 1998-2000 04.06.2000 - Czech Republic 1-2 Italy (Tehelné Pole stadium, Bratislava, Slovakia - 9,170 - Karl-Erik Nilsson (SWE)) 2000-02 28.05.2002 - France 0-0 Czech Republic (After extra time, Czech Republic win 3-1 on penalties) (St. Jakob-Park, Basle, Switzerland - 20,400 - Tom Henning Øvrebø (NOR)) 2002-04 08.06.2004 - Italy 3-0 Serbia and Montenegro (Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany - 20,092 - Luis Medina (ESP)) 6: Finals Six single match finals (from a total of 14) have taken place in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship since the finals format changed for the 1992-94 competition. To date, Italy have won all four finals in which they have appeared with Spain and the Czech Republic having won the other two. Other teams to have been involved in the six finals are France, Greece, and Serbia and Montenegro. 5: Red cards To date, five red cards have been issued in UEFA European Under-21 Championship single match finals.