SERBIA and MONTENEGRO V GERMANY
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SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO v GERMANY MATCH PRESS KIT Cidade de Barcelos, Barcelos Tuesday, 23 May 2006 - 17:15 local time Final tournament - Group phase Group A - Matchday 1 Having never met in a competitive fixture at this level, Serbia and Montenegro and Germany will venture into new territory when their paths cross in Barcelos in the first fixture of the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals. • The teams have, however, faced off on three occasions at both U17 and U19 levels, with honours even in that each side has won once with the other game finishing in a draw. The countries' U19 squads played each other twice in the 2005/06 season, first sharing a 1-1 draw in the qualifying round with Borko Veselinović opening the scoring for the Serbo-Montenegrins before Eugen Polanski replied. • Both teams progressed to the Elite round and then to the final tournament in Northern Ireland, where they were drawn together in Group A and met in the first round of matches. This time Germany seemed to have gained the upper hand as strikes either side of half-time from Polanski and Mustafa Kucukovic secured a two-goal advantage but the match was turned on its head in remarkable fashion, Veselinović scoring twice in three minutes to restore parity before the hour, before goals from Nebojša Marinković and Marko Markovski inside the final 15 minutes sealed a famous victory. • It was a completely different story in the 2006 U17 finals, though, as Germany won 4-0 on Matchday 3 to clinch first place in Group B. A first-half hat-trick from Manuel Fischer did most of the damage, with Stefan Reinartz rounding off a comfortable success with a fourth after the break. • The countries have also been regular opponents at senior level in UEFA European Championships and FIFA World Cups, meeting in three successive quarter-finals in the latter competition between 1954 and 1962. West Germany triumphed against then-Yugoslavia in the first two, going on to lift the trophy in 1954, although Yugoslavia gained some revenge with a 1-0 victory in the 1962 quarter-final. The West Germans prevailed by 4-2 in the last eight of the 1976 European Championship and, more recently, the game between Germany and Yugoslavia in the group stage of the 1998 World Cup finals ended 2-2. Team facts Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro broke new ground when they reached the final two years ago, despite being soundly beaten by Italy in the showpiece. That was the culmination of a concerted effort by the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro, and even though its attentions have been diverted back to the senior side this time around with the FIFA World Cup looming, hopes are high that the U21s can emulate that success. Last Updated 22.5.2006 19:20:48CET uefa.com 1 SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO v GERMANY MATCH PRESS KIT Qualifying Drawn in a group with Belgium, Spain and neighbours Bosnia-Herzegovina, they got off to a blistering start, notching up 17 goals in their first three games. Admittedly, two were against minnows San Marino and they were brought back to earth with a demoralising 4-0 defeat by Belgium before a change of coaches saw Dragomir Okuka installed. The new man immediately got their campaign back on track with a narrow win at home to Spain, and even though the Iberians won the return, they paid for their inconsistency as Serbia and Montenegro scraped through in second place behind Belgium. A play-off against Croatia was their reward and a first-leg hat-trick by Mirko Vučinić set them on course for a 5-2 aggregate triumph. Team guide Vučinić had been virtually unknown in his homeland when he scored that decisive three-goal haul, having moved to Italy to join US Lecce as a 17-year-old. His link-up play with Boško Janković was particularly impressive, and although expected to receive a call-up with the senior side for the FIFA World Cup in Germany, the playmaker will instead complete his season with the U21s in Portugal. It has been a successful campaign thus far, as he and six U21 team-mated claimed a Serbo-Montenegrin league-and-cup double with FK Crvena Zvezda. Dušan Basta and Vladimir Stojković are among them, and they and Vučinić will travel to Germany after the U21 finals, after being asked to do an international tournament double this summer. Stojković will captain the U21 side in the absence of Danko Lazović, who will also play no part after receiving a five-match ban following his dismissal in the first leg of the play-offs. The loss of their talismanic skipper will be a crushing blow to the team, because after playing 33 games at this level his experience would have been invaluable as they look to go one better than in 2004. Eve-of-tournament injuries to Ljubiša Vukelja and Aleksandar Trišović provided setbacks but with Branislav Ivanović, Milan Biševac, and Dejan Milovanović not cherry-picked from the squad for the senior side as had been expected, Okuka has reason for hope. UEFA European Under-21 Championship record: winners 1978*; runners-up 1990*, 2004; semi-finals 1980* 1984*. *as Yugoslavia. Germany The past 30 years have seen Germany enjoy success at all levels. Two UEFA European Championships, a FIFA World Cup and four more continental honours at U19 and U17 levels have been gained but U21 glory has so far eluded them. East Germany and West Germany finished runners-up in the first three instalments - the former on two occasions, the latter once - and although as a unified nation they have not progressed beyond the last eight, hopes are high that the current crop of youngsters can end a long wait for U21 silverware in Portugal. Qualifying Germany came through a tough qualifying group with flying colours, edging out England, neighbours Austria and the dangerous Poles. Spearheaded by the excellent Hanke, the side picked up seven wins and three draws to set up a play-off against the Czech Republic, and their unbeaten qualifying record never looked in danger after they won the first leg 2-0 in Uherske Hradis. Rafael set them on course for that victory, and repeated the feat in Leverkusen in the return as Germany sealed their place in the finals with a 3-0 aggregate victory. Team guide Hanke will play no part in Portugal, however, having been poached by Jürgen Klinsmann and his FIFA World Cup squad. BV Borussia Dortmund striker David Odonkor has also been included in the senior party so lesser known trio Patrick Helmes, Stefan Kiessling and Ioannis Masmanidis are all in contention to join Rafael in attack. Eilts has been boosted by the presence of Werder Bremen's Christian Schulz and 1. FC Köln defender Lukas Sinkiewicz after their surprising omission form the senior squad and their experience could prove vital in an inexperienced party. Last Updated 22.5.2006 19:20:48CET uefa.com 2 SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO v GERMANY MATCH PRESS KIT Uncapped at this level, Christian Eigler is perhaps chief among them after Piotr Trochowski's late withdrawal with a thigh injury. The SpVgg Greuther Fürth forward has a wealth of 2. Bundesliga experience to draw on, however, and having finished the season as top scorer with 18 goals, he could be one to watch. Indeed, Eilts has stressed a team ethic throughout and believes any absences will provide others with an opportunity to come to the fore. "I am very reluctant to focus on individual players as we are strong in every department," he said. "We are very athletic, we have a very good tactical understanding and the team is made up of very capable individuals." UEFA European Under-21 Championship record: 1982**; quarter-finals 1992, 1996, 1998. **as West Germany. Records for single match finals (since 1992-94 competition) 1992-94 20.04.1994 - Italy 1-0 Portugal (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. The last dismissals came in the 2002-04 final when Serbia and Montenegro players Nikola Mihajlović (33) and Branislav Ivanović (90+1) were both sent off by Spanish official Luis Medina in their 3-0 defeat by Italy. The Italians' previous victory in the competition also ended with a dismissal as Francesco Coco saw red in the last minute of their 2-1 defeat of the Czech Republic in the 1998-2000 final.