PORTUGAL v SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO MATCH PRESS KIT Cidade de Barcelos, Barcelos Thursday, 25 May 2006 - 19:45 local time Final tournament - Group phase Group A - Matchday 3 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final hosts Portugal take a step into the unknown when they face Serbia and Montenegro at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos in the second round of Group A matches. Not only have the sides never previously met at this age group; their paths have never crossed at U17 and U19 levels and even senior fixtures have been a rarity. However, neither team can contemplate defeat after both went down 1-0 in their group curtain-raisers on Tuesday. • There was a senior encounter in the last eight of the first UEFA European Championship in 1960, which was played over two legs. The Portuguese enjoyed the upper hand against the then Yugoslavia in Lisbon, Joaquim Santana and Lucas Da Fonseca scoring in either half to gain a two-goal advantage only for Bora Kostić to halve the deficit with nine minutes left. The Yugoslavians picked up where they had left off when the return game got under way at Belgrade's FK Partizan stadium, Dragoslav Sekularac striking early only for Domiciano Cavém to respond before the half-hour. Zvezdan Cebinac levelled the aggregate scores on the stroke of half-time and the hosts ran away with the tie after the break, Kostić scoring twice and Milan Galić once to book a semi-final place. • Yugoslavia went on to defeat France 5-4 at the Parc des Princes in Paris, but fell at the last hurdle in the French capital, losing 2-1 to the Soviet Union after extra time in the final. Portugal have not subsequently faced Yugoslavia or Serbia and Montenegro in a competitive senior fixture, although the two countries will meet in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying Group A with the first game scheduled for Serbia and Montenegro on 28 March 2007 and the return in Portugal on 12 September the same year. • The senior teams did play a friendly in June 1984, with the Yugoslavians twice recovering from a goal down to record a 3-2 victory in Lisbon. Rui Manuel Jordão twice put the Portuguese ahead but first Safet Susić and then Sulejman Halilović responded before Dragan Stojković won the match for the visitors from the penalty spot with six minutes remaining. Team facts Portugal So strong at youth level, Portugal's name is yet to adorn the UEFA Under-21 European Championship trophy, but the time could be ripe in 2006. Tournament hosts, Agostinho Oliveira's side blazed a trail in qualifying and in Hugo Almeida they have one of Europe's most potent strikers at this level. Qualifying The possibility of the hosts not qualifying for the finals never looked likely as Portugal left the likes of Russia and Slovakia standing in the qualifying group stage. The side racked up 29 goals in their ten games, conceding a miserly three, as they confirmed themselves as section winners with three games to spare. They nevertheless went on to beat Luxembourg, Russia and Latvia to maintain their 100 per cent record, but that was ended when they were held by Switzerland in the first leg of their play-off in Zurich after they fell behind early on. The same happened in the return match but second-half goals from Silvestre Varela and Hugo Almeida saw them through, 3-2 on aggregate. Last Updated 25.5.2006 15:28:12CET uefa.com 1 PORTUGAL v SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO MATCH PRESS KIT Team guide The play-off strike was Hugo Almeida's eighth in qualifying, and the talismanic FC Porto forward is likely to carry the weight of a nation's expectations in the finals as they seek to better their second-placed finish in 1994. Much depends on his continued rapport with club-mate Ricardo Quaresma, the provider of so many Portuguese goals and a player whose crossing ability and willingness to run at opponents cause a constant menace to opposing defences. Voted the Portuguese Liga's Player of the Season, Quaresma was a surprising omission from the country's FIFA World Cup squad but their loss promises to be Oliveira's gain. The coach favours a 4-3-3 formation, with Bolton Wanderers FC's forward Ricardo Vaz Té and Sporting Clube de Portugal's Varela vying for a place alongside the established Porto front pair. Yet another Porto player, Raul Meireles, the precocious João Moutinho of Sporting and SL Benfica's Manuel Fernandes are obvious choices in midfield, after Hugo Viana received a senior call-up. Portugal have always produced attacking U21 sides but their downfall has frequently been their defence. Their 2004 campaign was ended when they shipped three goals in the semi-finals against Italy, but they have discovered a new defensive steel this time around, led by the fine goalkeeping of Bruno Vale, supported by the likes of Nélson, Zé Castro and Rolando. 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. 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-mates 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. Last Updated 25.5.2006 15:28:12CET uefa.com 2 PORTUGAL v SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 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. 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.