UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP - 2013/15 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Eden Stadium - Prague Wednesday 17 June 2015 18.00CET (18.00 local time) Czech Republic Group A - Matchday 1 Denmark Last updated 30/06/2015 09:23CET UEFA UNDER 21 OFFICIAL SPONSORS Match background 2 Legend 4 1 Czech Republic - Denmark Wednesday 17 June 2015 - 18.00CET (18.00 local time) Match press kit Eden Stadium, Prague Match background The Czech Republic and Denmark open the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals at Prague's Eden Stadium with the hosts hoping their last competitive meeting at this level will prove a good omen. Previous meetings • The teams drew 2-2 in a friendly at Eden Stadium on 14 November 2014. • Ladislav Takács equalised in the 89th minute, Václav Kadlec having earlier cancelled out an early Jens Jønsson goal, only for Jeppe Andersen to make it 2-1 at half-time. • Competitively they came up against each other in 2002 qualifying, the Czech Republic winning 3-0 in Teplice on 27 March 2001 with two Milan Baroš goals and 4-3 in Odense on 1 June that year – Libor Žůrek striking in added time with Denmark having led 2-0 after seven minutes. • The teams at the Odense Stadion were: Denmark: R Pedersen, L Jacobsen, D Johansen, Albrechtsen, Sennels, M Jørgensen (Junker 74), Gaardsoe, Poulsen, Skoubo (Andreasen 74), D Jensen, Løvenkrands (M Larsen 82). Czech Republic: Čech, Jiránek, Drobný, Špiláček, Kubica (Kováč 51), Polák, Kobylík, Jarolím (Voríšek 23), Urbánek ((Žůrek 80), Vachoušek, Pospíšil. • The Czech Republic won the group, qualified via the play-offs and then won the title in Switzerland. • Including four friendlies, these Czech Republic have played Denmark six times at U21 level, winning four, drawing one and losing one, scoring 13 goals to Denmark's 12. • In 1988 qualifying, Czechoslovakia won 1-0 away and drew 1-1 at home against Denmark to pip them to first place in their group, though they then lost on away goals to Greece in the quarter-finals. Match background • The Czech Republic, winners in 2002, last qualified in 2011 when they finished fourth in Denmark. They also qualified in 2007 and 2000, when they were runners-up. • Denmark's last finals appearance was as hosts in 2011, when they exited in the group stage, as they also did in Germany five years earlier when they made it through qualifying. • Denmark's best run was in 1992 when they reached the two-legged semi-finals, losing 3-0 on aggregate to eventual champions Italy but reaching the Olympic Games for the last time to date. Coach profiles Czech Republic: Jakub Dovalil Born 08/02/1974 Dovalil was appointed in November 2008, four months after he led the Czech U19s to the last four of their UEFA European Championship on home soil. In 2006 the former Slavia Praha youth coach had also steered the U17s to their respective continental final, where they succumbed on penalties to Russia. Denmark: Jess Thorup Born 21/02/1970 The former striker – who played in Germany, Austria and Norway – took charge in June 2013, a month after overseeing Esbjerg's victory against Randers FC in the Danish Cup final, their first trophy since 1979. He was named Denmark's coach of the year as a result. Form guide • Czech Republic Last five games (most recent first): WWWLD 2013-15 friendlies top scorer: Michael Krmenčík (3), Tomáš Přikryl (3) • Denmark Last five games (most recent first): DWDWD Qualifying top scorer: Kenneth Zohore (4) Czech Republic team news • The squad returned from their training camp in Austria on 10 June and resumed their preparations in Prague. men played two friendlies against Ukraine while in Austria and won both – 3-0 and 2-1. • Pavel Kadeřábek, Ladislav Krejčí and Kadlec joined the squad straight after their return from Iceland with the Czech senior team. Kadeřábek played the full 90 minutes of the 2-1 defeat in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying, with Krejčí coming off the bench as a 67th-minute substitute. Kadlec was not involved. 2 Czech Republic - Denmark Wednesday 17 June 2015 - 18.00CET (18.00 local time) Match press kit Eden Stadium, Prague • The Czechs played their last competitive match on 16 October 2012 against Russia in a qualifying play-off for the 2013 finals. They drew 2-2 in Yekaterinburg and were eliminated (2-4 agg). Tomáš Kalas and Kadlec were both sent off in that game and will serve one-match bans against Denmark. • Midfielders Ondřej Petrák and Jiří Skalák missed part of the squad's training programme in Austria but are now both fit and in full training. • More than 200 fans turned out to support the team at open training on Sunday, which was preceded by an autograph session. Denmark team news • The Denmark squad landed in Prague on Saturday and were joined 24 hours later by the six members of the party involved in the senior team's 2-0 win against Serbia in EURO qualifying. • Andreas Christensen, Pierre Højbjerg and Yussuf Poulsen all played against Serbia, with Poulsen scoring the opening goal. Viktor Fischer, Pione Sisto and Jannik Vestergaard were unused substitutes. • Poulsen was withdrawn in the 73rd minute of the Serbia game with a foot problem but is expected to be fit. Højbjerg, meanwhile, reported some tightness in his hamstring on arrival in Prague and left the camp to see a specialist for further tests. • Nicolai Brock-Madsen scored twice while Patrick Banggaard was sent off in a 2-2 warm-up draw with Sweden in Copenhagen last Thursday. Uffe Bech limped off in the first half of that match while Emil Berggren has been nursing a knee problem but both are expected to be available for the opening game. • Midfielder Lucas Andersen flew with the squad to Prague as a possible replacement in case one of the injured players does not recover. • Ulrik Wilbek, sports director of the Danish Handball Federation – and coach of World Championship and Olympic gold medal-winning Denmark teams – gave the U21 squad a talk about his experiences. "Having been at 17 major championships, I have a certain experience of handling such challenges, and that is what I have been passing on to the players," Wilbek explained. 3 Czech Republic - Denmark Wednesday 17 June 2015 - 18.00CET (18.00 local time) Match press kit Eden Stadium, Prague Legend :: Squad list No: number DoB: date of birth Qual: qualifying FT: final tournament Pld: played Gls: goals Overall U21: final tournament only :: Match officials Nat: nationality DoB: date of birth Under-21: Total matches officiated in the UEFA European U21 Championship including all qualifying round matches. Matches as the fourth official are not included in these statistics. These are the official statistics considered valid for communicating official records in the competition. UEFA: Total matches officiated in all UEFA competitions including all qualifying round matches. Matches where the official has acted as the fourth official are not included in these statistics. These are the official statistics considered valid for communicating official records in the competition. :: Group statistics/Tournament schedule Pos: position Pld: played W: won D: drawn L: lost GF: goals for GA: goals against Pts: points :: NOTE: All-time statistics Goals totals include the outcome of disciplinary decisions (eg. match forfeits when a 3-0 result is determined). Goals totals do not include goals scored from the penalty mark during a penalty shoot-out. Competitions Club competitions National team competitions UCL: UEFA Champions League EURO: UEFA European Football Championship ECCC: European Champion Clubs' Cup WC: FIFA World Cup UEL: UEFA Europa League CONFCUP: FIFA Confederations Cup UCUP: UEFA Cup FRIE: Friendly internationals UCWC: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup U21FRIE: Under-21 friendly internationals SCUP: UEFA Super Cup U21: UEFA European Under-21 Championship UIC: UEFA Intertoto Cup U17: UEFA Under-17 Championship ICF: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup U16: UEFA European Under-16 Championship U19: UEFA Under-19 Championship U18: UEFA European Under-18 Championship WWC: FIFA Women's World Cup WEURO: UEFA European Women's Championship Competition stages Other abbreviations F: Final GS: Group stage (aet): After extra time pens: Penalties GS1: First group stage GS2: Second group stage No.: Number og: Own goal 3QR: Third qualifying round R1: First round ag: Match decided on away P: Penalty R2: Second round R3: Third round goals agg: Aggregate R4: Fourth round PR: Preliminary round Pld: Matches played AP: Appearances SF: Semi-finals QF: Quarter-finals Pos.: Position Comp.: Competition R16: round of 16 QR: Qualifying round Pts: Points D: Drawn R32: Round of 32 1QR: First qualifying round R: Sent off (straight red card) DoB: Date of birth 1st: first leg 2QR: Second qualifying Res.: Result ET: Extra Time round sg: Match decided by silver GA: Goals against 2nd: second leg FT: Final tournament goal t: Match decided by toss of a PO: Play-off ELITE: Elite round coin Rep: Replay 3rdPO: Third-place play-off GF: Goals for W: Won PO - FT: Play-off for Final GS-FT: Group stage – final gg: Match decided by golden Y: Booked Tournament tournament goal L: Lost Y/R: Sent off (two yellow Nat.: Nationality cards) N/A: Not applicable f: Match forfeited 4 Czech Republic - Denmark Wednesday 17 June 2015 - 18.00CET (18.00 local time) Match press kit Eden Stadium, Prague Statistics -: Denotes player substituted +: Denotes player introduced *: Denotes player sent off +/-: Denotes player introduced and substituted Squad list D: Disciplinary *: Misses next match if booked S: Suspended Overall: Total appearances in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament only Disclaimer: Although UEFA has taken all reasonable care that the information contained within this document is accurate at the time of publication, no representation or guarantee (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness.