Five of Germany’s side that won the European Under-21 Championship in 2009 went on to start in the World Cup final last year. The top scorer in the 2013 edition, Álvaro Morata, was a bit-part player at Real Madrid at the time but scored for Juventus in the Champions League final this year. Others at the Under-21 finals have looked like future stars but have gone on to be nothing of the sort – Middlesbrough fans might have rather mixed views of Morata’s 2002 equivalent, Massimo Maccarone. But what has happened to England’s Next Big Things over the years?
2000
England were the Uefa Under-21 champions in 1982 and 1984 (and reached four other semi-finals between 1978 and 1988) in the days when the tournament was still a knockout affair but between 1990 and 1998 they failed to qualify for the final stages. In 2000 the tournament was revamped into a championship with two groups for the first time and Howard Wilkinson’s in-form side were there.
They lost to Italy in their opening game (only their third defeat in four years) but then hammered Turkey 6-0 to give themselves a chance of progressing, with the winners of the four-team groups progressing straight to the final rather than going through any knockout rounds. But a disappointing defeat against the hosts, Slovakia, meant they went home.
In defence this was something of a vintage group – Ledley King, Jamie Carragher, Danny Mills and Luke Young went on to full England honours, Paul Robinson was Nicky Weaver’s deputy in goal and the side was captained by a young West Ham midfielder by the name of Frank Lampard. Up front, though, there were fewer success stories with Carl Cort, Matt Jansen, Francis Jeffers and Middlesbrough’s Andy Campbell, for a variety of reasons, struggling to build on early promise.
With a Spain side featuring Xavi and Carles Puyol missing out on top spot in their group to the Czech Republic, the tournament was won by Italy thanks to two goals in the final from the player of the tournament – a certain Andrea Pirlo.
2002
Wilkinson’s successor, David Platt, was without six eligible players who were in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s senior squad for the World Cup (Ashley Cole, Michael Owen, Wes Brown, Wayne Bridge, Owen Hargreaves and Joe Cole) and three others – Manchester City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips and the Liverpool duo of Stephen Wright and Chris Kirkland – were injured. But the coach was confident: “I think this is the best squad ever to play for England’s Under-21s and we can go on and win the tournament. Getting to the semi-final is irrelevant. Getting to the final is irrelevant. You’ve got to win it, and I’m happy to put my head on the line and say we will.” They didn’t. Victory over their Swiss hosts in their opening game – with goals from the future England front two Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch – raised hopes but defeats against Italy (thanks to two goals from Maccarone, who was linked to Chelsea at the time) and Portugal meant they finished bottom of the group.
The tournament was won by the Czech Republic, who beat France in the final on penalties with Petr Cech the hero and Jean-Alain Boumsong the third and final French player to miss from the spot. Despite the disappointment, 12 of the England squad went on to play for the senior side – more than in any other English Euro Under-21 squad.
2007
Platt lost his job after missing out on the 2004 tournament but his replacement, Peter Taylor, who coupled the role with his job as the manager of Crystal Palace, couldn’t get the side to the 2006 edition either. Stuart Pearce took charge in February 2007 and took them into their first tournament for five years.
Again there were key absences – Micah Richards and Theo Walcott were injured, Gabriel Agbonlahor was left out after missing a pre-tournament training camp and David Bentley withdrew on the eve of the tournament citing fatigue – but the squad was still talented, with Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Joe Hart and James Milner featuring.
They progressed from the group stages for the first time and were 1-0 up against the hosts, Holland, going into the final few minutes of the semi-final. But Maceo Rigters equalised and the team lost an incredible penalty shootout 13-12. Nigel Reo-Coker and Matt Derbyshire had spot-kicks to win it in sudden death and both goalkeepers scored their efforts, before Anton Ferdinand missed the decisive 16th penalty.
There were high hopes for the Holland side that won the tournament but the impact of their class of 2007 has been limited, with Tim Krul and Ron Vlaar the only alumni to feature in the country’s run to the World Cup semi-finals last year. The player of the 2007 tournament, Royston Drenthe, joined Kayseri Erciyesspor from Reading this January. In contrast, 21 of the 23-man Belgium squad who went out in the group stages have since won full senior caps.
2009
The recent high-water mark of England’s Under-21 campaigns. A team containing nine future full internationals – Hart, Milner, Agbonlahor, Adam Johnson, Walcott, Jack Rodwell, Richards, Kieran Gibbs, Fraizer Campbell – went through the group stage unbeaten after victories over Finland and Spain and a draw against Germany, then threw away a 3-0 lead against the hosts, Sweden, in the semi-final before triumphing on penalties.
The final, though, was a huge letdown. Germany ran out 4-0 winners but history has been kind on England’s 2009 vintage. Of the Germany XI, Manuel Neuer, Benedikt Höwedes, Mats Hummels, Jérôme Boateng and Mesut Özil started in the World Cup final last year and Sami Khedira would have done but for injury in the warm-up in the Maracanã. That, by anyone’s standard, is the backbone of a World Cup-winning team. Almost all of the 23-man England squad have gone on to enjoy careers in the Premier League, although Andrew Driver is currently without a club having been released by Aberdeen.
Sweden’s Marcus Berg was named player of the tournament after top-scoring with seven goals in four matches.
2011
This was a return to the group stage exit. With Pearce still in charge in Denmark and the buildup dominated by a row between the manager and Arsenal over Jack Wilshere’s participation (in the end the midfielder pulled out a month before the tournament), England drew with the exceptionally talented Spain side in their opening game, were held 0-0 by Ukraine and were 1-0 up going into the 89th minute of a winner-takes-all affair against the Czech Republic. Two Czech goals at the death then dumped them out.
It was a particularly young England squad and one that has produced plenty of graduates for the senior side. Ryan Bertrand, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Jordan Henderson, Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Gibbs, Kyle Walker, Tom Cleverley and Jack Rodwell played in the finals and have won senior caps. The three goalkeepers – Frank Fielding, Alex McCarthy and Jason Steele – have at times struggled to find first-team football but have time on their side.
The victorious Spain team was something of a vintage one – David de Gea, Javi Martínez, Juan Mata, Thiago Alcântara, and Ander Herrera featured, with Mata named player of the tournament.
2013
A disaster. Stuart Pearce’s side were deprived of several of their best players because of injury and a spate of withdrawals – Pearce claimed to be without 17 players for their opening game – but results were still a huge disappointment. Having lost narrowly 1-0 to Italy in their opening game in Tel Aviv, they were then comprehensively beaten by Norway 3-1 – a defeat that knocked them out of the tournament – and ended up a demoralised bunch losing to the hosts Israel (who had been beaten 4-0 by Italy). Nathan Redmond – part of that squad and back for a second attempt this year – described the tournament as “almost embarrassing” last week and along with fellow veterans of 2013, Jack Butland and Nathaniel Chalobah, has been keen to help spread the lessons learned in that debacle to his current team-mates.
Things might have been different for Pearce had Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rodwell, Jones and Welbeck been available to him, but he lost his job as a result. One player from the squad – Henderson – has gone on to establish himself as a regular in Roy Hodgson’s senior side, though Nathaniel Clyne is beginning to push for a place, and of the 23, 12 played Championship football in 2014-15.
Spain, on the other hand, again thrived, with De Gea and Alcântara (who scored a hat-trick against Italy in the final) being joined by Alberto Moreno, Iñigo Martínez, Dani Carvajal, Marc Bartra, Martín Montoya, Asier Illarramendi, Isco, Koke, Iker Muniain and Morata. Spain, though, have not even qualified this time around.
