Latest news with #Under21Championship
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Why can 23-year-olds play at Euro U21s?
Players aged up to 23 years old can feature at the European Under-21 Championship, under way in is because its player registration rules are designed to ensure players can feature through an entire tournament cycle - from the start of the qualifiers through to the means that, for the 2025 tournament, players can feature if they were born on or after 1 January 2002 - meaning they were 21 or younger at the start of the year in which qualification tournament, which started on Wednesday, consists of 16 nations, each with 23-strong squads - a total of 368 those, 205 were aged either 22 or 23 on the opening day of the tournament - 55.7% of the total number of players. A total of 73 players were aged 23 on the tournament's opening day - 19.8%.Defending champions England, managed by Lee Carsley, are the only nation without a 23-year-old currently at the tournament. Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney does turn 23 two days before the final on 28 players in the squad who are aged above 21 include captain James McAtee of Manchester City, Liverpool's Harvey Elliott and Newcastle defender Tino Livramento, who is the only member of Carsley's squad to have been capped at senior 16 nations have a minimum of nine players who are 22 or 23 years of age. Georgia's squad has 19 players who were aged 22 or 23 on the tournament's opening oldest player at the tournament is Stoke City's Million Manhoef, who is in the Netherlands squad. He was born on 3 January rule regarding the cut-off date - meaning players can be no older than 23 years and six months - is a long-standing when it was first staged as an Under-21 tournament in 1978 - having previously been an Under-23s competition - each country was allowed two players over won the 1978 tournament spearheaded by 26-year-old striker Vahid Halilhodzic, who scored four times in the two-legged final against East Germany - including a second-leg hat-trick, external - and was named Player of the Tournament. Which other England players were eligible for the tournament? Of England's 26-man senior squad named by Thomas Tuchel's for this month's matches against Andorra and Senegal, seven would have been eligible to play in the Under-21 includes Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham, who has 43 senior caps but does not turn 22 until a day after the Euro Under-21 goalkeeper James Trafford and Chelsea trio Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill and Noni Madueke were all part of England's 2023 Euro Under-21-winning squad and would have been eligible for selection this time teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, was the youngest member of the senior Three Lions squad against Andorra and Senegal. Had he been named in the Under-21 squad, he would have been England's second-youngest player, after Gunners colleague Ethan players who could have been picked for the Under-21s include Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite and Southampton's Taylor Harwood-Bellis. The Club World Cup v Under-21s dilemma In some cases, players have missed the Euro Under-21s as they are away with their clubs for the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States, starting on Saturday (local time).New Chelsea striker Liam Delap was in line to feature at the Euros, but having completed his moved from Ipswich Town the night before Carsley named his 23-man squad, he was left out and is instead at the Club World Jobe Bellingham was named in the initial squad, but was replaced less than 24 hours prior to England's opening victory over the Czech Republic on Thursday after completing a move to Borussia Dortmund. Bellingham was replaced by West Bromwich Albion's Tom City have a number of players eligible for the Euros who are instead going to the Club World Cup, including new signings Rayan Cherki and the 20-year-old duo of Rico Lewis and Nico O' Spanish midfielder Nico Gonzalez would have been the joint-oldest player at the Euros, had he gone there instead of the Club World striker Samu Aghehowa, who plays his club football for Porto, was his country's top scorer in Euro Under-21 qualifying - but he has also gone to the Club World article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team. What is Ask Me Anything? Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio. More questions answered... Why Alexander-Arnold is not allowed to wear number 66 for Real MadridYour guide to the 2025 Club World CupWho are Premier League clubs playing in pre-season?A squad worth £428m - but how good are England Under-21s?
New York Times
6 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Omari Hutchinson and England lay down a marker
England won the last edition of the Under-21 European Championship with players who have become Premier League stars. The class of 2023 included Cole Palmer, still at Manchester City before his move to Chelsea, Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Gordon, who had impressive first seasons at Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. Advertisement The make up of this year's squad in Slovakia is slightly different, but the aim similar: to win and display why they are highly rated. They opened the group with relative ease, beating Czech Republic 3-1, but it was not a victory dominated by the goalscorers. Newcastle's Tino Livramento won player of the match from left-back, and was run closely by Ipswich Town's Omari Hutchinson, who could benefit from having a strong tournament. His now-former club team-mate Liam Delap has completed a move from Ipswich to Chelsea. Delap was part of Lee Carsley's preliminary squad for this tournament, but signing for Chelsea saw the Club World Cup take priority. Hutchinson insists this tournament is his 'main focus' rather than thinking about what could be on the cards for next season but performances like this will have been noted by clubs wanting a winger who can play inside. The 21-year-old, who signed for Ipswich from Chelsea last summer for an initial £20million after playing a starring role in their promotion from the Championship while on loan, played as one of two No 10s in a 4-2-2-2 and dovetailed effortlessly with Livramento to create down England's left flank. Early in the game it was Hutchinson finding a central pocket that allowed the full-back to burst forward and cause problems, whereas Livramento, another former Chelsea youngster, did well to find Hutchinson in dangerous areas. This came together later in the first half. Hutchinson received the ball on halfway, turned and drove through the centre of the pitch. He then laid the ball to Livramento whose cross found scorer Harvey Elliott at the back post, via James McAtee. It was a moment that showed the importance this tournament can have in allowing players to be expressive in areas they can be most effective. 'I try not to be too restrictive in the positions that players play,' Carsley said in his post-match press conference. 'It's more about the attributes and areas of the pitch we can get them into. I've seen Omari so many times at Ipswich get in that pocket, turn and drive with the ball. If he can do that more often for us and be even more selfish when he's driving, he'll never get any complaints from me. The more players we've got that can play for England, the better chances we've got. Advertisement 'There's definitely a tendency, and I've done it in the past, to over-coach because of the amount of time you get with the players. If you give someone too much information, they forget it. So it's just two or three points per player on the areas of the pitch we can cause the opposition a problem.' Pushed on whether he feels he can be more selfish, Hutchinson said: 'I guess so. When I look back at the video, I'll see what I can work on. I'm just trying to improve and impact the game more. If he's telling me to dribble more, then I'll try to dribble more.' McAtee and Elliott combining directly for the goal signified a slightly different element of the platform this tournament can give players. Elliott is one of two players, alongside Charlie Cresswell, who was in the 2023 squad and he admitted last week that he doesn't want to be 'wasting years' of his career by not playing regular first team football at Premier League champions Liverpool. Cresswell, fresh from his first season in France with Toulouse completed the scoring after Jonathan Rowe, of Marseille, had made it 2-0. McAtee opted to join this squad as captain rather than play in the Club World Cup for Manchester City. The 22-year-old said that he hopes that the decision could help 'kick-start' his career in a way the 2023 tournament did for Palmer, who had been his team-mate since the under-11s at City. Palmer started that tournament on the bench, but scored one and assisted two in the semi-finals against Isreal. In the final three days later, it was his free-kick that deflected in off Curtis Jones to win England the tournament. He soon backed that up with goals in the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup before joining Chelsea for an initial £40million and hasn't looked back since. With 13 of the 23 players in the squad aged 22, they are reaching the stage of their careers where the next step could be the most crucial. Advertisement That can be seen across the tournament too, with Germany's 23-year-old Nick Woltemade for example. The 6ft 6in striker was one of the anticipated players to watch after scoring 17 goals for Stuttgart last season. He underlined that by scoring a hat-trick in Germany's 3-0 win over Slovenia in England's group. That age and experience across the squad should bode well for England though. This opening match was played in front of 8,087 spectators that was a made up of at least 95 per cent Czech Republic supporters. Despite this, Carsley liked how his players 'controlled the crowd and expressed themselves.' With Slovenia to come before Germany, that should provide Hutchinson and England with another opportunity to show what they can do.
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Quiz - what are England's Euro U21 winners of 2023 up to now?
England are about to begin their European Under-21 Championship defence in Young Lions face the Czech Republic in their Group B opener, but how well do you remember the 2023 heroes?Can you name the 17 players who featured in more than two games two years ago - with a clue about each one from the campaign just finished?
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
The Spanish winger thrilling Chelsea, an Ajax teen on Liverpool's radar and the heir to Viktor Gyokores: The 10 must-watch stars at the Under-21 Euros
The Under-21 European Championship gets underway in Bratislava today and the stage is set for the next generation of superstar talents to put Europe's elite on notice. Scouts from across the Premier League, as well as La Liga, and the , have travelled to Slovakia en masse to trail a handful of in-demand youngsters.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
England navigate elite demands in bid to retain European Under-21 crown
It summed up the lot of an England Under-21s manager when Liam Delap confirmed he would compete for his new club, Chelsea, this summer rather than join his international teammates in Slovakia. The Club World Cup has provided a fresh headache for Lee Carsley, a further example of the barrelling dominance with which elite club football overcomes its alternatives. Something special may be required over the next two and a half weeks if his team are going to make any impression on the public consciousness. Fortunately, England and Carsley have a record of producing exactly that. They kick off their Uefa Under-21 Championship campaign as the title holders and, if anyone needs enthusing, a look back at their win against Spain in the final two years ago should have the right effect. James Trafford's last‑minute penalty save in Batumi was a genuinely thrilling moment that broke 39 years of underachievement on this stage and did no harm to the careers of a squad packed with recognisable names. Advertisement This time Carsley accepts he must 'be creative with our team selection', although in truth it was ever thus given the varying demands of clubs and senior call-ups. Jobe Bellingham's move to Borussia Dortmund could mean a further key player ups sticks for Gianni Infantino's pet project. Jamie Gittens and Rico Lewis are among others who will be turning their attention to the US, while Adam Wharton and Jaden Philogene are recovering from injuries and will not be available. At least James McAtee has opted to join the national team. The Manchester City midfielder will captain England when they open against Czech Republic in Dunajska Streda on Thursday. This tournament still represents a clear shop window for a player who appears likely to leave City. The class of 2023 have largely thrived since carrying away the trophy: a squad including Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon, Morgan Gibbs‑White, Curtis Jones, Levi Colwill and Trafford, a target for Newcastle, was always going to be a serious proposition. Now the task is to make hay with a much-changed group. Only Harvey Elliott and Charlie Cresswell, the Toulouse defender, remain from those heroics in Georgia. But England are hardly short of options in most departments, even if without Delap their only specialist centre-forward is Jay Stansfield. The prospect of Ethan Nwaneri, who made his bow in the goal-laden March fixtures against France and Portugal, getting a concerted run this month is mouthwatering. Omari Hutchinson had a much better season at doomed Ipswich than some of the statistics suggest and may sense his own platform to greater things. Elliot Anderson and Archie Gray are among others who have grown hugely in stature over the past 12 months. Perhaps it will help that, for all the upheaval, six of Carsley's selection have happy memories of a Slovakian summer. England Under‑19s won their age-group title in 2022 by defeating Israel in Trnava; this time they are aiming for a final in Bratislava's 22,500-capacity Tehelne pole, the national stadium, which held Champions League matches involving the local side Slovan earlier this season. Advertisement Slovakia last hosted an under-21 championship in 2000 and there is no doubting the public's appetite. While Tehelne pole was less than half full for the final back then, the showpiece this year is among seven matches that have been sold out. Almost 220,000 tickets have been sold for the 31 games, meaning Uefa can hail a pre‑tournament record. Many of those fans will pour over the border from the Czech Republic, while there has also been notable uptake from Finland, who have progressed this far for the first time since 2009. Assuming England, who have lost only twice in 15 games since becoming champions, master a lively environment against the Czechs they will be set fair to progress from Group B. Slovenia should be dealt with on Sunday but a highly favoured Germany, who include Brighton's Brajan Gruda and the highly sought Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade, will present an early test of their credentials three days later. Qualifying for the quarter-finals in second place would probably mean an inconveniently early reunion with Spain. France and Portugal, paired together in Group C, appear characteristically strong. An open Group D includes a welcome appearance from Ukraine, whose striker Vladyslav Vanat will be watched closely, and the Netherlands side coached by Michael Reiziger that may possess dark-horse qualities. It may be Spain who lay down an early marker when they set the competition in motion against Slovakia on Wednesday evening. If that becomes broadly lost in the Club World Cup hubbub, England hope to seize the narrative when it really matters on 28 June.
