2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 4 June 2000. The tournament had 47 entrants. Northern Ireland competed for the first time. For the first time a finals tournament with two groups of four teams was held, with one of those teams, Slovakia, having been chosen as the hosts.[1] The top four teams in this competition qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics.[2]

2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Majstrovstvá Európy vo futbale hráčov do 21 rokov 2000
Tournament details
Host country Slovakia
Dates27 May – 4 June
Teams8 (finals)
47 (qualifying)
Venue(s)4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Italy (4th title)
Runners-up Czech Republic
Third place Spain
Fourth place Slovakia
Tournament statistics
Matches played14
Goals scored40 (2.86 per match)
Attendance74,930 (5,352 per match)
Top scorer(s)Italy Andrea Pirlo (3 goals)
Best player(s)Italy Andrea Pirlo

Italy won the competition for the fourth time, thus qualified for the Olympic Games finals, alongside Czech Republic, Slovakia and Spain.

Qualification
Main article: 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

The 47 national teams were divided into nine groups (seven groups of 5 + two groups of 6). The records of the nine group runners-up were then compared. The top seven joined the nine winners in a play-off for the eight finals spots. One of the eight qualifiers was then chosen to host the remaining fixtures.

Qualified teams
Country Qualified as Date qualification was secured Previous appearances in tournament1, 2
 Italy 00 Group 1 and play-off winner17 November 199910 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996)
 Turkey 01 Group 3 and play-off winner16 November 19990 (debut)
 England3 02 Group 5 and play-off winner29 March 20006 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988)
 Spain 03 Group 6 and play-off winner16 November 199910 (1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1998)
 Netherlands 04 Group 6 runners-up and play-off winner17 November 19993 (1988, 1992, 1998)
 Slovakia (hosts) 05 Group 7 and play-off winner17 November 19990 (debut)
 Croatia 06 Group 8 and play-off winner17 November 19990 (debut)
 Czech Republic 07 Group 9 runners-up and play-off winner17 November 19991 (1996)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italic indicates host for that year
3 England were originally scheduled to play two legs against Yugoslavia. However, the first leg which was supposed to have taken place in Belgrade was cancelled due to political tensions.[3] An alternative leg in Luxembourg was also cancelled due to security reasons.[3] A second leg at Mini Estadi in Barcelona was held on 29 March 2000, which England won 3–0.[4]

Squads
Main article: 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squads

Venues

Four venues were selected for the competition.[5]

Bratislava Trenčín Trnava Bratislava
Tehelné pole Štadión na Sihoti Štadión Antona Malatinského Štadión Pasienky
48°09′48.81″N 17°08′12.68″E 48°53′55.25″N 18°02′41.06″E 48°22′24″N 17°35′30″E 48°09′58.24″N 17°08′33.01″E
Capacity: 30,087 Capacity: 22,079 Capacity: 18,500 Capacity: 8,632
2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (Slovakia)

Match officials

Seven match officials and nine assistants were selected for the competition, including two officials representing the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Selearajen Subramaniam from Malaysia and Hamdi Al Kadri from Syria.[6]

Country Referee Assistants Fourth officials Matches refereed
France France Stéphane Bré Egon Bereuter (Austria) Vincent Texier (France) Vladimír Hriňák (Slovakia)
Leslie Irvine (Northern Ireland)		 Croatia 1–2 Netherlands
England 6–0 Turkey
Germany Germany Herbert Fandel Harald Sather (Germany) Kostantin Piskov (Bulgaria)
Egon Bereuter (Austria)		 Selearajen Subramaniam (Malaysia)
Stéphane Bré (France)		 Czech Republic 3–1 Netherlands
England 0–2 Slovakia
Malaysia Malaysia Selearajen Subramaniam Kostantin Piskov (Bulgaria) Hamdi Al Kadri (Syria) Vladimír Hriňák (Slovakia) Czech Republic 3–1 Netherlands
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Leslie Irvine John McElhinney (Scotland)
Egon Bereuter (Austria)		 Mikhail Semionov (Russia)
Hamdi Al Kadri (Syria)		 Valentin Ivanov (Russia)
Selearajen Subramaniam (Malaysia)		 Spain 1–1 Czech Republic
Spain 1–0 Slovakia
Russia Russia Valentin Ivanov Mikhail Semionov (Russia)
Kostantin Piskov (Bulgaria)		 Maciej Wierzbowski (Poland)
Mikhail Semionov (Russia)		 Karl-Erik Nilsson (Sweden)
Selearajen Subramaniam (Malaysia)		 Spain 0–0 Croatia
Turkey 1–3 Italy
Sweden Sweden Karl-Erik Nilsson Maciej Wierzbowski (Poland) Hamdi Al Kadri (Syria)
Ferenc Székely (Hungary)
Kostantin Piskov (Bulgaria)		 Leslie Irvine (Northern Ireland)
Dieter Schoch (Switzerland)		 Czech Republic 4–3 Croatia
Slovakia 2–1 Turkey
Czech Republic 1–2 Italy
Switzerland Switzerland Dieter Schoch Ferenc Székely (Hungary) John McElhinney (Scotland) Vladimír Hriňák (Slovakia)
Herbert Fandel (Germany)		 Netherlands 0–1 Spain
Italy 1–1 Slovakia

Matches

Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Czech Republic 321085+37
 Spain 312021+15
 Netherlands 310235−23
 Croatia 301246−21
Spain 1–1 Czech Republic
Luque 90' Report L. Došek 55'
Attendance: 8,281
Croatia 1–2 Netherlands
Miladin 20' Report Van Bommel 42'
Vennegoor of Hesselink 84'
Attendance: 959
Spain 0–0 Croatia
Report
Attendance: 843
Czech Republic 3–1 Netherlands
Jankulovski 28'
Jarolím 54', 82'		 Report Lurling 18'
Attendance: 8,281
Referee: Selearajen Subramaniam (Malaysia)
Netherlands 0–1 Spain
Report Angulo 6'
Attendance: 792
Referee: Dieter Schoch (Switzerland)
Czech Republic 4–3 Croatia
L. Došek 44' (pen.)
Baroš 54'
Petrouš 61' (pen.)
Sionko 80'		 Report Šerić 4'
Tudor 57', 85'
Attendance: 8,188

Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Italy 321062+47
 Slovakia 321052+37
 England 310264+23
 Turkey 3003211−90
Italy 2–0 England
Comandini 24'
Pirlo 45' (pen.)		 Report
Attendance: 3,522
Slovakia 2–1 Turkey
Greško 6'
Čišovský 67'		 Report Dursun 63'
Attendance: 6,000
Italy 1–1 Slovakia
Baronio 17' Report Babnič 73'
Attendance: 7,450
Referee: Dieter Schoch (Switzerland)
England 6–0 Turkey
Lampard 28'
Jeffers 45'
Cort 66'
King 73'
Mills 77'
Campbell 90'		 Report
Attendance: 550
Turkey 1–3 Italy
S. Akın 54' Report Spinesi 14'
Baronio 36' (pen.)
Ventola 83'
Attendance: 374
England 0–2 Slovakia
Report Babnič 67'
Németh 74'
Attendance: 11,400

Third place play-off
Spain 1–0 Slovakia
Ferrón 58' Report
Attendance: 9,120

Final
Czech Republic 1–2 Italy
T. Došek 51' Report Pirlo 42' (pen.), 81'
Attendance: 9,170

Goalscorers

Andrea Pirlo was the top goalscorer of three goals. He was also announced as the UEFA Golden Player award recipient.[7]

3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Medal table and Olympic qualifiers
  • Italy, Czechia, Spain and Slovakia qualified for Olympic Games finals.
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Italy 4 3 1 0 8 3 +5 10 Gold Medal
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Czech Republic 4 2 1 1 9 7 +2 7 Silver Medal
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Spain 4 2 2 0 3 1 +2 8 Bronze Medal
4  Slovakia (H) 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2 7 Fourth place
5  England 3 1 0 2 6 4 +2 3 Eliminated in
group stage
6  Netherlands 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
7  Croatia 3 0 1 2 4 6 −2 1
8  Turkey 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0
Source: [ ]
(H) Hosts

References
  1. "2000/2002 Under-21 Qualification Round Draw made". UEFA. 14 December 1999. Archived from the original on 20 October 2000. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  2. "Competition format: Slovakia 2000". UEFA. Archived from the original on 10 February 2001. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  3. "Reshuffled youngsters head for Barcelona". BBC News. BBC. 27 March 2000. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  4. Lansley, Pete (30 March 2000). "Heskey abuse taints play-off win". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  5. "Venue guide: Slovakia 2000". UEFA. Archived from the original on 10 February 2001. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  6. "Match officials: Slovakia 2000". UEFA. Archived from the original on 10 February 2001. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  7. "2000: Andrea Pirlo". UEFA. 1 July 2000. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
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