Netherlands vs England and Serbia vs Belgium in fight for the final

Title holders Netherlands against England, and Serbia versus Belgium will form the fight on Wednesday for the final of the UEFA Under-21 European Championship. The English reached the semi-finals with a 2-0 (1-0) victory over Serbia, thus forcing five-time title holders Italy into third place in Group B, despite their 3-1 (3-1) victory over the Czech Republic. Belgium made the last four on Saturday with a 2-2 (1-2) draw against hosts Netherlands. Although Portugal defeated Israel 4-0 (2-0), they could only manage third place in Group A.

However, Portugal and Italy are not yet totally eliminated. They will meet in a play-off match on Thursday for qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games. The Netherlands, Belgium and Serbia have qualified for the Olympic tournament as European participants. The English do not take part individually, as Great Britain’s entry for the Olympics is made up of players chosen from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This, therefore, allows the two third-placed teams to battle in Nijmegen for the free European place at the Olympic football tournament in China. The semi-final between the Netherlands and England will take place on Wednesday in Heerenveen, with the meeting between Serbia and Belgium in Arnhem. The final has been scheduled for Saturday in Groningen.

As the Serbs had already reached the semi-finals before their last group match, they played England with nine new players from the side which beat the Czech Republic 1-0. Leroy Lita scored the leading goal for the English team in the sixth minute in Nijmegen, Matt Derbyshire increased the lead in the 77th minute to secure the semi-final berth. Substitute Tom Huddlestone was sent off shortly before the final whistle.

Italy, who last won the junior event in 2004, failed to make the semi-finals for the second successive time. Italians Alberto Aquilani (4th), Giorgio Chiellini (29th) and Giuseppe Rossi (46th), and the Czech Michal Papadopoulos (14th), who plays with Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga, scored the four goals before halftime in the match at Arnhem.

Sebastien Pocognoli was Belgium’s star in Group A. He scored the equaliser for the 2-2 final score in the 70th minute in Heerenveen, thus ensuring his team one point and second place, the semi-final and the Olympic participation. In the first half it had seemed as if Belgium would be eliminated as they were one goal down, and Portugal were leading Israel in the other match held at the same time. Kevin Mirallas (9th) had given Belgium the lead, but Maceo Rigters (13th) and Royston Drenthe (37th) turned the match around to give the Dutch a 2-1 lead at halftime. The equaliser came as a surprise in the second half. The Belgian joy could not have been greater when the final whistle blew.

Manuel Fernandes (37th), Ricardo Vaz Te (45th), Miguel Veloso (49th) and Nani (50th) scored the goals for Portugal’s 4-0 victory against Israel. The southern Europeans retained hope up till the 70th minute in Groningen that the highest win of the tournament would be enough to reach the semi-finals. But then came the news from Heerenveen that Belgium had equalised. The Portuguese showed disappointed but took consolation from the fact that they now have the chance to beat Italy and qualify for the 2008 Olympics.