The German Under-21 national team have become European champions for the very first time. Sami Khedira, the captain of Germany’s youngsters, was handed the UEFA cup for the winners of the European Championship by the President Michel Platini at 10.50 pm on Monday, 29 June.

The German U-21s are seen celebrating their first ever title at a UEFA European U-21 Championship™ after beating England 4-0 in Malmö. (Photo: Getty Images)

The outstandingly strong team secured the historic win by beating England 4-0 (1-0). Goals by Gonzalo Castro (23rd), Mesut Özil (47th) and a Sandro Wagner brace (79th and 84th) gave Germany’s oldest junior team their first ever European Championship crown. After previously winning the U-17 and U-19 competitions, the country has therefore landed its third European age-group title within the space of 11 months. Other championships are not staged by the European Football Union (UEFA).

Mesut Özil (right) was voted the UEFA European U-21 Championship™ final’s Man of the Match. (Photo: Getty Images)

Germany has now become the ninth nation to win the competition. They have succeeded the Netherlands, who, though triumphing in 2006 and 2007, failed to qualify for the finals in Sweden. The next finals will be held in Denmark in 2011. Also at stake for the eight competing teams will be places at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. At half-time in Malmö, Sweden was honoured in front of a 20,000 crowd for coming third. Marcus Berg’s seven goals made him the competition’s top scorer.

The German U-21 team before the final against England. A 4-0 win handed them the UEFA European U-21Championship 2009™ title. (Photo: Getty Images)

Particular attention was focused on Horst Hrubesch, who, as a player, scored both goals in the 2-1 win against Belgium in the 1980 European Championship final in Rome. The 58-year-old coach has now led two teams to European titles within the space of a single year. He coached the German U-19s that beat Italy 3-1 in the final played in the Czech Republic in July 2008. For the final against England, Hrubesch designed new tactics and was highly successful. Two players, Mats Hummels (Dortmund) and the former Bayern Munich striker Sandro Wagner (Duisburg), he selected in his starting line-up for the first time were amongst the team’s outstanding performers. Bremen’s Mesut Özil, who set up two goals and scored himself from a 35-metre free kick, was voted Man of the Match.

The Germans gained revenge for both defeats in the two-legged final against England in 1982. A 3-1 win in Sheffield and 3-2 success in Bremen gave the English team a 5-4 win on aggregate. Eight of Germany’s squad of 23 for the finals in Sweden are still eligible to continue to play for the U-21s. The others will have exceeded the age limit before the start of qualifying in the coming season for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2011™. Rainer Adrion has been appointed as the new coach of the future U-21 team.

All information about the adventure of the German U21-team as well as about the history of the European Under-21 Championships can be looked up in the internet under www.contisoccerworld.de and under the keyword “UEFA U21-EM“ or “Einblicke UEFA U21-EM“.

Since 2003, Conti arranges three-day training camps at different locations throughout Germany, together with the former Bundesliga-star Karl-Heinz “Charly“ Körbel (602 appearances). This year, selected talents aged between 10 and 12 could take part in the Germany-final of the Danone Nation Cup 2009 as team ContiKidsUnited for the first time. Lührs: “To support talented athletes is an absolutely sensible addition to our existing marketing activities. We want to further expand this approach.”

Up to 80 children and young persons aged between 7 and 13 take part in each training camp. The current dates for 2009 as well as a fax application form are also available under www.contisoccerworld.de. The participation fee of 80 euro comprises the very professional training units by former professional players as well as the complete catering and the training outfit provided by Continental including a jersey, trousers, socks, one football and a water bottle.