The 14th European Championship for teams sanctioned by the UEFA is scheduled to be played between 8th June and 1st July 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

Spain are the current holders of the cup – they defeated Germany in the final in Austria / Switzerland version of the tournament in 2008.

The groups and the schedule of the Euro 2012 have been announced and the groups are as follows:

Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic
Group B: Holland, Denmark, Germany, Portugal
Group C: Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia
Group D: Ukraine, Sweden, France, England

You can see the team by team preview of Euro 2012 from a couple of weeks ago and here we’re covering the football gear to be used by the national teams in the tournament.

Before we look at what kits the players will be donning for the competition, lets look at the official Euro 2012 match ball:

adidas Tango 12

The official match ball that will be used for the duration of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine in the coming summers is the adidas Tango 12. It is a brand new ball inspired by the famous line of adidas Tango balls.

Here’s a picture of the ball. As soon as it is made available, we will have it up for grabs in the Soccerlens Store.

Official UEFA Euro 2012 Match Ball: adidas Tango 12
(Click to enlarge image)

All the football gear and kit manufacturers have lined up for the biggest tournament in Europe and they present to you the Euro 2012 shirts:

Croatia

Coming soon to the Soccerlens Store…

Czech Republic

Chelsea stopper Petr Cech, Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky and Galatasaray forward Milan Baros will probably be featuring for the last time in a major tournament and surely, they will all want to end their careers on a high.

Czech Republic will wear a Puma manufactured red shirt with white and blue details. They will be playing in Group A.

Czech Rep. Home Shirt

Click here to buy Czech Republic Euro 2012 home shirt.

Denmark

Coming soon to the Soccerlens Store…

England

England captain John Terry came under much scrutiny before the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but this time around, things seems to be relatively smoother. Fabio Capello will be looking to exit the job with grace.

England are placed in Group D and will play their opening fixture against the French national team. The Three Lions will wear a plain white shirt, manufactured by Umbro.

England Home Shirt

Click here to buy England Euro 2012 home shirt.

They will wear navy blue away shirts with light blue collars.

England Away Shirt

Click here to buy England Euro 2012 away shirt.

France

France are also placed in Group D and they will play their opening fixture against England. The French squad is relatively younger blood from last time around. Karim Benzema is set to lead the attack as Franck Ribery will takeover the creative part.

Les Bleus will wear a Nike manufactured navy blue shirt. The only details on the shirt are the Nike swoosh and the team emblem.

France Home Shirt

Click here to buy France Euro 2012 home shirt.

The Frenchmen will wear a white away shirt with black horizontal stripes – kind of like the prisoners.

France Away Shirt

Click here to buy France Euro 2012 away shirt.

Germany

Euro 2008 finalists, Germany are seeded in Group B and it is the toughest group in this tournament. Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski will be looking to steal the show with sound backing from the rest of the squad. Joachim Low will be looking to leave previous disappointments behind.

Germans will wear a very attractive white shirt with diagonal black, red and yellow lines on the front and black adidas pin-stripes on the shoulder.

Germany Home Shirt

Click here to buy Germany Euro 2012 home shirt.

Greece

Coming soon to the Soccerlens Store…

Holland

Coming soon to the Soccerlens Store…

Italy

Participating in Group C, Italy will open the tournament with a match against the world champions. Juventus’ fantastic shot-stopper Gianluigi Buffon will look to play this tournament through as Daniele De Rossi and his midfield will have to take the pressure off of defence and supply Mario Balotelli up front.

Italy will wear the Puma manufactured blue shirt with a white collar containing details in the colours of the Italian flag.

Italy Home Shirt

Click here to buy Italy Euro 2012 home shirt.

Poland

Coming soon to the Soccerlens Store…

Portugal

Coming soon to the Soccerlens Store…

Republic of Ireland

LA Galaxy striker and national team captain Robbie Keane will look to lead Ireland to at least give a tough time to the giants of Group C. He will need all the expertise Shay Given, John O’Shea and Darron Gibson have to offer.

Ireland will wear a white away shirt with green details. The kits are manufactured by Umbro.

Rep. of Ireland Away Shirt

Click here to buy Republic of Ireland Euro 2012 away shirt.

Russia

Arsenal striker Andrie Arshavin will captain a Russia side out of which only four players ply their trade outside of the country. Tottenham forward Roman Pavlyuchenko, Vfb Stuttgart forward Pavel Pogrebnyak and Everton midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov are the three other players who play outside of Russian Premier League. Yuri Zhirkov’s services will also be available.

Russia will wear an adidas manufactured red shirt with a blue and white diagonal stripe going down the front.

Russia Home Shirt

Click here to buy Russia Euro 2012 home shirt.

Spain

Reigning world and European champions, Spain will play Euro 2012 in Group C. Since the triumph in the World Cup, the Spaniards haven’t been in top form but they should never be underestimated with the quality of the squad they possess.

Head coach Vicente del Bosque will be looking for a repeat performace from his team which features five Real Madrid players and eight Barcelona players. Another three Barca players have been called-up for the squad recently (Martin Montoya, Thiago Alcantara and Pedro).

Spain will wear a red jersey proudly featuring a single golden star above their team emblem. The kit is manufactured by adidas.

Spain Home Shirt

Click here to buy Spain Euro 2012 home shirt.

Sweden

Coming soon to the Soccerlens Store…

Ukraine

Andriy Shevchenko captains the Ukraine side and the former AC Milan and Chelsea striker will look to impress in front of his home crowd. Ukraine are in Group D and will face tough competition from Sweden, France and England.

They will wear an adidas manufactured yellow shirt with blue details.

Ukraine Home Shirt

Click here to buy Ukraine Euro 2012 home shirt.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Update: Groups Draw details and the official match ball of Euro 2012 added. Scroll down to view.

With the 16 teams competing in Euro 2012 now selected and the qualifying process complete, all eyes look to Poland and Ukraine as time ticks down. The seeding for the selection of the group stages has been completed also, with the draw for the pool stages happening in Kiev on December 3rd. English and Irish fans will look for a favourable draw, but both nations will know that the competition is packed with top teams.

Pot 1 consists of co-host Poland and Ukraine, world champions Spain and a technically gifted Netherlands side; most participants will be keen to draw the hosts rather than the other two powerhouses.

SPAIN

Spain’s mantle as the top team in the world has been slightly diminished of late, as poor results in friendlies against Spain and Costa Rica have tarnished the end of 2011 for La Roja. Vicente Del Bosque has a plethora of players to choose from however, with a strong base from Barcelona and Real Madrid making up the majority of the team.

The Spaniards midfield is still as menacing as ever, with Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and Xabi Alonso world class players that opponents will struggle to compete against; however Xavi is still Spain’s main man and will orchestrate long periods of possession for the world champions.

NETHERLANDS

Holland impressed during the qualifying rounds, and again must go into the tournament as one of the favourites. Bert van Marwijk’s men, similar to Spain, have had an under-par end to the year however, as the Oranje lost their last qualifying game to Sweden and were put to the sword by Germany in a recent friendly, losing 3-0.

Despite this the squad is full of talent and a number of young players are battling the established names for a place in the starting XI. Although their defence at times can be questioned, their attack cannot.

Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder will look to provide chances for red hot striker Robin van Persie. The Arsenal man is proving himself to be one of the top hitmen in Europe, and will look to fire his nation to glory.

POLAND

On of the downfalls of hosting a major tournament is the fact that you do not get to take part in qualification, and Polish fans will hope that Franciszek Smuda’s men do not suffer due to a lack of competitive fixtures. Solid performances in friendlies over the last 12 months have seen the host draw with Germany and beat the likes of Belarus and Hungary; the home crowd will also play a key part in their chances.

Borussia Dortmund attacker Robert Lewandowski was a key figure in the German club’s Bundesliga success last season, and will be counted on to get goals for the Eastern European side.

Poland are co-hosts.

UKRAINE

Ukraine have had inconsistent form over the last year, and with the glory days of Sergei Rebrov and Andriy Shevchenko over, Oleg Blokhin has had to look to the youth in his side.

Dynamo Kiev forward Andriy Yarmolenko holds the weight of expectation on his shoulders, as the 22-year-old has shown the necessary promise to fill the boots of the generation before him.

Ukraine are co-hosts.

England find themselves in the second tier of the seeding, alongside old enemy and highly-fancied Germany; 2006 World Cup winners Italy and an unpredictable Russia team make up this quartet.

ENGLAND

England have been inconsistent over the qualifying rounds, and despite showing their quality at times can also lack creativity and the ability to break teams down. Fabio Capello will be buoyed on by an unbeaten qualifying campaign and friendly victories over Spain and Sweden, but will look for more from his team if they are to pose as realistic challengers.

Wayne Rooney’s absence in the pool stages will be a real blow for The Three Lions, and the Italian coach will be under pressure to find a replacement that can fire the side into the knockout rounds. Scott Parker has really matured over the last 12-18 months, and the Tottenham man could showcase the determination and will to win to inspire his team-mates; a North London central midfield partnership alongside Jack Wilshere could just prove the balance England needs.

GERMANY

Germany, as always when a major tournament rolls round, must be considered as serious contenders.

Joachim Low has comprised a squad with an enviable mix of experience and youth, and a flawless qualifying campaign proves testament to the side’s motivation to succeed.

The German side is packed full of quality, but playmakers Mesut Ozil and Mario Gotze in particular have vital attributes in creating chances for sharpshooter Mario Gomez.

ITALY

Italy traditionally have blown hot and cold when it comes to international tournaments, and the Azzurri this time round have shown inconsistency and a lack of a real killer instinct in the qualifying rounds.

Cesare Prandelli has a football mad nation keen to recapture the glory days, and a wide ranging player base to choose from – however the side in blue will most likely adopt cautious tactics and look to win fixtures by the odd goal.

Mario Balotelli looks to have been given a real chance to start up front in the absence of Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano, and may lead the line alongside Juventus’ Alessandro Matri.

However the key man for Italy will be at the back, where Giorgio Chiellini will look to emulate great Italian central defenders of the past, and organise a stubborn rearguard upon which the midfield and attack can build upon.

RUSSIA

Dick Advocaat’s Russian side will fancy their chances of upsetting some of the bigger names, as the proximity of the tournament favours the Eastern European side. A solitary defeat in qualification has shown that Russia are an emerging superpower in the game, and they undoubtedly harbour a number of excellent players.

Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko are struggling currently at their North London clubs; the experienced duo will need to find their form to inspire a talented but not yet proven team.

The third pot is made up of four seasoned and competitive nations, as Portugal, Sweden, Croatia and Greece lie in wait. The likes of Zlatan Ibrahmovic and Cristiano Ronaldo are first rate players in supposed third rate teams, but none of the participants in this pot will be pushovers.

PORTUGAL

Portugal were beaten to the top of Group H by Denmark, but the Iberian nation powered past Bosnia and Herzegovina in the playoffs to book their place at Europe’s top table. Coach Paulo Bento has ruffled some feathers since taking charge of the team, with veteran duo Ricardo Carvalho and Jose Bosingwa retiring from international football after falling out with the former midfielder.

Despite the absence of the experienced pair, Portugal still have an abundance of quality, with the likes of Nani and Joao Moutinho sure to terrorise opposition defences. Their key man is obviously Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, and if the 26-year-old  can replicate the form and goalscoring ability he shows for his club on the international stage, Portugal will take some beating.

SWEDEN

The Swedes have a technically gifted and balanced side, made from a mix of players playing in their homeland and the top European leagues. Erik Hamren’s side qualified as a top runner up in qualification, and had they not had Netherlands in their group may well have topped a pool.

Temperamental but clearly gifted Zlatan Ibrahimovic hold the nation’s destiny in his hands.

Although Ibra was ineffective in the recent game against England at Wembley, his club record tells a completely different story. It will be a long-shot, still, to believe that he can single-handedly take his nation all the way through the competition.

GREECE

The Euro 2004 champions look to have recovered form and showcased some excellent football in an unbeaten qualification process.

Fernando Santos’ squad still has some remnants from the triumphant side from seven years ago, which is complemented by exuberant youngsters breaking into the international fray.

PAOK striker Dimitris Salpingidis has learnt from some of the senior goal-getters in recent Greek history, and has the ability to cause opposition defences a headache.

CROATIA

Slaven Bilic’s men made the finals by comprehensively beating Turkey 3-0 in the playoffs, and should not be written off. The Croats follow Luka Modric’s direction, and the Tottenham playmaker has the ability to hurt any side in the world, whilst Bayern Munich attacker Ivica Olic will be keen to add to his tally of 15 international goals.

Modric’s club teammate Niko Kranjcar and Bolton Wanderers’ Ivan Klasnic will also be available for selection. Both of them last played for the national team in October against Latvia.

Finally, Republic of Ireland find themselves in the lowest tier of seeding for the tournament, but will have expected this. Giovanni Trapattoni’s men are bunched alongside an under-performing France, dark horses Czech Republic and Denmark.

FRANCE

France have not shown enough quality to make it into the top pots, and the French public will not be happy as being deemed as a fourth-tier side. A late goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina ensured Les Bleus automatic progression to the tournament, but their form in qualification was nothing to write home about.

Laurent Blanc is widely seen as the man to spark a renaissance, and the coach undoubtedly has talented players to call upon. Experienced international heads such as Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema will harbour most of the responsibility for leading their nation’s dreams – but look out for Sochaux playmaker Marvin Martin.

The starlet has rose to fame over the last 12 months, and his craft and guile has prompted many in the game to compare him to Zinedine Zidane; it could be Martin’s time to announce himself to the world game.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

The Emerald Isle will be competing in the European championships for the first time since 1988, and a wave of expectancy has washed over the country since a 5-1 aggregate victory over Estonia ensured Ireland’s place at the finals.

Giovanni Trapattoni still relies on old heads Richard Dunne, Shay Given and Robbie Keane, but faith should be put in some of the younger players such as Aidan McGeady to compete at the highest level.

DENMARK

The Danes qualified for the tournament by topping Group H ahead of Portugal, and Morten Olsen’s men will go into the competition full of confidence.

If the Scandinavians can get off to a good start they will be a match for most, and in Christian Eriksen they have one of the brightest prospects in the world game. The Ajax midfielder will look to impress to force a transfer to one of Europe’s biggest clubs, and has the energy and guile to win a game for Denmark.

CZECH REPUBLIC

It is fair to say that the Czech Republic are not the force that once saw them challenge for international tournaments in the 2000′s, but Michael Bilek’s men will still provide a tricky test to their opponents next year.

Arsenal’s Tomas Rosicky captains the side and is a talisman for the nation, but the Czechs are going through a transitional period as a number of the under-21 players make the step up to the seniors.

However, still the elders of the team, like Milan Baros, carry the hopes of their nation.

So there you have it; although there is a lot of football to be played before Euro 2012 starts in earnest, most of the major players in the continent will have one eye on the finals. With the groups being drawn in the forthcoming weeks excitement over the tournament should build, as there are many nations that could realistically experience glory next year.

Groups

Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic.
Group B: Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal.
Group C: Spain, Italy, Ireland, Croatia.
Group D: Ukraine, Sweden, France, England.

Euro 2012 Schedule

Match schedule
All kick-offs CET, Ukrainian time is one hour ahead

Friday 8 June 2012
#1: POL v GRE, 18.00CET, Warsaw
#2: RUS v CZE, 20.45CET, Wroclaw

Saturday 9 June 2012
#3: NED v DEN, 18.00CET, Kharkiv
#4: GER v POR, 20.45CET, Lviv

Sunday 10 June 2012
#5: ESP v ITA, 18.00CET, Gdansk
#6: IRL v CRO, 20.45CET, Poznan

Monday 11 June 2012
#7: FRA v ENG, 18.00CET, Donetsk
#8: UKR v SWE, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Tuesday 12 June 2012
#9: GRE v CZE, 18.00CET, Wroclaw
#10: POL v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Wednesday 13 June 2012
#11: DEN v POR, 18.00CET, Lviv
#12: NED v GER, 20.45CET, Kharkiv

Thursday 14 June 2012
#13: ITA v CRO, 18.00CET, Poznan
#14: ESP v IRL, 20.45CET, Gdansk

Friday 15 June 2012
#15: SWE v ENG, 20.45CET, Kyiv
#16: UKR v FRA, 18.00CET, Donetsk

Saturday 16 June 2012
#17: CZE v POL, 20.45CET, Wroclaw
#18: GRE v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Sunday 17 June 2012
#19: POR v NED, 20.45CET, Kharkiv
#20: DEN v GER, 20.45CET, Lviv

Monday 18 June 2012
#21: CRO v ESP, 20.45CET, Gdansk
#22: ITA v IRL, 20.45CET, Poznan

Tuesday 19 June 2012
#23: ENG v UKR, 20.45CET, Donetsk
#24: SWE v FRA, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Wednesday 20 June 2012
No matches

Thursday 21 June 2012
#25: 1A v 2B, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Friday 22 June 2012
#26: 1B v 2A, 20.45CET, Gdansk

Saturday 23 June 2012
#27: 1C v 2D, 20.45CET, Donetsk

Sunday 24 June 2012
#28: 1D v 2C, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Monday 25 June 2012
No matches

Tuesday 26 June 2012
No matches

Wednesday 27 June 2012
#29: W#25 v W#27, 20.45CET, Donetsk

Thursday 28 June 2012
#30: W#26 v W#28, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Friday 29 June 2012
No matches

Saturday 30 June 2012
No matches

Sunday 1 July 2012
#31: W#29 v W#30, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Official Match Ball

In 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the adidas Jabulani caused a few problems for goalkeepers and out-field players because of its unique flight and all the new technical advancements. Adidas have now revealed the official Euro 2012 match ball and called it the adidas Tango 12.

Hoping that it will be more human than it’s predecessor, Tango 12 has been inspired by the famous line of adidas Tango balls. Here’s what the ball will look like:

Also see: Euro 2012 News | Euro 2012 Statistics | Euro 2012 Fixtures | Euro 2012 Football Gear.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Gareth Barry’s deflected header gave England their second win in three days as the Three Lions beat Sweden 1-0. Barry’s goal on 20 minutes was the country’s 2,000th goal and the only goal of this game as Fabio Capello’s men cruised to victory at Wembley.

England won in front of a record low crowd of 48,876 since the stadium was rebuilt, and never really left second gear as Sweden lost to the hosts for the first time in 40 years.

The Three Lions were comfortable in the first half, and the first clear chance came on 17 minutes, when Kyle Walker and Theo Walcott combined well on the right hand side. Walcott played a one two with Bobby Zamora in the penalty area, and he then headed the ball back to Zamora who slid the ball into the side netting from four yards out.

The goal came shortly after, this time the move started from the left hand side. While Sweden were down to ten men as Pontus Wernbloom received treatment for a bloody nose, Leighton Baines found Stewart Downing who moved the ball onto his favoured left foot and put in a delightful ball for Gareth Barry whose header was touched into the net by Daniel Majstorovic.

England fell flat after the goal, and the visitors almost equalised in bizarre circumstances. David Elm’s right footed corner curled menacingly, and Joe Hart made a crucial save to palm the ball away from under the cross-bar. Two minutes later Johan Elmander was booked for dissent after Kim Kallstrom was adjudged to have fouled Rodwell when it looked like the Swede had taken the ball cleanly.

Phil Jones should’ve made it 2-0 on 39 minutes. The Manchester United man picked the ball up in midfield and marauded through the Swedish midfield, and his excellent run resulted in a one-one which the 19 year old flicked wide with the outside of his boot from just inside the penalty area.

Another golden chance was missed just before the break. England were patient in their build up, Walker and Walcott combined well again on the right hand side, and the Arsenal man eventually switched the ball to the left hand side where Downing glided past Mikael Lustig, and his teasing cross was headed by Jack Rodwell, but the Everton man could only head the ball against the outside of the post from five yards out.

England made one half time change, Joe Hart was replaced by Scott Carson. It was the Bursaspor ‘keeper’s first appearance since 2008 for England. The anonymous Zlatan Ibrahimovich was replaced by Ola Toivonen at the break as well. The second half started much the same as the first. Straight from the off, England looked lively. Downing stood up a cross and Zamora flicked the ball on at the far post. Rodwell burst forward to meet Zamora’s touch with a venomous volley which was well blocked.

James Milner was the next to enter the fray on 58 minutes coming on for the energetic Rodwell, as part of a double change which saw Daniel Sturridge win his first full England cap coming on for the impressive Walcott. Sturridge was involved immediately, and could have had a penalty when Wernbloom held back the Chelsea forward just inside the penalty area.

Zamora had another chance to double the advantage, after Downing again provided a beautiful cross, but Zamora’s effort from close range was deflected away for yet another corner for the hosts. Downing came close two minutes later. The Liverpool winger picked the ball up on the half way and dribbled his way through the Swedish midfield and forced the visitor’s goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson into a save low to his left.

After a solid performance, Zamora made way for Darren Bent on 69 minutes. The Fulham striker did himself no harm as he had a solid game to emphasise himself in Capello’s European plans.

Sweden were disappointing throughout. The Scandinavians scored 31 goals in ten qualifying encounters, and offered little in the second half until Sebastian Larsson’s cross looped towards goal 12 minutes from time. The cross was heading in yet Carson parried away to safety. That was Carson’s only save as the Swedes failed to offer any real threat in front of goal.

Darren Bent could have made it two after Milner’s delivery was touched away by Larsson just as the Aston Villa striker was ready to head home. Yet the second goal was not needed as England comfortably protected their lead to end the year on a high and end 2011 undefeated.

Follow the author of this article, Matthew Joyce on twitter: @MattJoyce92.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It should come as no surprise to any football fan with even a passing contempt for the game’s governing body that FIFA have yet again dropped a sizeable bollock, a bollock that stands a very good chance of ruining many innocent supporters’ lives.

News has broken this morning that a database containing the personal details of hundreds-of-thousands of football fans that purchased World Cup tickets through official FIFA-sanctioned outlets has been stolen and incrementally sold on.

The information has been passing hands for as much as £500,000, and is said to contain the passport details and birth dates of nearly 250,000 football fans that attended games at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

It is also thought that sensitive data regarding many of the participating country’s V.I.Ps, players and their respective entourages may have been purchased with the intention of extortion, fraud or identity theft.

The stolen database was compiled by FIFA before the 2006 tournament and should have been deleted shortly after in conjunction with inter­national laws which govern the exchange of sensitive information – laws to which FIFA apparently did not adhere.

The data contains details of more than 35,000 England fans, nearly 50,000 Scandinavian supporters (including the details of former Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson), nearly 20,000 Americans, 36,000 Swiss, 42,000 Portuguese, 36,000 Dutch fans and thousands more supporters from Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Croatia.

Supporters at the 2006 World Cup

Worldwide investigations have been launched to try and ascertain just who has been purchasing the information, amidst fears that it could have been purchased by organised criminal gangs or even terrorist groups.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data watchdog, has launched a parallel inquiry which also aims to determine whether fans who travelled to this summer’s World Cup in South Africa are at risk.

The Head of the ICO, Mick Gorill, released a statement yesterday to confirm the breadth of the situation;

“We have been made aware that the personal details of some 35,689 England fans have been unlawfully traded for profit. The information relates to fans who bought tickets for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

We have contacted FIFA regarding the allegations and will be liaising with the organisation further as we move forward with an investigation.

‘The unlawful trade in people’s personal information is a criminal offence under the Data Protection Act. We have launched a full investigation. As part of our investigation we will be working together with international data protection authorities.

We expect to be able to provide more details as our investigation develops, including advice for those who believe that their details may have been involved in this incident.”

FIFA have unsurprisingly declined to make a formal comment, only raising their heads above the parapet to confirm that they are ‘currently investigating the situation’.

It has been alleged that an employee of a ticketing agency may have been responsible for the data breach by putting the information up for sale on the ‘black market’.

After some in-depth enquiries with the relevant authorities, Soccerlens can confirm that former ITV pundit Robbie Earle is not being considered as a potential suspect.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Swedish football is an enigma to me.  Every year a new team tends to dominate – if you look at the Allsvenskan winners in the past few years you can see a pattern emerge:-

2009 – AIK
2008 – Kalmar
2007 – IFK Göteborg
2006 – Elfsborg
2005 – Djurgården
2004 – IF Malmo

Every season the team that seems to do well is the one that has the most home grown players.  With Sweden playing March to October they essentially only have the August transfer window to make their changes, by which time the league is often all but over.  So clubs develop their squads, do well and win the league and then sell off all of their best talent.  Of course for the champions this means that by the time the Champions League campaign starts the following July, all of their decent talent has gone and more often than not their campaign is over quicker than they realise.  And this season was so far no different.

2008 champions Kalmar were out of Europe before most of us had returned from our summer holidays.  Wind forward nine months to the start of the 2010 season and after such a stella campaign last season, AIK came into their sixth game of the new season 2nd to bottom with just two points, and one goal from their five games.  Hardly the start they needed to set them up for a long season, with their European adventure due to start in mid-July, although based on the previous form of the Swedish Champions it would be over almost before it had begun.

Here is what has happened to the champions in the past few Champions League campaigns.

2009 – Kalmar – eliminated at 2nd qualifying round
2008 – IFK Göteborg – eliminated at 2nd stage of qualifying
2007 – Elfsborg – eliminated at 3rd stage of qualifying
2006 – Djurgården – eliminated at 2nd stage of qualifying
2005 – IF Malmo – eliminated at 3rd stage of qualifying

So next July when qualifying starts again AIK Solna will hopefully get to the “promised lands” of the Group Stages, something no Swedish team has done since 2000/01 when IF Helsingborgs reached that stage.  In the same period of time, look at Norway with Rosenborg and you can see what a disappointment it has been for the Swedes to fail to see their teams progress.

So back to Stockholm on this sunny Tuesday.  Allmänna Idrottsklubben, or “The General Sports Club” are the biggest club in Sweden.  How can I quantify this?  Well they are the current Allsvenskan Champions, the Swedish Cup winners and Swedish Super Cup holders. And to make matters better, they beat bitter rivals IFK Göteborg in the final of all three.

Whilst the league is not a “winner takes all” game but played over seven months, but last season’s Allsvenskan actually came down by random luck to the last game of the season when 2nd placed IFK hosted league leaders AIK.  One point separated the two teams and when IFK took the lead in the first half it seemed the title was going back to Göteborg.  But it was left to AIK’s captain Daniel Tjernstrom to net the winner and bring the trophy home to Solna for the first time in eleven years.

The last few years have been disappointing for AIK. A gap of ten years without a major honour has been hard to bare for the loyal fans.  In that last title winning season they had also made it as far as the Champions League group stages, playing Barcelona, Fiorentina and Arsenal in their season of misery when they played their European games at Wembley.

The club have been the best supported in Sweden for many years, taking advantage in some ways of playing at the Råsunda, the 36,600 capacity national stadium.  Their fans are notorious across the whole of Scandinavia, both in terms of their vorocious support but also in terms of their organised displays at home games.  Groups such as the  AIK Tifo, Black Army, Ultra Nord and Sol Invictus are well known across all Scandinavia and try to promote the club in a positive light.

Unfortunately that has not always been possible, and a chat over lunch with two Swedish football fans filled me in on some of the more recent stories about the antics of fans of the top teams.  I myself saw a strange incident at the Helsingborgs v IFK cup game last season and how the police seemed to set a trap, or “honey pot” as I prefer to use, for the home fans (you can read all about it here).

Most of the issues have occurred in games between the three clubs from the city, which have a diverse range of supporters.  For the visit tonight of Halmstad from the west coast I hadn’t come expecting to see fireworks off the pitch.

AIK Solna 0 Halmstads 1 – Rasunda Stadium – Wednesday 14th April
Two home games, 1 point, no goals scored – the unenvious record of AIK coming into this game.  On a lovely spring evening all but the hardcore fans had stayed away for this one and it took a rousing rendition of the clubs anthem to generate any atmosphere in the ground. It was a pity that the team wasn’t on the field at the time as their offering in the first half was poor to say the least.

They lined up with just one player who had actually found the net this season, and he was a centre back (Walid Atta) and it was the visitors who made the early running, spurred on by their following of 46 (that was how dull it was for a while that I had an opportunity to count them!).  The home fans kept up a continuous display of passion but it simply did not filter through to the players.

The first chance came to the visitors in the 11th minute when the Lewis Hamilton look-a-like (the racing driver, not the Lewes FC full back) was tripped as he accelerated dangerously into the penalty area but the free kick from a perfect position deflected away for a corner.  Ten minutes later Alexander Prent’s shot from the edge of the box was well tipped over by AIK’s keeper Tommy Maanoja.  From the resulting corner Emir Kujovic was presented with a great chance but he hit his shot straight at Maanoja.  Then Kujovic again came close when his shot from distance was fumbled by the Finnish keeper but the ball trickled the right side of the post for AIK.

In the 37th minute the home team had a chance at last.  Martin Kayongo-Mutumba (don’t fancy paying for a replica shirt with his name on) found some space on the edge of the box and curled a shot towards the top corner but Johnsson in the Halmstads goal did well to tip it over.  One player that did catch my eye for the home team was Kenny Pavey – hardly a Swedish sounding name, and a quick t’internet check revealed he is a Londoner who started his career at Millwall before a spell at Ryman’s League Sittingbourne.  Last season he was actually voted “Sweden’s Dirtiest Player” by his fellow professionals – the first Englishman ever to win the award!

And it was Pavey who created the first chance of the second half as his run into the box and low cross just eluded the two in rushing AIK forwards. On 64 minutes AIK midfielder Sebastian Eguren found himself in acres of space in the Halmstads area. It was too good to be true surely – and it was with the linesman flagging for offside. Eguren put the ball into the net just to remind the crowd what it was like to score a goal (there is a song in there somewhere) and got a yellow card for his troubles.

AIK threw men forward and in truth should have scored at least one if not more from one of the headers that fell to the forwards.  As the game wore on so did the desperation and with just a few seconds left of normal time Halmstads took the lead with a shot from distance from Jonas Gudni Saevarsson that seemed to take a deflection on its way into the back of the AIK net.

Despite there still being four minutes of injury time to go, AIK knew they were beaten. Their heads went down and the body language said it all.  This was a team who last season dominated Swedish football – tonight they sat in the relegation zone with just two points and one goal from six games.

I wandered down to the press conference afterwards to listen to the Halmstads manager, Lasse Jacobsson say he was “over the moon” with the result but despite the team climbing up to sixth but he was still “taking each day as it came”. Or that is what his body language said he was saying anyway! AIK’s coach meanwhile could hardly look anyone in the eye and talked about regrouping and moving on, but you could see the fight had been knocked out of him.

So that was that – an overall disappointing experience – I had expected more fans to be behind the team at the stadium.  Those who were there cheered the team passionately but they were restricted to the few thousand Tifosi in the north stand.  I do not think there is any long term danger of relegation for AIK, especially as the season stops for 6 weeks for the World Cup and will give AIK a chance to regroup and re-assess the squad before the August transfer window opens.  Quite why the Swedish league has to shut down is a mystery to me – after all its not as if many players are going out to South Africa is it!

Written by Stuart Fuller, from the blog The Ball is Round.  More photos from the game can be seen on our Flikr page here.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The draw for the Euro 2012 qualifying stages was held today in Warsaw and the resulting groups left us with few possibilities of upsets.

England missed out on qualification last time around but have a relatively easy group to negotiate with the likes of Wales, Montenegro and Bulgaria standing in their way. Switzerland round up the group which will provide for an interesting but relatively straight-forward qualification.

Hosts Poland and Ukraine get a bye to the finals, while European champions Spain have the Czech Republic and Scotland in their group.

Fifty-one countries participated in the draw, forming 6 groups of 6 teams and 3 groups of 5 teams each. The groups will be contested according to a league system on a home-and-away basis, with games scheduled between September 2010 and October 2011.

The nine winners and the runner-up with the best record against the top five sides in their pool qualify directly for the final tournament, the last before the championship is expanded to 24 teams. The eight remaining runners-up go into play-off matches in November 2011 to decide the final four sides to join co-hosts Poland and Ukraine.

Euro 2012 Qualifying Groups

Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

Group B: Russia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra

Group C: Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands

Group D: France, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg

Group E: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino

Group F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta

Group G: England, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Montenegro

Group H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland

Group I: Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, Liechtenstein

Euro 2012 Qualifying Fixtures

GROUP A

03.09.10
Belgium v Germany
Kazakhstan v Turkey

07.09.10
Germany v Azerbaijan
Austria v Kazakhstan
Turkey v Belgium

08.10.10
Kazakhstan v Belgium
Austria v Azerbaijan
Germany v Turkey

12.10.10
Kazakhstan v Germany
Belgium v Austria
Azerbaijan v Turkey

25.03.11
Austria v Belgium
Germany v Kazakhstan

29.03.11
Turkey v Austria
Belgium v Azerbaijan

03.06.11
Belgium v Turkey
Austria v Germany
Kazakhstan v Azerbaijan

07.06.11
Azerbaijan v Germany

02.09.11
Azerbaijan v Belgium
Germany v Austria
Turkey v Kazakhstan

06.09.11
Austria v Turkey
Azerbaijan v Kazakhstan

07.10.11
Azerbaijan v Austria
Belgium v Kazakhstan
Turkey v Germany

11.10.11
Germany v Belgium
Turkey v Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan v Austria

GROUP B

03.09.10
Armenia v Ireland
Andorra v Russia
Slovakia v Macedonia

07.09.10
Ireland v Andorra
Russia v Slovakia
Macedonia v Armenia

08.10.10
Armenia v Slovakia
Ireland v Russia
Andorra v Macedonia

12.10.10
Armenia v Andorra
Slovakia v Ireland
Macedonia v Russia

26.03.11
Ireland v Macedonia
Andorra v Slovakia
Russia v Armenia

04.06.11
Armenia v Russia
Slovakia v Andorra
Macedonia v Ireland

02.09.11
Ireland v Slovakia
Andorra v Armenia
Russia v Macedonia

06.09.11
Russia v Ireland
Slovakia v Armenia
Macedonia v Andorra

07.10.11
Armenia v Macedonia
Andorra v Ireland
Slovakia v Russia

11.10.11
Ireland v Armenia
Russia v Andorra
Macedonia v Slovakia

GROUP C

11.08.10
Estonia v Faroe Islands

03.09.10
Slovenia v Northern Ireland
Estonia v Italy
Faroe Islands v Serbia

07.09.10
Serbia v Slovenia
Italy v Faroe Islands

08.10.10
Slovenia v Faroe Islands
Serbia v Estonia
Northern Ireland v Italy

12.10.10
Faroe Islands v Northern Ireland
Estonia v Slovenia
Italy v Serbia

25.03.11
Slovenia v Italy
Serbia v Northern Ireland

29.03.11
Northern Ireland v Slovenia
Estonia v Serbia

03.06.11
Faroe Islands v Slovenia
Italy v Estonia

07.06.11
Faroe Islands v Estonia

10.08.11
Northern Ireland v Faroe Islands

02.09.11
Slovenia v Estonia
Faroe Islands v Italy
Northern Ireland v Serbia

06.09.11
Italy v Slovenia
Serbia v Faroe Islands
Estonia v Northern Ireland

07.10.11
Northern Ireland v Estonia
Serbia v Italy

11.10.11
Italy v Northern Ireland
Slovenia v Serbia

GROUP D

03.09.10
France v Belarus
Romania v Albania
Luxembourg v Bosnia

07.09.10
Albania v Luxembourg
Bosnia v France
Belarus v Romania

08.10.10
Albania v Bosnia
Luxembourg v Belarus

09.10.10
France v Romania

12.10.10
Belarus v Albania
France v Luxembourg

25.03.11
Luxembourg v France

26.03.11
Bosnia v Romania
Albania v Belarus

29.03.11
Romania v Luxembourg

03.06.11
Belarus v France
Romania v Bosnia

07.06.11
Belarus v Luxembourg
Bosnia v Albania

02.09.11
Luxembourg v Romania
Belarus v Bosnia
Albania v France

06.09.11
Romania v France
Bosnia v Belarus
Luxembourg v Albania

07.10.11
Bosnia v Luxembourg
France v Albania
Romania v Belarus

11.10.11
France v Bosnia
Albania v Romania

GROUP E

03.09.10
Sweden v Hungary
Moldova v Finland
San Marino v Netherlands

07.09.10
Netherlands v Finland
Sweden v San Marino
Hungary v Moldova

08.10.10
Hungary v San Marino
Moldova v Netherlands

12.10.10
Netherlands v Sweden
Finland v Hungary
San Marino v Moldova

17.11.10
Finland v San Marino

25.03.11
Hungary v Netherlands

29.03.11
Netherlands v Hungary
Sweden v Moldova

03.06.11
Moldova v Sweden
San Marino v Finland

07.06.11
Sweden v Finland
San Marino v Hungary

02.09.11
Netherlands v San Marino
Finland v Moldova
Hungary v Sweden

06.09.11
Finland v Netherlands
Moldova v Hungary
San Marino v Sweden

07.10.11
Netherlands v Moldova
Finland v Sweden

11.10.11
Sweden v Netherlands
Hungary v Finland
Moldova v San Marino

GROUP F

03.09.10
Greece v Georgia
Israel v Malta
Latvia v Croatia

07.09.10
Georgia v Israel
Malta v Latvia
Croatia v Greece

08.10.10
Greece v Latvia
Georgia v Malta
Israel v Croatia

12.10.10
Greece v Israel
Latvia v Georgia
Croatia v Malta

26.03.11
Georgia v Croatia
Israel v Latvia
Malta v Greece

04.06.11
Greece v Malta
Latvia v Israel
Croatia v Georgia

02.09.11
Georgia v Latvia
Israel v Greece
Malta v Croatia

06.09.11
Malta v Georgia
Latvia v Greece
Croatia v Israel

07.10.11
Greece v Croatia
Israel v Georgia
Latvia v Malta

11.10.11
Georgia v Greece
Malta v Israel
Croatia v Latvia

GROUP G

03.09.10
Montenegro v Wales
England v Bulgaria

07.09.10
Bulgaria v Montenegro
Switzerland v England

08.10.10
Montenegro v Switzerland
Wales v Bulgaria

12.10.10
England v Montenegro
Switzerland v Wales

26.03.11
Wales v England
Bulgaria v Switzerland

04.06.11
Montenegro v Bulgaria
England v Switzerland

02.09.11
Wales v Montenegro
Bulgaria v England

06.09.11
England v Wales
Switzerland v Bulgaria

07.10.11
Montenegro v England
Wales v Switzerland

11.10.11
Bulgaria v Wales
Switzerland v Montenegro

GROUP H

03.09.10
Portugal v Cyprus
Iceland v Norway

07.09.10
Norway v Portugal
Denmark v Iceland

08.10.10
Portugal v Denmark
Cyprus v Norway

12.10.10
Iceland v Portugal
Denmark v Cyprus

26.03.11
Cyprus v Iceland
Norway v Denmark

04.06.11
Portugal v Norway
Iceland v Denmark

02.09.11
Cyprus v Portugal
Norway v Iceland

06.09.11
Iceland v Cyprus
Denmark v Norway

07.10.11
Portugal v Iceland
Cyprus v Denmark

11.10.11
Norway v Cyprus
Denmark v Portugal

GROUP I

03.09.10
Lithuania v Scotland
Liechtenstein v Spain

07.09.10
Czech Republic v Lithuania
Scotland v Liechtenstein

08.10.10
Spain v Lithuania
Czech Republic v Scotland

12.10.10
Scotland v Spain
Liechtenstein v Czech Republic

25.03.11
Spain v Czech Republic

29.03.11
Czech Republic v Liechtenstein
Lithuania v Spain

03.06.11
Liechtenstein v Lithuania

02.09.11
Lithuania v Liechtenstein

03.09.11
Scotland v Czech Republic

06.09.11
Spain v Liechtenstein
Scotland v Lithuania

07.10.11
Czech Republic v Spain

08.10.11
Liechtenstein v Scotland

11.10.11
Spain v Scotland
Lithuania v Czech Republic

The following dates are reserved for the play-off matches between the remaining eight runners-up:

a) 11/12 November 2011
b) 15 November 2011

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Watch the U21 Euro 2009 live here.

The 2009 European Under-21 Championship will take place in Sweden from 15 June to 29 June. While it’s expected to be overshadowed in press coverage by the dress rehearsal for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the U21 Euro 2009 still promises to be a showcase of quality football and a chance for European football fans to evaluate the young stars of tomorrow (be it for their clubs or national teams).

The European Under-21 Championship has existed since 1972 (played as the Under-23 Championship for the 72, 74 and 76 tournaments) and the two-year format provides young footballers with exposure to regular international football (thanks to the lengthy qualification process) – making it easier for the best young players to transition into the senior national team.

The Under-21 Euros were ‘switched’ to odd years over 2006 and 2007. The change was made to stagger the under-21 and senior qualification campaigns and to allow players more time to develop in the under-21 team rather than get promoted too early and end up becoming reserves for the seniors (which had become a problem in previous qualification campaigns with senior teams of many nations choosing to promote players from their under-21s team as qualification campaigns intensified).

This year’s U21 Euros will see a host of talented young footballers from Spain, Germany, Italy and England take the field, with several of them already regular starters for their respective clubs.

2009 European Under-21 Championship Venues

The following venues have been chosen to hold the final tournament matches:

Swedbank Stadion, Malmö (Capacity: 24,000; in U-21: 21,000)
Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg (Capacity: 18,800; in U-21: 16,700)
Olympia, Helsingborg (Capacity: 17,000; in U-21: 12,000)
Örjans Vall, Halmstad (Capacity: 15,500; in U-21: 8,000)

The selection of venues for the U21 Euro 2009 tournament brought to the fore the commercial aspect of sponsorship for the game, with Borås Arena being disqualified from hosting games during the tournament because the hamburger chain Max refused to close their restaurant at the stadium during the tournament (Max are not an official UEFA sponsor).

There is a contract between UEFA and the city and between UEFA and its sponsors saying that the UEFA sponsors shall have monopoly around the arena. A city cannot force Max to close down even if it happened to sign a contract with someone saying so, as Max have a tenancy agreement with the city.

Subsequently the Swedish FA nominated Örjans Vall in Halmstad as a replacement venue for Borås Arena. They officially became the fourth host city a few days later and were awarded the three group stage games that were to be hosted by Borås Arena, while the second semi-final was moved from Borås to Helsingborg and Olympia.

And then there are naming rights issues. The Swedbank Stadion will be referred to as Malmö New Stadium during the tournament, as Swedbank – which owns the naming rights to the stadium – are not official UEFA sponsors.

Source: Sveriges Radio International

Past Under-21 Winners

5 – Italy
2 – England
2 – Spain
2 – USSR
2 – Netherlands
1 – Czech Republic
1 – France
1 – Yugoslavia

Euro 2009 Teams

Sweden as host nation
Belarus
England
Finland
Germany
Italy
Spain
Serbia

Group A: Belarus, Italy, Serbia, Sweden
Group B: England, Finland, Germany, Spain

More 2009 Under-21 European Championship News:

Watch Under-21 Euro 2009 Live
2009 Under-21 European Championship Fixtures
2009 Under-21 European Championship Squads
20 Most Expensive Players in the 2009 Under-21 European Championship

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Sweden U21 v Belarus U21 (Group A)
Date: Tuesday 16th June
Venue: Malmo
Kickoff: 17:15 GMT

Hosts Sweden open their campaign against Belarus in Group A of the UEFA Under-21 European Championships at the New Stadium in Malmo on Tuesday. You can watch Sweden U21 v Belarus U21 live here.

Belarus

Belarus will have good memories of their opening games having upset Italy 2-1 in the 2004 edition. However the eastern Europeans missed out on a semi-final place that time and will hope to better their performance in this edition.

Belarus made it to this stage of the competition by beating Turkey 2-1 on aggregate in the play-offs. As was the case in the qualifiers, Belarus will rely on the pace and ingenuity of playmaker Sergei Kryvets to guide them through the group stages.

Sweden

Sweden have become rusty simply because they have not featured in any competitive youth game since October 2006 when they were beaten 5-0 by Serbia in the play-off game that decided participants for the previous version of this competition in Netherlands.

This year, they have qualified automatically as hosts and will hope to give a good account of themselves in front of home fans. Co-coached by Tommy Soderberg and Jorgen Lennartsson, Sweden have many exciting young talents at their disposal including Pontus Wernbloom and striker Marcus Berg.

Hopes will be particularly high from the latter as he has starred for Dutch FC Groningen. Berg scored 17 goals in this season for the club and fans will hope that his form will continue into this tournament as well.

Watch Sweden U21 v Belarus U21 live here.

Back to the Under-21 Euro 2009 page.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The 23-player squads for all 8 U-21 Euro 2009 teams are listed below. Only players born on or after 1 January 1986 are eligible to play in the 2009 U-21 European Championships.

Group A

Belarus Euro 2009 Squad

Head coach: Yuri Kurnenin

No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Club 1 GK Pavel Chesnovskiy 4 March 1986 (aged 23) FC Vitebsk 2 DF Nikolai Osipovich 29 May 1986 (aged 23) MTZ-RIPO 3 DF Aleksandr Martynovich 26 August 1987 (aged 21) Dinamo Minsk 4 DF Igor Shitov 24 October 1986 (aged 22) BATE 5 DF Maksim Bordachyov 18 June 1986 (aged 22) BATE 6 MF Sergei Balanovich 29 August 1987 (aged 21) Shakhtyor Soligorsk 7 MF Sergey Krivets 8 June 1986 (aged 23) BATE 8 MF Aleksandr Volodko 18 June 1986 (aged 22) BATE 9 FW Leonid Kovel 29 July 1986 (aged 22) Saturn Moscow Oblast 10 FW Dmitri Komarovskiy 10 October 1986 (aged 22) Naftan Novopolotsk 11 MF Mikhail Afanasyev 4 November 1986 (aged 22) Amkar Perm 12 GK Artem Gomelko 8 December 1989 (aged 19) Lokomotiv Moscow 13 MF Aleksandr Sachivko 5 January 1986 (aged 23) FC Minsk 14 MF Anton Putilo 10 June 1987 (aged 22) Dinamo Minsk 15 MF Sergei Kislyak 6 August 1987 (aged 21) Dinamo Minsk 16 DF Oleg Veretilo 10 July 1988 (aged 20) Dinamo Minsk 17 MF Sergei Gigevich 26 January 1987 (aged 22) Dinamo Minsk 18 DF Dmitry Verkhovtsov 10 October 1986 (aged 22) Naftan Novopolotsk 19 DF Aleksei Yanushkevich 15 January 1986 (aged 23) Shakhtyor Soligorsk 20 FW Vladimir Yurchenko 26 January 1989 (aged 20) Saturn Moscow Oblast 21 MF Mikhail Sivakov 16 January 1988 (aged 21) Cagliari 22 GK Anton Kovalevskiy 2 February 1986 (aged 23) Naftan Novopolotsk 23 DF Andrei Chukhley 2 October 1987 (aged 21) Dinamo Minsk

Italy Euro 2009 Squad

Head coach: Pierluigi Casiraghi

No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Club 1 GK Andrea Consigli 27 January 1987 (aged 22) Atalanta 2 DF Marco Motta 14 May 1986 (aged 23) Roma 3 DF Marco Andreolli 10 June 1986 (aged 23) Sassuolo 4 DF Domenico Criscito 30 December 1986 (aged 22) Genoa 5 MF Piermario Morosini 5 July 1986 (aged 22) Vicenza 6 DF Lino Marzoratti 12 October 1986 (aged 22) Empoli 7 MF Ignazio Abate 12 November 1986 (aged 22) Torino 8 MF Claudio Marchisio 19 January 1986 (aged 23) Juventus 9 FW Robert Acquafresca 11 September 1987 (aged 21) Cagliari 10 FW Sebastian Giovinco 26 January 1987 (aged 22) Juventus 11 DF Paolo De Ceglie 17 September 1986 (aged 22) Juventus 12 GK Salvatore Sirigu 12 January 1987 (aged 22) Ancona 13 DF Andrea Ranocchia 16 February 1988 (aged 21) Bari 14 DF Francesco Pisano 29 April 1986 (aged 23) Cagliari 15 DF Salvatore Bocchetti 30 November 1986 (aged 22) Genoa 16 MF Antonio Candreva 28 February 1987 (aged 22) Livorno 17 MF Andrea Poli 29 September 1989 (aged 19) Sassuolo 18 MF Alessio Cerci 23 July 1987 (aged 21) Atalanta 19 FW Alberto Paloschi 4 January 1990 (aged 19) Parma 20 FW Mario Balotelli 12 August 1990 (aged 18) Internazionale 21 MF Luca Cigarini 20 June 1986 (aged 22) Atalanta 22 GK Andrea Seculin 14 July 1990 (aged 18) Fiorentina 23 MF Daniele Dessena 10 May 1987 (aged 22) Sampdoria

Serbia Euro 2009 Squad

Head coach: Slobodan Krčmarević

No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Club TBA GK Željko Brkić 9 July 1986 (aged 22) FK Vojvodina TBA GK Bojan Šaranov 22 September 1987 (aged 21) OFK Beograd TBA GK Živko Živković 14 April 1989 (aged 20) Metalac TBA DF Rajko Brežančić 21 August 1989 (aged 19) Partizan TBA DF Marko Jovanović 23 March 1988 (aged 21) Partizan TBA DF Ivan Obradović 25 July 1988 (aged 20) Partizan TBA DF Nemanja Pejčinović 4 November 1987 (aged 21) Crvena zvezda TBA DF Nikola Petković 28 March 1986 (aged 23) Eintracht Frankfurt TBA DF Nenad Tomović 30 August 1987 (aged 21) Genoa TBA DF Milan Vilotić 21 October 1986 (aged 22) Čukarički TBA DF Jagoš Vuković 10 June 1988 (aged 21) Rad TBA MF Ljubomir Fejsa 14 August 1988 (aged 20) Partizan TBA MF Nikola Gulan 23 March 1989 (aged 20) Fiorentina TBA MF Gojko Kačar 26 January 1987 (aged 22) Hertha Berlin TBA MF Nemanja Matić 1 August 1988 (aged 20) MFK Košice TBA MF Marko Milinković 16 April 1988 (aged 21) MFK Košice TBA MF Milan Smiljanić 19 November 1986 (aged 22) Espanyol TBA MF Dušan Tadić 20 November 1988 (aged 20) FK Vojvodina TBA MF Nemanja Tomić 21 January 1988 (aged 21) Partizan TBA MF Zoran Tošić 28 April 1987 (aged 22) Manchester United TBA FW Filip Đorđević 28 September 1987 (aged 21) FC Nantes TBA FW Miralem Sulejmani 5 December 1988 (aged 20) Ajax TBA FW Rade Veljović 9 August 1986 (aged 22) CFR Cluj

Sweden Euro 2009 Squad

Head coach: Tommy Söderberg and Jörgen Lennartsson ^[1]

No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Club TBA GK Johan Dahlin 8 September 1986 (aged 22) FC Lyn Oslo TBA GK Pär Hansson 22 June 1986 (aged 22) Helsingborgs IF TBA GK Kristoffer Nordfeldt 23 June 1989 (aged 19) IF Brommapojkarna TBA DF Rasmus Bengtsson 26 June 1986 (aged 22) Trelleborgs FF TBA DF Mattias Bjärsmyr 3 January 1986 (aged 23) IFK Göteborg TBA DF Joel Ekstrand 4 February 1989 (aged 20) Helsingborgs IF TBA DF Emil Johansson 11 August 1986 (aged 22) Hammarby IF TBA DF Per Karlsson 2 January 1986 (aged 23) AIK TBA DF Mikael Lustig 13 December 1986 (aged 22) Rosenborg BK TBA DF Martin Olsson 17 May 1988 (aged 21) Blackburn Rovers FC TBA MF Emir Bajrami 7 March 1988 (aged 21) IF Elfsborg TBA MF Pierre Bengtsson 12 April 1988 (aged 21) AIK TBA MF Rasmus Elm 17 March 1988 (aged 21) Kalmar FF TBA MF Andreas Landgren 17 March 1989 (aged 20) Helsingborgs IF TBA MF Guillermo Molins 26 September 1988 (aged 20) Malmö FF TBA MF Gustav Svensson 7 February 1987 (aged 22) IFK Göteborg TBA MF Robin Söder 1 April 1991 (aged 18) IFK Göteborg TBA MF Gabriel Özkan 23 May 1986 (aged 23) AIK TBA FW Denni Avdić 5 September 1988 (aged 20) IF Elfsborg TBA FW Marcus Berg 17 August 1986 (aged 22) FC Groningen TBA FW Labinot Harbuzi 4 April 1986 (aged 23) Malmö FF TBA FW Ola Toivonen 3 July 1986 (aged 22) PSV Eindhoven TBA FW Pontus Wernbloom 25 June 1986 (aged 22) IFK Göteborg

Group B

England Euro 2009 Squad

Head coach: Stuart Pearce

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Joe Hart 19 April 1987 (aged 22) 18 0 Birmingham City 2 DF Martin Cranie 23 September 1986 (aged 22) 12 0 Portsmouth 3 DF Andrew Taylor 1 August 1986 (aged 22) 12 0 Middlesbrough 4 MF Lee Cattermole 21 March 1988 (aged 21) 10 1 Wigan Athletic 5 DF Richard Stearman 19 August 1987 (aged 21) 3 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 18 (1) 6 DF Nedum Onuoha 12 November 1986 (aged 22) 18 1 Manchester City 7 MF James Milner 4 January 1986 (aged 23) 42 8 Aston Villa 8 MF Craig Gardner 27 November 1986 (aged 22) 11 2 Aston Villa 9 FW Gabriel Agbonlahor 13 October 1986 (aged 22) 13 5 Aston Villa 10 MF Mark Noble 8 May 1987 (aged 22) 16 3 West Ham United 11 MF Adam Johnson 14 July 1987 (aged 21) 15 4 Middlesbrough 12 MF Fabrice Muamba 6 April 1988 (aged 21) 15 0 Bolton Wanderers 13 GK Joe Lewis 6 October 1987 (aged 21) 4 0 Peterborough United 14 FW Theo Walcott 16 March 1989 (aged 20) 15 6 Arsenal 15 MF Jack Rodwell 11 March 1991 (aged 18) 2 1 Everton 16 DF James Tomkins 29 March 1989 (aged 20) 1 0 West Ham United 17 DF Micah Richards 24 June 1988 (aged 20) 5 1 Manchester City 18 DF Michael Mancienne 8 January 1988 (aged 21) 12 1 Chelsea 19 DF Kieran Gibbs 26 September 1989 (aged 19) 3 2 Arsenal 20 MF Andrew Driver 20 November 1987 (aged 21) 0 0 Heart of Midlothian 21 FW Fraizer Campbell 13 September 1987 (aged 21) 10 3 Manchester United 22 GK Scott Loach 27 May 1988 (aged 21) 3 0 Watford 23 MF Danny Rose 2 July 1990 (aged 18) 1 0 Tottenham Hotspur

Finland Euro 2009 Squad

Head coach: Markku Kanerva

No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Club TBA GK Lukáš Hrádecký 24 November 1989 (aged 19) Esbjerg fB TBA GK Anssi Jaakkola 13 March 1987 (aged 22) A.C. Siena TBA GK Jukka Lehtovaara 15 March 1988 (aged 21) TPS TBA DF Joni Aho 12 April 1986 (aged 23) Inter Turku TBA DF Ville Jalasto 19 April 1986 (aged 23) Aalesunds FK TBA DF Pyry Kärkkäinen 10 November 1986 (aged 22) HJK TBA DF Jonas Portin 30 September 1986 (aged 22) FF Jaro TBA DF Jukka Raitala 15 September 1988 (aged 20) HJK TBA DF Joona Toivio 4 April 1988 (aged 21) AZ TBA DF Tuomo Turunen 30 August 1987 (aged 21) FC Honka TBA DF Petri Viljanen 3 February 1987 (aged 22) FC Haka TBA MF Juha Hakola 27 October 1987 (aged 21) Heracles Almelo TBA MF Mehmet Hetemaj 8 December 1987 (aged 21) Panionios F.C. TBA MF Perparim Hetemaj 12 December 1986 (aged 22) AEK Athens TBA MF Kasper Hämäläinen 8 August 1986 (aged 22) TPS TBA MF Mika Ojala 21 June 1988 (aged 20) Inter Turko TBA MF Nicholas Otaru 15 July 1986 (aged 22) FC Honka TBA MF Tim Sparv 20 February 1987 (aged 22) Halmstads BK TBA MF Jussi Vasara 14 May 1987 (aged 22) FC Honka TBA FW Aleksandr Kokko 6 April 1987 (aged 22) FC Honka TBA FW Jarno Parikka 21 July 1986 (aged 22) HJK TBA FW Teemu Pukki 29 March 1990 (aged 19) Sevilla FC TBA FW Berat Sadik 14 September 1986 (aged 22) Arminia Bielefeld

Germany Euro 2009 Squad

Head coach: Horst Hrubesch

No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Club 1 GK Manuel Neuer 27 March 1986 (aged 23) 15 FC Schalke 04 2 DF Andreas Beck 13 March 1987 (aged 22) 22 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 3 DF Sebastian Boenisch 1 February 1987 (aged 22) 10 SV Werder Bremen 4 DF Benedikt Höwedes 29 February 1988 (aged 21) 11 FC Schalke 04 5 DF Jérôme Boateng 3 November 1988 (aged 20) 8 Hamburger SV 6 DF Dennis Aogo 14 January 1987 (aged 22) 20 Hamburger SV 7 MF Patrick Ebert 17 March 1987 (aged 22) 10 Hertha BSC Berlin 8 MF Sami Khedira 4 April 1987 (aged 22) 11 VfB Stuttgart 9 FW Ashkan Dejagah 5 July 1986 (aged 22) 16 VfL Wolfsburg 10 MF Mesut Özil 15 October 1988 (aged 20) 11 SV Werder Bremen 11 FW Marko Marin 13 March 1989 (aged 20) 7 Borussia Mönchengladbach 12 GK Florian Fromlowitz 2 July 1986 (aged 22) 12 Hannover 96 13 FW Sandro Wagner 29 November 1987 (aged 21) 5 MSV Duisburg 14 MF Fabian Johnson 11 December 1987 (aged 21) 4 TSV 1860 Munich 15 DF Mats Hummels 16 December 1988 (aged 20) 10 Borussia Dortmund 16 DF Daniel Schwaab 23 August 1988 (aged 20) 14 SC Freiburg 17 MF Dennis Grote 9 August 1986 (aged 22) 14 VfL Bochum 18 MF Daniel Adlung 1 October 1987 (aged 21) 5 VfL Wolfsburg 19 MF Änis Ben-Hatira 18 July 1988 (aged 20) 3 MSV Duisburg 20 MF Gonzalo Castro 11 June 1987 (aged 22) 16 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 21 DF Marcel Schmelzer 22 January 1988 (aged 21) 1 Borussia Dortmund 22 FW Chinedu Ede 31 January 1988 (aged 21) 5 MSV Duisburg 23 GK Tobias Sippel 22 March 1988 (aged 21) 1 1. FC Kaiserslautern

Spain Euro 2009 Squad

Head coach: Juan Ramón López Caro

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Roberto Jiménez 10 February 1986 (aged 23) 6 0 Recreativo Huelva 2 DF Miguel Torres 28 January 1986 (aged 23) 12 0 Real Madrid CF 3 DF Nacho Monreal 26 February 1986 (aged 23) 6 0 CA Osasuna 4 MF Javi García 8 February 1987 (aged 22) 8 0 Real Madrid CF 5 DF Marc Torrejón 18 February 1986 (aged 23) 8 0 RCD Espanyol 6 MF Javi Martínez 2 September 1988 (aged 20) 7 0 Athletic Bilbao 7 MF Sisi González 22 April 1986 (aged 23) 10 2 Recreativo Huelva 8 MF Raúl García 11 July 1986 (aged 22) 17 1 Atlético Madrid 9 FW Bojan Krkić 28 August 1990 (aged 18) 8 3 FC Barcelona 10 MF José Manuel Jurado 29 June 1986 (aged 22) 15 5 RCD Mallorca 11 MF Esteban Granero 2 July 1987 (aged 21) 8 2 Getafe CF 12 DF César Azpilicueta 28 August 1989 (aged 19) 5 0 CA Osasuna 13 GK Sergio Asenjo 28 June 1989 (aged 19) 7 0 Real Valladolid 14 DF Sergio Sánchez 3 April 1986 (aged 23) 3 0 RCD Espanyol 15 DF José Manuel Flores ‘Chico’ 6 March 1987 (aged 22) 2 0 UD Almería 16 DF Iván Marcano 23 June 1987 (aged 21) 0 0 Racing de Santander 17 MF Diego Capel 16 February 1988 (aged 21) 7 2 Sevilla FC 18 MF Mario Suárez 24 February 1987 (aged 22) 3 0 Real Mallorca 19 FW Francisco Jiménez ‘Xisco’ 26 June 1986 (aged 22) 8 3 Newcastle United F.C. 20 FW Jonathan Pereira 12 May 1987 (aged 22) 2 0 Racing de Santander 21 FW Adrián López 8 January 1988 (aged 21) 3 1 Málaga CF 22 MF Pedro León 24 November 1986 (aged 22) 3 0 Real Valladolid 23 GK Antonio Adán 13 May 1987 (aged 22) 1 0 Real Madrid Castilla

Note: All information accurate at start of tournament, on 15 June 2009.

More 2009 Under-21 European Championship News:

Watch Under-21 Euro 2009 Live
2009 Under-21 European Championship Fixtures
20 Most Expensive Players in the 2009 Under-21 European Championship

Back to the Under-21 Euro 2009 page.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Watch the U21 Euro 2009 live here.

The 2009 U-21 Euros will take place across 4 venues in Sweden from 15 June to 29 June, with the best and brightest young footballers from Europe hoping to stake a place in the senior national team on the basis of their performances this summer.

Here are the Euro 2009 fixtures – all times are CET.

Euro 2009 Teams

Sweden as host nation
Belarus
England
Finland
Germany
Italy
Spain
Serbia

Group A: Belarus, Italy, Serbia, Sweden
Group B: England, Finland, Germany, Spain

Euro 2009 Fixtures

More 2009 Under-21 European Championship News:

Watch Under-21 Euro 2009 Live
2009 Under-21 European Championship Squads
20 Most Expensive Players in the 2009 Under-21 European Championship

Back to the Under-21 Euro 2009 page.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News