History
Wednesday 13 July 2005
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The UEFA European Under-19 Championship is the successor to the FIFA junior tournament, which began in 1948 as a U18 event and was taken over by UEFA seven years later. The tournament was played in a number of different formats in the first 32 years of its existence, with England enjoying success on eight occasions while the Soviet Union triumphed in the competition four times and Bulgaria three.
Youth promotion
In 1980, the tournament was changed to the UEFA European Under-18 Championship, reflecting one of UEFA's main priorities, which is to promote youth football and to encourage the development of young footballers. The inaugural European U16 Championship was held in 1980/82, before the competitions were changed to U17 and U19 events ahead of the 2001/02 season because of changes in player eligibility dates.
Success shared
The Federal Republic of Germany emerged triumphant in the first U19 event in 1981, and since then captains from 13 different countries have lifted the trophy. France have been the most successful side, claiming the trophy on five different occasions, including 2005. In recent years, the Iberian nations of Spain and Portugal have dominated, with Spain winning in 1995, 2002 and 2004 while Portugal tasted victory in 1994 and 1999.
Iberian dominance
The two countries have performed so consistently that, of the 15 finals played since 1988, either Spain or Portugal have appeared on eleven occasions, including Spain's last-gasp victory against Turkey in the 2004 final. Neither will be present at the 2005 finals in Northern Ireland, however, as both lost out to France in the Elite round.
Solitary triumph
Aside from France, Spain and Portugal, the Soviet Union lifted the U18 crown in 1988 and 1990 and nine other teams have lifted the trophy on only one occasion. Perhaps suprisingly, England have failed to translate their earlier dominance to the U18 and U19 events, winning the tournament in 1993 only - although that side did feature the likes of Gary Neville, Sol Campbell and Paul Scholes, all of whom went on to win well over 50 caps for the senior team.
French fillip
A significant number of other players have starred in their team's triumphs at U18 and U19 level before going on to senior glory, with the victorious French side of 1996 featuring Mikaël Silvestre, William Gallas, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet two years before the latter two were involved in the FIFA World Cup success. Italian trio Gianluigi Buffon, Francesco Totti and Andrea Pirlo, Timo Hildebrand, Fabian Ernst and Sebastian Kehl of Germany and Republic of Ireland's record goalscorer Robbie Keane are just a few of the players who have figured in U18 and U19 finals in recent years.
Poland victorious
In 2001 Poland signalled the beginning of a renaissance at all levels, and the end of the U18 age level, by triumphing in Finland with victory against the Czech Republic. The first U19 event took place in 2002 in Norway and was won by Spain, who overcame Germany 1-0 in the final to give coach Iñaki Sáez a perfect send-off as he departed to take over the senior Spanish side.
Recent finals
The 2002/03 finals in Liechtenstein saw yet more Iberian representation in the final in the form of Portugal. However Italy denied the Portuguese an U17-U19 double by winning 2-0, thereby lifting the trophy after three previous losing appearances in the final at U18 level. A year later, however, and it was Spain who were celebrating in Nyon, Switzerland, as a spectacular late goal from Borja Valero continued his country's proud record in youth competition.
2006 edition
France again underlined their class at this level with their 2005 triumph in Northern Ireland. Unbeaten throughout the tournament, they came back from a goal down to defeat England in the final. Spain took the honours in 2006, scoring 17 goals in their five finals games and defeating Scotland 2-1 in the final thanks to two goals from Alberto Bueno.
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