Young footballers are much more likely to please fans than their older brothers in the workshop. Let us pay attention to one of such illustrious moments. In 2006, in the youth football calendar, three European championships were planned at once among teams in different age categories. There are usually three. Each of them determines the maximum age of participants who are allowed to compete. These categories are called U-17, U-19, U-21. Consider the European Championship among the youngest players, held in Luxembourg.
The selection of participants in the final part
As usual, eight teams enter the final part of the championship. One place among this number goes to the team that represents the host country of the championship. If we talk about Euro 2006 U-17 youth football, then this was the Luxembourg team. The remaining seven participants in the finals had to go through a two-stage selection system. The first stage was called the qualification round, and a cohort of teams was selected from a huge number of participants, which in the future was to continue the struggle for reaching the final part of the championship. The second round, which was just solving the issue of entering Euro 2006, was called elite. As a result, those cherished seven participants were identified who joined the host team - the Luxembourg team.
Tournament Final Draw
All eight teams that reached the final part were divided into two groups. Each of the teams in this group had to play with all the participants in the finals. As a result, the teams will play three matches and the two best of each group will reach the playoff stage of Euro 2006. Let’s look at how the lots were divided into teams.
Group A was led by a host team from Luxembourg. The Spaniards joined her, who, as usual, are considered favorites at any of the tournaments. The same group includes young men from Russia. They are also joined by a fairly strong and very unyielding Hungarian team.
Group B was led by the German team. Very strong teams from Belgium and the Czech Republic fall into it. And finally, the fourth member of the group was the combined team of Serbia and Montenegro. Any of these eight were able to give a surprise. Let's see how the group tournament developed in both subgroups.
Group tournament
The winner of group A was predictably the Spanish national team. She won all three matches, scoring rivals twelve goals and conceiving just one. Moreover, it was a goal from the Luxembourg team after the Spaniards scored seven goals. The Russian team was also unable to cope with the team from Spain and conceded three goals from them. But since she won the other two matches, she reached the playoff stage.
Group B had a little more intrigue. Although the German team was able to score eight goals against the opponents, without missing a single one, it was able to enter the playoffs only by the difference in goals scored and conceded goals, as it had a futile draw with the Czech team. And the Czech youth, having gained the same number of points with the Germans, left the second place.
As a result, four teams entered the next round of the competition. From group A - Spain and Russia, and from group B - Germany and the Czech Republic. The teams that took first places played with the participants, the lot of which became the second positions.
Playoffs
So, these four teams continued the fight for Euro 2006, the final of which was to be held on May 14. The most anticipated was a meeting between the national teams of the Czech Republic and Spain. But a serious fight did not work out. Czechs, surprisingly, won dry. In the second semi-final there was a more intense struggle. The Russian team the first of the teams in the championship managed to print the gates of the German team. Thanks to this goal, the team of our country was able to reach the final, which completed the Euro 2006 championship.
The next match of our team was like a real thriller. Even in the first minute of the second half, the team came forward, and it seemed that the match would end at that. But in the third minute added, the Czechs evened the score and transferred the match to overtime. But even there our guys come forward, although they do not hold the advantage. The Czechs made it clear the winner in the penalty shoot-out, of which our players scored all five, and the opponents missed once. Thus, our youth became the winner of Euro 2006 in Luxembourg.