‘Hello Europe, Denmark calling!’ For the 18th time since its birth in 1978, Europe plays host to a European U-21 Championships. Over the years it has witnessed the birth of new stars onto both the European and International stage from Portugal’s Luís Figo and France’s Zinedine Zidane to more recently the Czech Repbulic’s Petr ÄŒech and Germany’s Mesut Özil as well as the participation of nations from across the continent. It is seen as a fundamental stepping stone towards progression into the senior team, an opportunity to get recognized and perhaps to place oneself in the shop window. Here are ten bright sparks looking to become the superstars of tomorrow.
Christian Eriksen (Denmark)
Named Danish Talent of the Year – for a second consecutive year – and the youngest player at last year’s World Cup in South Africa, Eriksen has burst onto the scene and has become one of Europe’s hottest prospects. At the age of 20, he has already become an integral part of the Ajax squad which won this year’s Dutch Eridivisie title and has gained 14 caps for the Danish senior team. Predominantly deployed as an attacking midfielder Eriksen’s a shrewd and agile player who boasts speed and with it excellent technical ability that cause defences numerous problems.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Iceland)
These are heady days for Icelandic football. For an island with a population of just over 300,000 people, the U-21 team boasts a number of exciting players, chief amongst them is Sigurdsson. He’ll be a name familiar to fans of Reading, who moved to Germany with TSG Hoffenheim last summer. A box-to-box midfielder, Sigurdsson boasts a great deal of flexibility. Whilst his best position is as an attacking central midfielder, he can also play on either wing. Sigurdsson is a known set-piece specialist who has an eye for goal and that’ll be integral to any Icelandic success.
Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland)
England fans will have seen the Kosovan-born midfielder as recently as last weekend as Shaqiri provided another impressive display in the Swiss midfield. He can play anywhere across the midfield although his preferred position is on the wing where he is able to utilize the abundance of pace which he possesses. His petite stature provides him with a low centre of gravity which feeds into his terrific ball control and consequent dribbling ability. Crucially he does provide an end product to all of his endeavours with consistent delivery of the ball from the flanks into the striker.
Mikhail Sivakov (Belarus)
Sivakov is quite simply an integral part of the Belarusian U-21 team. He is the team’s inspirational captain who has been a part of the U-21 setup since 2008 and is one of a number of players within the squad who either began their career or currently plays for arguably the most prestigious clubs in Belarusian football, BATE Borisov. He has spent this season on loan at Polish side WisÅ‚a Kraków from Italian side Cagliari and has produced a number of eye-catching displays, most notably scoring a quite simply sensational goal against Lechia GdaÅ„sk earlier this season.
Tomáš Pekhart (Czech Republic)
Fans of Tottenham Hotspur will remember Pekhart as being somewhat of a flop during his time at White Hart Lane. Nonetheless, since leaving the club in January 2010, he’s matured and become one of the most important players in the Czech Republic team, holding the record for the most goals for the Czech U-21 team with 16 goals. His renaissance will see him move to the German Bundesliga with Nürnberg this summer and he will not doubt form a potent attack with another rising star, Libor Kozak, who has already demonstrated his ability in Serie A.
Javi Martínez (Spain)
The tall Athletic Bilbao midfielder has been the subject of a lot transfer rumours since he came to prominence in 2009. Regarded as one of the best prospects in Spanish football, Martínez has been linked with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City to name a few. He’s the engine in the midfield who is always keen to get forward and has been compared to the likes of Patrick Vieira and Steven Gerrard. He’ll be at the heart of what will be a very attack-minded Spain midfield containing the likes of Valencia’s Juan Mata and Sevilla’s Diego Capel.
Iker Muniain (Spain)
Martínez’s teammate and a product of the Athletic Bilbao, Muniain is by far and away the youngest member of the Spain squad at the age of just 18. He has been deployed as a support striker however he is known to favour playing on the wing. Like Shaqiri, he poses a low centre of gravity as well as great agility and trickery which has triggered comparisons with Lionel Messi. He possesses a great deal of maturity for his age, exemplified through his acute tactical awareness, and is always prepared for a physical encounter despite his diminutive stature.
Frank Fielding (England)
England’s goalkeeper has gained all of his experience in the Lower-Leagues which has most recently seen him sign for Npower Championship side Derby County from Barclays Premier League team Blackburn Rovers. He’s become a regular in the U-21 team following the promotion of Manchester City’s Joe Hart and Birmingham City’s Ben Foster to the senior squad. Fielding played a crucial role in pulling off a number of fine saves during England’s playoff victory against Romania which guaranteed their qualification for the Championships. This year’s tournament will be the first big test for the young England Number One.
Danny Welbeck (England)
A product of the ever successful Manchester United academy, Welbeck grew into his own this season with a successful loan spell at Sunderland which earned him a first senior cap in a friendly against Ghana. Despite this, Welbeck is still eligible to represent the Ghanaian National team due to the game precisely being a friendly. Deployed either on the wing or in attack, he has a creative spark and is capable of producing something from nothing. He is tall and athletic and possesses the physical prowess needed by a striker as well as an abundance of pace.
Taras Stepanenko (Ukraine)
Just like Savikov, Ukraine’s U-21 Captain Stepanenko is an integral part of the team. The Shakhtar Donetsk player normally likes to operate as a defensive midfielder and is capable of breaking up the opposition play. He is slowly being bedded into the Shakhtar team with competition for midfield places as fierce as ever, especially with the likes of the Brazilian trio of Douglas Costa, Jádson and Willian. He’ll be important in relieving his side of any intense pressure and providing through balls for the speedy Dynamo Kiev striker Andriy Yarmolenko who has recently been in good form.
