European Championship U21 - Players to watch

Eurosport - Mon, 15 Jun 22:54:00 2009

The European Under-21 Championship gets underway in Sweden today, check out our players to watch.

2009 Barcelona Bojan - 0

Theo Walcott - England, age 20

Walcott was an unused substitute when Sven Goran Eriksson took the 17-year-old to the 2006 World Cup. Now he is a regular for both Arsenal and England, confirming his arrival as an international calibre player with a hat trick against Croatia. His blistering pace will cause problems for defences, whether he is played on the wing or in attack.

Bojan Krkic - Spain, 18

Krkic is destined to become a star of world football. The Barcelona striker broke Raul's record for goals in a debut Liga season and scored 10 goals last campaign. The biggest question mark over Krkic is whether his personality can stand up to the stresses and strains of top-level football. He was due to become Spain's youngest ever international against France in February 2008, but called in sick and pulled out of Spain's Euro 2008 squad citing fatigue.

Sergey Krivets - Belarus, 22

Krivets has already shown he has the stomach for the big occasion, having scored BATE Borisov's first ever Champions League goal in a 2-2 draw with Juventus. The midfielder played in every match of the Belarusians' Champions League campaign and is looking to announce himself on to the international stage like another BATE player - Alexander Hleb - did in 2005.

Marco Motta - Italy, 23

Motta, captain of the Azzurri, brings a wealth of experience, having picked up 32 caps along with with call-ups for the senior team. The right-back, who can also play in midfield, spent the second half of the season on loan at Roma from Udinese and turned in some impressive performances, playing against Arsenal in the Champions League.

Gojko Kacar - Serbia, 22

Kacar comes to the squad after representing the senior team in their World Cup qualifiers against Austria and the Faroe Islands. The holding midfielder signed for Hertha Berlin for 3 million euros in 2008 and played 42 times for the club this season. Despite being mainly a defensive player, Kacar has an eye for goal, scoring five against Hungary U21s in the qualifying period.

Mattias Bjarsmyr - Sweden, 23

Bjarsmyr is the Swedish skipper and most experienced player at this level with 25 appearances. The midfielder broke into the IFK Gothenburg team at 19 and picked up a championship medal at 21.

Teemu Pukki - Finland, 19

Pukki was signed by Spanish giants Sevilla as a 17-year-old and progressed well through their reserve team to earn a handful of first team appearances this season. The striker is quick and agile and is highly thought of by the scouts of Europe's top clubs.

Marko Marin - Germany, 20

Marin is one of five German U21 players to have represented the senior team and was a surprise omission from the final squad for Euro 2008. The 5' 7" midfielder has already made 68 appearances for Borussia Munchengladbach and last season scored a 17 minute hat-trick in the German Cup.

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Eurosport

Comment 1 - 16 of 16

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  1. Bojan is very overrated he barely makes it to the bench­ with Barca
    imo Agbonlahor and Berg are the players to­ watch

    Campbell and Wallcot are great

    and Milner is­ the best but hes the oldest with the most experience

    From die ronaldo die, on Sun 21 Jun 10:05PM

  2. is bojan also a clown? XD

    From Paco, on Mon 15 Jun 5:16PM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    HAHAHHAHA who are all these clowns???? Walcott­ HAHAHAHHAHA

    BALOTELLI IS GONNA JUST MURDER EVERYONE ON­ THE PITCH HES A BEAST !!!!!!!!

    From justin, on Mon 15 Jun 3:43PM

  4. Hi Dodger and Stan, re: Player eligibility.

    Players­ are eligible for the tournament if they were born on or­ after Jan 1st 1986. Players eligible to take part at­ the start of qualifying are eligible until the end of­ the competition.

    From Bryan, on Mon 15 Jun 3:11PM

  5. They've just listed one player from each team­ everyone....
    but I think Italy will be the team to­ beat... solid defence as usual, but boy do they have­ some class in the attacking third.

    From *sempre per te*solo con te*, on Mon 15 Jun 2:30PM

  6. Where is Davd Bentley!!!!
    just shows what a mistake not­ turning up for the England U21 does to you!!

    From rajesh, on Mon 15 Jun 2:24PM

  7. Where is Mario Balloteli?

    From ANDREW, on Mon 15 Jun 2:19PM

  8. I hope that Zoran Tošić will show on this­ Champiosnhip why MU bought him...

    From Milosh, on Mon 15 Jun 2:16PM

  9. Sebastian Giovinco?

    From nezvedz, on Mon 15 Jun 1:41PM

  10. what about Masal Bugdov, i heard he was pretty useful??

    From David, on Mon 15 Jun 1:15PM

  11. Milner kept playing 4 us all though he was to old, but­ was 21 or under when the group stages kicked off, bit­ strange but gives everyone not quite ready for the full­ teams a chance and experience at the international­ stage.

    From terri-ann, on Mon 15 Jun 1:14PM

  12. the cut off date for being under 21 is set back in the­ qualifying stage so to keep squad stability until the­ championships, thats why one of the players in the­ tournement is 23, it's wierd to believe but Wayne­ Rooney could play for England U21's.... Mabye he­ thinks he is too big for it?

    From stewart f, on Mon 15 Jun 12:52PM

  13. Kacar is a great player and he is set to shine..keep an­ eye on him!!!

    From andreascoucer54, on Mon 15 Jun 12:46PM

  14. dodger,must be like the Olympics when 3 players(or­ something like that) can play despite being over the­ age limit!Kind of defeats the purpose of an UNDER 21­ Championship though.....

    From MichealS, on Mon 15 Jun 12:42PM

  15. Where is Magnus Berg, he netted many goals in Holland­ and he has something to prove if he wants out.

    From Richard V, on Mon 15 Jun 12:37PM

  16. i still do not understand, how can players over the age­ of 21 play?

    From dodger, on Sun 14 Jun 8:14PM
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