2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
| UEFA U21-EM 2011 (Danish) | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | 11 June – 25 June |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Spain (3rd title)
|
| Runners-up |
 Switzerland
|
| Third place |
 Belarus
|
| Fourth place |
 Czech Republic
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 36 (2.25 per match) |
| Attendance | 101,955 (6,372 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Adrián (5 goals)
|
| Best player |
Juan Mata
|
UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2011 was the 18th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Denmark between 11 and 25 June 2011.
The Danish bid was chosen by UEFA's Executive Committee on 10 December 2008 in Nyon, Switzerland. This bid defeated the other bid from Israel.
Qualification for the final tournament took place between March 2009 and October 2010.
Spain won their third title after defeating Switzerland 2–0 in the final.
The organisation of the event was initially contested by only two bids: Denmark and Israel. The bids were submitted on 15 June 2008.
The bids were inspected between June and September 2008, and a report was given to the National Team Competition Committee in October. The committee discussed the bids on 27 November 2008 and issued a recommendation to the UEFA Executive Committee, who decided on 10 December 2008 that Denmark would host the finals.
The draw for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying round took place in Århus on 4 February 2009. The qualifying draw determined the makeup of ten groups. Ten groups were formed in the qualifying draw including two sections of six sides and eight of five, as teams chase 7 finals places alongside host Denmark. The seeding pots are formed on the basis of former performance in the tournament. All groups contained one nation from the first five pots and two sections also included a team from Pot 6. The six European federations that have qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup (Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and England) were each drawn in one of the six groups of five teams.
The tournament was used as the European qualifying tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with the top teams qualifying for London 2012. The four British federations entered the qualification process as single entities, but are not eligible to qualify for the Olympics. If one or more British teams had qualified for the Championship, and to pass the first round, play-off games would be played (like in 2007 when Italy and Portugal faced for the last place in the Olympics). As Great Britain is the host nation for the 2012 Olympics, it is entitled to an automatic place in the competition. This caused controversy as in the Olympics, Great Britain competes as a single unified country, as opposed to the four individual nations in football. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all logged public objections to the idea of a GB team at the Olympics, fearing that it would jeopardise their independent status in UEFA and FIFA. A compromise was reached in 2009 whereby England would field a team for the tournament, while the other three would not participate, but not object to England's involvement.
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