European Championship final full of ambitions: is this our best U21 ever?

Summer’s dream erupts shortly before the goal. The young Swiss stars suffered their first defeat in the final – 0:2 against top favorite Spain. Rank 2 is still the best U21 result at a European Championship.

Twelve years later, the U21s, coached by Patrick Framework, are trying to surpass the 2011 generation. The first group match against Norway starts on Thursday. Part 1 of a mega challenge. In other words, a 2nd place at the 2023 European U21 Championship would be equivalent to a football miracle.

More about the national team

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After 2:2 against Romania

Director Tami criticizes Yakin for transferring

National scores against Romania

One player top, back team a flop

Even surviving the group for one of the best U21 teams in Europe, France and Italy would be sensational. In the knockout phase, other chunks such as Germany, England, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands would probably get in the way.

In comparison, in 2011 Switzerland won the group ahead of Belarus, Iceland and Denmark. In the semifinals, the team led by Pierluigi Tami defeated the Czech Republic. Only in the final against Spain is Switzerland an outsider for the first time.

Tami is now national director and as such also responsible for the U21. He will watch some Swiss group matches in Cluj together with national coach Murat Yakin. Tami about Blick: “I don’t want to compare the years. In 2011 we had a great team with Sommer, Xhaka, Shaqiri, Fabian Frei, Mehmedi and Lustenberger. We played with a lot of courage and confidence. But our greatest strength was that we were a team. We had a fantastic time together.”

It takes more factors than tournament performance to answer the question of who is the best U21 national team of all time. For example, how many players from an U21 generation make it to the senior team. There were 13 of the EM squad in 2011, but only Sommer, Xhaka, Shaqiri and Mehmedi also became regulars in the senior squad.

There are eight players on the 2023 squad who have already had a taste of the A-Nati. Two World Cup 2022 participants will travel to Romania with Ardon Jashari and Fabian Rieder and with Zeki Amdouni, the shooting star of FCB and A-Nati. You, Simon Sohm, Kastriot Imeri and Dan Ndoye are expected to play key roles in the A-Team in the future. This also applies to Darian Males, Aurèle Amenda and Filip Stojilkovic. Does that make the current U21 generation better than their predecessors? Rieder on Blick: “The individual class in the team is certainly great. And what sets us apart is the team spirit.”

The goal of the U21s in Romania and Georgia is to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. You need a place in the top 3 next to France and England for that. If Rieder and Co. reaching this goal, it would be at least as good as the second title in the 2011 European Championship compared to the competition. We don’t travel to the European Championship to lose games.”

One thing is clear: traveling to a tournament with great ambitions has only become part of the national DNA in this millennium. It was created in the circle of the “Titans”. Our U21s were given this nickname at the European Championships at home in 2002, sparking national euphoria with their passage to the semi-finals.

Team leaders at the time: Ricardo Cabanas, Stephan Keller and Alex Frei. Keller once said during the EM FCZ professional in the “AZ” about the first foray into the spotlight of a U21: “Since then we are no longer the little Swiss. We are no longer fooled as little Swiss.” The winner’s mentality is due to Köbi Kuhn (1943-2019), who coached the U21 for the A-Nati for six years (1995-2001): “Until then, the motto in the association was not to underestimate the Faroe Islands. Before a match, Köbi suddenly said, “Why should I talk the others down? When we play well, we are better. Point.>”

Guys like Keller and Frei have accepted this research. Frei zu Blick: “We were confident, bold, carefree. We have overcome the thought that there is everything. And then took it to the A-Nati.” Ten “Titans” made the jump, alongside Frei and Cabanas, Daniel Gygax and Ludovic Magnin were longstanding mainstays in the A-Nati.

2002 the pioneers, 2011 the best yet – what chapter will the U21s write at EM 2023?