Under 21 European Championships / Tobias Gourlay / 09 June 2011 /

France? Germany? Holland? Italy? Portugal? None of them has made it to Denmark for the 2011 Under-21 European Championships. Tobias Gourlay picks his way through those who remain in search of a champion

The Czech Republic ([7.0] in the Winner market) are the only nation among the eight now in Scandinavia to have won a Euro U21 tournament since 2000, when the competition was switched to an eight-team format.

England ([5.6]) reached the last four in 2009 and 2007 and join the Czechs in the tougher of the two groups that comprise this year's competition. Spain, the [3.0] tournament favourites, are also in Group B, which is made up by Ukraine ([12.5]).

Only two of the four can go through to the semi-finals, where they will play the top pair from Denmark ([10.0]), Switzerland ([11.0]), Iceland ([12.5]) and Belarus ([38.0]).

Group A

The hosts are in the easier group, but how much of their edge did they lose by not having to qualify? Friendly football is not usually the right diet for professional players about to enter a competitive environment and these Danes are further diminished by the absence of Simon Kjaer, a gifted centre-half, and - you're free to disagree - Nicklas Bendtner. Only one host (the Netherlands in 2007) among the nine that have gone before has won their own eight-team tournament. This lot look too reliant on Christian Eriksen, the Ajax playmaker.

Pierluigi Tami's Switzerland have the similarly creative Xherdan Shaqiri and a more impressive supporting cast. This is the youngest squad in the tournament, but nine of them have played for the senior team, which suggests no lack of maturity. That they went unbeaten in six away qualifying matches seems important. The Swiss look the value bet from Group A.

Attack is Iceland's strongest suit too. Led by Hoffenheim's Gylfi Sigurdsson, they scored at least twice in both qualifying games against everyone except the Czech Republic. They might be a good bet to get out of an easy group, but they only kept clean sheets against San Marino and that weakness would probably be fatal in the knockout stages.

Belarus have lost Vladimir Yurchenko, the striker who scored the quick-fire double that began a remarkable second-leg comeback in their playoff against Italy. They finished bottom of their group in Sweden a couple of years ago and, after coming through a relatively easy series of qualifiers, not much more should be expected of them this time.

Group B

Spain's Under-21s take their lead from their world-beating seniors and the market seems to be doing the same. Luis Milla's team only finished second in their qualifying group and have won just one of the four friendlies they have played this year. They are probably the best team and their World Cup-winning forward Juan Mata will probably look like a man among boys, but that [3.0] price is not generous.

Stuart Pearce has been stripped of Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere, while injuries deny him Kieran Gibbs and Micah Richards. This England squad is very short of senior internationals as a result - there are two full international caps among the 23 current squad members - and none of the players take responsibility for anything other than their own performance at club level. They must play Spain in their opening game and now is probably not the time to do anything patriotic with your money.

The Czech Republic are the only team to have qualified unbeaten, going W9-D1-L0, and their group included Iceland, who made it all the way here too, and the reigning champions, Germany. They conceded fewer goals than anyone else. While other teams are overrated by the reputation of their seniors, the Czechs might be underrated. The top seeds open against Group B's weakest team, Ukraine. If they win that, their price to qualify will come in and so too will their price in the Winner market. A good back-to-lay option.

Ukraine topped a tight qualifying group, finishing just a point ahead of third-placed Belgium. An impressive 3-1 win in the Netherlands was enough to win their playoff and further enhanced a good away record from the group stage (W3-D1-L0). If it wasn't such a hard group, their price would appeal. As it is, stronger opponents could nullify them by focusing on their captain, Taras Stepanenko, who is in charge of launching their quick breaks.

Best Bet: Back-to-lay Switzerland @ [11.0]
Recommended Bet: Back-to-lay Czech Republic @ [7.0]

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