Czech capital city of Prague hosted first U21 minifootball EURO. Nine teams were fighting for European trophy and the winning team were the hosts who beat Hungary in final match. Bronze medal goes to Slovakia and Romania.
Teams were housed in the luxurious Don Giovanni hotel. Accreditation took place, some teams took advantage of the wonderful facilities and had a training session to prepare their last tactics for the event.
Friday morning saw all teams and their representatives went to the Town hall, where they were invited by Prague political leaders. After that, the main programme began. Match after match showed to spectators great matches, skills and many goals (135! goals in 19 matches). Tournament was opened by EMF Vice – presidents, Filip Juda and Christoph Kőchy and EMF General secretary, Bruno Alpeza.
Saturday´s program offered 9 matches. The thrilled spectators ensured a great atmosphere was in the stands during the whole day. After that all semifinalists has been announced.
Sunday morning semifinals and final match brought whole EURO to closing ceremony. All players were given medal for participating in this historic championship.
Director of organizer´ team, Luděk Zelenka added: “In general i am sure that whole team has done very well. All teams has all info and great support from our team. Venue and pitch quality was above standards same as hotel and meal. From sports site it was clear that some national teams just started on this junior level. There is no such big difference to the senior level. But this EURO showed that there is huge potential for securing bright future for this sport.“
EMF U21 EURO results:
GROUP A
Slovenia – Italy 7:7
Czech Republic – Germany 6:3
Slovenia – Hungary 3:5
Italy – Germany 0:10
Czech Republic – Italy 9:1
Hungary – Germany 3:3
Czech Republic – Hungary 6:1
Slovenia – Germany 1:1
Hungary – Italy 10:1
Czech Republic – Slovenia 3:0
GROUP B
Romania – Slovakia 4:2
Romania – Bulgaria 8:1
Croatia – Slovakia 2:6
Croatia – Bulgaria 7:1
Slovakia – Bulgaria 2:1
Romania – Croatia 4:0
SEMIFINALS
Hungary – Romania 2:2 (2:1 on penalties)
Czech Republic – Slovakia 4:1
FINAL
Hungary – Czech Republic 1:7