Our team of the tournament

AFTER a thoroughly enjoyable tournament and 16 days of watching eight teams battle it out in four different locations, it was the Germans that came out on top. On our walk back to the hostel after the night of the final myself and Mark both discussed which players would make it in to our teams [...]

Day 16 – Monday 29th June – Losing to the Germans and losing sleep

JUNE 29, 2009. The date of the Final, and our last full day in Sweden. To my excitement, England were still alive – just – after scraping through on penalties against the hosts, with Stuart Pearce’s boys up against the Germans (who else) in the showpiece occasion. We opted to spend the hours leading up [...]

England 3 – Sweden 3 AET (England win 5-4 on penalties)

ENGLAND laid two demons to rest to book their place in the Final. Firstly, by beating Sweden, and secondly, on penalties, the Young Lions showed past England teams how to handle the pressure cooker of a semi-final against the host nation and somehow emerged victorious. But as the scoreline suggests, not everything went England’s way – [...]

Semi-final preview: England v Sweden

ENGLAND face hosts Sweden tonight in the first of the semi-finals. Stuart Pearce’s side took top spot in the tougher-looking group B thanks to victories over Finland and Spain, and a draw against Germany last time out. Defeat to Italy on matchday two cost the Swedes top spot in group A, but the hosts have [...]