This year’s UEFA European Championship under 21 is taking place as part of this strange football calendar. The tournament is hosted by Hungary and Slovenia along with the group stage which will end at the end of the month.
The knockout stages will take place when the club’s season is over and starts on 31 May. When we look back at the history of the tournament, we have selected eight of the best matches ever in the competition …
The Czech Republic won an exciting meeting | Jamie McDonald / Getty Images
The 2002 final took place in Switzerland and the couple met at the semifinals in Zurich.
The Czech Republic got off to a perfect start and opened the scoring in the first minute and they added a second in 83 minutes, which apparently put the result without a doubt.
But a certain Andrea Pirlo converted a penalty in the 86th minute and it triggered a late revival with Massimo Maccarone, the former Middlesbrough man himself, who made deep in stoppage time to force the game into extra time.
Italian hearts, however, were to be broken when Michal Pospisil added his second to make it 3-2, where the Czechs won via the golden goal rule.
A young Branislav Ivanovic scored for Serbia & Montenegro | Christopher Lee / Getty Images
The two sides met in the group stage of the competition as early as 2004 and it turned out to be an exciting meeting that ended 3-2 against Serbia and Montenegro thanks to a late goal from a young and enthusiastic Branislav Ivanovic.
Future Premier League stars Eduardo da Silva and Niko Kranjcar were on the points side for Croatia that day.
This was one of two victories that saw Serbia and Montenegro develop from Group A. They finally took the final where they were unfortunately beaten convincingly by a strong Italian side including Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Gilardino and Andrea Barzagli to name a few.
Rolando Bianchi made a dramatic late equalizer | Christopher Lee / Getty Images
Another high score where a future Premier League player had a huge word about the result – Rolando Bianchi, do you remember him?
Italy and Denmark met in the group stage and played a very entertaining 3-3 draw. Bianchi’s late equalizer for Gli Azzurrini saw them catch a point but disappointed, neither side went on to the final stages of the competition.
Nicky Hofs was the match winner when the Dutch defeated the French in Portugal MIGUEL RIOPA / Getty Images
These two European heavyweights in football met in the semifinals of the 2006 championship. The conflict took place in the beautiful surroundings of Braga – in a stadium that was famously carved into the side of a mountain. The Dutch scraped through to the final thanks to an extra time goal from Nicky Hofs after it ended 2-2 in normal time.
It was the midfielder’s second goal in the match with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who also came on the points side. Julien Faubert, who continued to play for West Ham in the Premier League and, perhaps more surprisingly, Real Madrid, was among the French goal scorers.
The Netherlands continued to emphatically win the competition with a 3-0 victory over Ukraine in the final.
Currently the unlikely man Mike Hewitt / Getty Images
England’s Young Lions met the host nation Sweden in the semifinals and this thriller went all the way to a penalty shootout. The two sides could not be separated in regular time with the score ending 3-3 and after a goalless extra time England kept their nerve to book their place in the final via spot kick.
In England, Joe Hart, Theo Walcott, Micah Richards and James Milner were with the former Arsenal man Kieran Gibbs who made the decisive penalty.
Unfortunately for Stuart Pearce, his side came up against an incredibly strong German side full of top talent in the final such as Mesut Ozil, Mats Hummels, Sami Khedira and Manuel Neuer.
Leroy Fer got the winner | Alex Grimm / Getty Images
It looked as if the Netherlands were cruising to victory when they scored two goals in Israel – thanks to goals from Adam Maher and Georginio Wijnaldum. But early in the second half, the Germans gathered and Sebastian Rudy pulled a goal back from the spot.
Lewis Holtby equalized nine minutes from time to 2-2 and when it seemed as if the whole momentum was with Germany having fought back in battle, Leroy Fer snatched the three points for his side with a 90-minute goal to make 3- 2.
The Netherlands continued to lose in the semifinals to Italy but perhaps more surprisingly, Germany did not manage to go further than the group stage.
Spain won virtually all international tournaments in the early 2010s Alex Grimm / Getty Images
Spain met Italy in the final of the 2013 competition in Israel. In front of almost 30,000 spectators at Teddy Stadium, the Spaniards showed off one of the best screens ever seen.
Thiago Alcantara scored a hat trick as Isco scored its fourth in a 4-2 victory. The current Liverpool midfielder’s reputation was already growing, but his achievements in this tournament led him to win the award for best player and announce himself on the European stage.
Ciro Immobile and Fabio Borini netted for the Italians, but this final belonged to Thiago.
Tammy Abraham failed to convert from the spot during penalty shootout Giuseppe Bellini / Getty Images
England suffered a semi-final upset in 2017 when they met their old opponent. Davie Selke placed Stefan Kuntz side in front but Young Lions responded brilliantly and took a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Demarai Gray and Tammy Abraham on both sides at half time.
Felix Platte equalized and made it 2-2 with 20 minutes left and neither side managed to find a winner before the match went to penalty.
England lost 3-4 in the shootout after Abraham and Nathan Redmond failed to convert their spot kicks. Kuntz young men continued to win the tournament with a 1-0 victory against Spain in the final.
