The entire nation will have their fingers crossed for the country's Under 21s as the European Championships get underway tomorrow in Israel. Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Moannes Dabbur and goalkeeper Barak Levi will be among the participants, and the best of luck to them
A popular joke among football enthusiasts in Israel is that the only way the country will ever get to the World Cup finals is by hosting them. Well, that's true, the World Cup finals have yet to be held in Israel, and it may be true that this competition is for the Under 21s and the only way Israel got into the tournament in the first place was by hosting it. But that by no means detracts from the splendid "qualifying" campaign Israel waged in order to arrive at this moment. In those "qualifiers", they won out over such footballing giants as England and substantial European "opponents" as the Czech Republic, Wales and Bulgaria, leading an overwhelming majority of the executive committee of Europe's governing body UEFA to choosing Israel as the venue for this competition. The Israeli Football Association (IFA) committed themselves to having four new or renewed stadiums at the ready at the start of the competition and have fulfilled that commitment: Teddy (Jerusalem), Bloomfield (Tel Aviv-Jaffa), Hamoshava (Petah Tikvah) and the brand new stadium in Netanya.
In addition to Israel's Under 21s under the stewardship of Guy Luzon, seven other countries earned their place in the tournament after a qualifying stage that included Under 21 sides from 52 countries. Ten of those sides that finished first in their groups, joined by the four strongest second placed finishers, entered a home and away leg play-off that produced the seven teams that joined Israel for the finals. The eight finalists were divided into two groups of four teams each: Group A – Israel, England, Italy and Norway and Group B – Spain, Germany, Holland and Russia. Each side will face the other three opponents in their group, with the winner of Group A playing the team finishing second in Group B, and vice versa, in the semi-finals. The competition final will be played on Tuesday the 18th of June at Teddy Stadium, but in the meantime let's have a look at each side's chances of being one of the finalists.
Spain
The current title holders are also perhaps the most popular side among Israeli football enthusiasts, witness the fact that tickets to all their matches were sold out within weeks of their being made available. They were greeted at the airport by hundreds of supporters wearing the club shirts of Barcelona, Real Madrid and even Manchester United in honour of their young Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea. The prediction: Semi-finalists.
Germany
The German Under 21s return to this tournament after being absent two years ago, but without their renown forward, Bayern Munich and former Borussia Dortmund striker Mario Götze. But trust the Germans to be first in line with the next up and coming stars. No all German final as in the Champions League but it seems reasonable to assume that this German Under 21 side will be one of the finalists in this competition.
Holland
The Dutch have always been proud of their ability to produce young talent so once again it's a fair bet that football enthusiasts here will enjoy watching what this side have on offer. With two consecutive titles in the last three competitions they have earned their place at the pinnacle of European football. This time though they have landed in the competition's "group of death" (with Spain and Germany) so it's difficult to see them getting into the semis.
Russia
Contrary to popular perception, Russia's Under 21s paved their way into the competition's finals primarily on their away form. In the group stage head coach Nikolai Pisarev's youngsters won three of their four away ties and in the play-offs beat the Czech Republic in Prague 0-2. Nonetheless being the fourth ranked member of such a deadly quartet may just be a hurdle too high, so it seems unlikely the Russian bear will be growling in the semis, not this time at least.
Italy
With five Under 21 championship titles under their belt, the Italians can never be counted out as finalists. On the one hand, AC Milan and former Inter and Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli gave the competition a pass. On the other hand AC Milan forward Stephan El Shaarawy is already getting used to the weather and there is no lack of representation from the top Italian clubs in the Under 21 side. It therefore seems likely they'll make it to the finals once again.
England
After the disappointment of finishing third in their group two years ago, England return to the competition with a squad of sufficient quality to deal with Norway and Israel in Group A at least. It's likely that more English supporters will come to Israel to support their side than from any other country, but unfortunately that won't help them get past the hurdles of the Mediterranean climate and superior sides. So it looks like England are in for yet another disappointment.
Norway
The "Cinderella" story of the tournament, Norway had already lost to France 1-0 in the first leg of the play-offs but won the return fixture 3-5 to achieve their story-book qualification. As fate would have it, Israel's first opponent in the tournament will be Norway and with a little luck perhaps the hosts will pick up their first points of the competition. Good intentions aplenty for the Scandinavians, but it's difficult to see them progressing past the group stage.
Israel
If the Under 21s perform as well on the pitch as the organisers have performed in preparing the logistics for the tournament itself, all may go well. As unwise as it might be to get ahead of ourselves, it's in the country's nature anyway and in view of the rush on tickets it's hard not to believe that something good may be about to happen. We'll have our fingers crossed for our Maccabi stars Moannes Dabbur and Barak Levi and all the rest of the lads and hope to see them reach the semi-finals of this prestigious tournament. That in itself would be a distinctly praiseworthy accomplishment.
