X-Nico

unusual facts about Portugal national under-21 football team



Adamos Andreou

Adamos Andreou (Greek: Αδάμος Ανδρέου; born 18 December 1994 in Cyprus) is a Cypriot football midfielder who currently plays for Anorthosis Famagusta and the Cypriot National Team U21.

Afran Ismayilov

Ismayilov is a part of the Azerbaijan U-21 side that is competing in the 2011 European Under-21 Championship qualification.

Aiden O'Brien

On 6 February 2013 O'Brien scored on his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21s against Netherlands in a 3–0 win at Tallaght Stadium.

Alexander Tettey

Tettey is now a naturalized Norwegian and has been capped for the Norwegian under-18, 19 and 21 national teams, and he made his first appearance on the Norwegian national team in their 2–1 win against Argentina on 22 August 2007.

Ali Eren Beşerler

At Gençlerbirliği he started to play for Turkey U21 since April 1996 and selected to 1997 Mediterranean Games.

Ander Herrera

In the final against Switzerland, through another header, Herrera netted the first goal in an eventual 2–0 win in Aarhus.

Anel Raskaj

On March 27, 2009 in an interview with the local newspaper Hallandsposten, Raskaj stated that he had been in contact with Swedish U21 co-manager Jörgen Lennartsson, who had told him that he just had missed out on the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship as he had not yet gained Swedish citizenship.

Bohumil Andrejko

He was an assistant coach of the Slovakia U-21 team at the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and the 2000 Summer Olympics alongside Dušan Radolský.

Boris Pandža

He was part of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Under 21 team together with players like Edin Džeko, Vedad Ibišević and Sejad Salihović.

Brian Eastick

He returned to Stuart Pearce's coaching staff, assisting with the under-21 team and with the Great Britain Olympic team.

CD Mirandés

Additionally, it also held other sporting events, most notably the under-21 match between Spain and Poland in 2006 (0–1).

Chris Casper

He also appeared for the England Under 21 side in Toulon in 1996.

Christian Brüls

Partly because of his strong performances for the young Red Devils, he attracted the interest of some Belgian top-clubs, including Club Brugge, Germinal Beerschot and Gent.

Czechoslovakia national under-21 football team

First game = U-23: Bulgaria 2-1 Czechoslovakia
Pleven, November 15, 1967
U-21: Czechoslovakia 0-0 Scotland
Plzeň, October 12, 1976
Last International
U-23: Czechoslovakia 1-1 Portugal
Teplice, November 12, 1975

Dale Gordon

Gordon was capped by England under 21s towards the end of the campaign, but hampered his chances of future selection when he and his Norwich City team mate Robert Rosario broke curfew while away with the under 21s and went to a nightclub.

Darko Jevtić

During his third appearance for the team on 5 September 2013, in the Group 5 qualification game to the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championships, he scored his first goal for them in the 2-0 away win against Latvia U-21 team in Slokas Stadium, Jūrmala.

Davide Santon

On 31 March 2009, he made his debut for the Italy U-21 squad in a friendly against the Netherlands, played at Parkstad Limburg Stadion, Kerkrade and ended in a 1–1 draw.

Diego Fabbrini

He made his debut with the Italy U-21 on 3 September 2010 in a qualification match against Bosnia Herzegovina played in Sarajevo.

Dirk Marcellis

After impressing with PSV both in the UEFA Cup against Tottenham Hotspur and Fiorentina, where he played solid games against Dimitar Berbatov and Adrian Mutu, Marcellis caught the eye of not only Dutch football fans but also the Netherlands U-21 coach Foppe de Haan.

Dražen Ladić

In the early morning of 5 September 2010, hours after an under-21 international between Serbia and Croatia, Ladić was involved in a car accident when the Mercedes-Benz E-Class he was driving collided with a Renault Clio at a Zagreb road intersection.

Eliaquim Mangala

After excelling with Standard Liège's senior team, Mangala drew the interest of the French Football Federation with France under-21 manager Erick Mombaerts attending a match between Liège and Mouscron at the Stade Le Canonnier in November.

Estádio Cidade de Barcelos

It held two matches of the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, Serbia & Montenegro 0-1 Germany and Portugal 0-2 Serbia & Montenegro.

Faroe Islands national under-21 football team

Faroe Islands had to wait until their fourth match for the first under-21 victory, it came when they beat Azerbaijan 1-0 in Toftir.

Faroe Islands had the chance of finishing third in the group going into the final match against Moldova, in Tiraspol.

Francky Dury

After half a year working for the Royal Belgian Football Association as head coach of the Belgium U-21, he was hired again by Zulte Waregem as head coach in the last week of 2011.

Gabriele Angella

He made his Italy U-21 debut on 4 September 2009 as starter, in a match lost 1–2 against Wales in Swansea.

James Ward-Prowse

At the age of 18, Ward-Prowse received his first call-up to the England under-21 team from Gareth Southgate in August 2013, for the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Moldova and Finland.

Juan Ramón López Caro

In June 2010, he finished his contract with Spain Under-21 and he decided not to continue anymore and to sign a contract with the Romanian Liga 1 club FC Vaslui.

Lanre Oyebanjo

He made his under-21 debut as an 84th minute substitute in a 1–1 draw away to Georgia on 14 November 2009 in a 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 2 match.

Luís Carlos Novo Neto

Neto appeared with the Portuguese under-21 team at the 2009 Lusophony Games.

Marcell Jansen

A string of impressive performances later he was even able to keep newly signed Belgian international Filip Daems (Ziege's proposed replacement) off the starting berth on left-back and enjoyed a bright debut season in the professional game, winning a key role for the German U21 as well.

Márcio Sousa

In 2004 Sousa played for the under-19s in the 2005 European Championship qualifiers, netting against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the country failed to ensure a place in the finals in Northern Ireland.

Mark van der Maarel

On 5 October, Van der Maarel was called up for Netherlands U21, for the European U21 Championship group 4 qualifiers at Finland and Poland.

Milan Stepanov

Stepanov was part of the Serbian and Montenegrin team that was knocked out in the first round of the 2004 Summer Olympics after finishing fourth in Group C behind eventual winners Argentina, Australia and Tunisia.

Ness Zamir

On 23 March 2011, Zamir made his debut for the Israel under-21 national football team in a friendly tournament against Georgia in the Austrian town of Sankt Veit.

Nicola Amoruso

He was the unused member of the Italy Olympic team that won the 1997 Mediterranean Games.

Nuno Miguel Prata Coelho

Coelho was capped for Portugal at under-19 level, appearing for the nation at the 2006 UEFA European Championship and the 2006 Lusophony Games.

Paolo Hernán Dellafiore

He made his U21 debut on 11 October 2005 against Moldova U21, he received his second cap for the Olympic team (de facto U21 team) at 2008 Toulon Tournament.

Petar Segrt

After his great work in Georgia, in December 2008 Germany's leading sports magazine Kicker announced that German Football Association choose Petar Segrt as one of the candidates for taking over Germany U21.

Ricardo Janota

While a youngster with Benfica, he represented his country at under-16 level, and was first-choice goalkeeper at the European under-17 championship finals, at which Portugal's under-17s beat England 3–2 on penalties to win the third-place play-off; Janota saved the decisive penalty.

Rui Jorge

Rui Jorge played for the Portuguese U-21 side which lost the 1994 European Championship final to Italy (1–2) and the Olympic team who finished fourth at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Samir Ujkani

Ujkani received an Albanian passport in summer 2007 and started playing for the Albania U21.

Sanjar Kuvvatov

Kuvvatov played against England under-21s on 10 August 2010 at Ashton Gate.

SC Buochs

Reto Zanni who played for the Switzerland national under-21 football team and now plays for FC Basel and Christophe Lambert who currently plays for FC Luzern.

Simon Grether

On 6 February 2013 Grether made his debut for the Swiss U-21 team in the El Madrigal stadium in Villarreal, Spain, being substituted in in the 79th minute.

Stanislaw Drahun

He played in all five of the matches and earned a penalty for his team (which was converted by Andrei Voronkov) in the 2:0 group stage win against Iceland U21.

Tim Väyrynen

Väyrynen scored a hat-trick when Finland U21 beat Wales U21 5-1 in Bangor 14 August 2013 in UEFA U21 qualifications.

Vedran Ćorluka

He started to play for the Croatian under-21 team and eventually progressed to his country's senior national team, for which he soon made his debut in the friendly match against world champions Italy on 16 August 2006 in Livorno, Italy.

Will Grigg

He scored on his U21 debut after coming on as a substitute against San Marino in a UEFA U21 European Championship Qualifier, and earned his first senior cap in a 6–0 defeat to the Netherlands in a friendly on 2 June 2012.


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