England's Kids Can Ease World Cup Hangover !

The very best of this country's young talent hope to put a smile back on the face of English football after the disastrous World Cup campaign under Fabio Capello.

England's Under 19 squad will be gunning for glory in the European Championships in France, beginning this Sunday with their first group stage game of the tournament against their Austrian counterparts in the Stade du Hazé, Flers (Normandy).

The UEFA European Under-19 Championship tournament consists of eight teams.
The group stage will be cut-throat - with Austria, England, France and the Netherlands drawn in Group A, and Croatia, Spain, Italy and Portugal in Group B, with the top two progressing to the semi-finals. The winners of those ties contest the final.

In the last eight runnings of this competition (since it became the Under-19's in 2002) it has paid to support the European big guns, the countries who place such pride is their youth systems. Spain have won the tournament four times, France and Italy once apiece, and with a nod to the World Cup just gone, Germany won it two years ago with a team fine tuned in the same youth system which provided the likes of Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller.

Ukraine may have looked like shock winners last time (they beat England in the final), but the system put in place by Valeri Lobanovsky all those years ago is still churning out terrific players, especially now that the country's FA is focusing on that area with a nod to Euro 2012.

But which of England manager Noel Blake's squad are good enough to make the full step to full international recognition?

The England Under-19 squad for the European Championships to be held between the 18th and the 30th July 2010 in Normandy, France is as follows:

Declan Rudd (Norwich City), James Severn (Derby County), Nathan Baker (Aston Villa), Stephen Caulker (Tottenham), Matthew Briggs (Fulham), Reece Brown (Manchester United), Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace, right), Thomas Cruise (Arsenal), Josh Thompson (Celtic); John Bostock, Dean Parrett, Andros Townsend (all Tottenham), Matthew James (Manchester United), Jacob Mellis (Chelsea), Matthew Phillips (Wycombe); Nathan Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Ryan Donaldson (Newcastle United), Frank Nouble (West Ham).

England have improved in leaps and bounds at this level, and won the Euro Under-17s earlier in the year. However I think that the draw has not done them any favours, and that they'll find at least two of the other sides in their group too good. The Netherlands look rock solid to make it through as group winners, and local support may benefit the French, with Austria also strong contenders.
I'll take Spain to get it right in Group B, and Croatia to more than likely follow them through.

If your having a bet be warned - the top teams are so tightly matched that any of them could win it, which should make for a superb spectacle.

I am going to have a small wager on the Netherlands to go one step further than their senior team did this month, and lift the trophy on the 30th July. My outside tip for glory would lie with the Croatians.


European U19 Championships 2010 - England's Group A fixtures/results/scorers:

Sun 18st July - England U19's 3-2 Austria U19's

England goalscorers: Nouble (13') & (29'), Cruise (53')
England team: Rudd, Briggs (Clyne 54'), James (C), Caulker (Thompson 86'), Baker, Parrett, Delfouneso, Nouble, Bostock (Mellis 77'), Cruise, Brown.
Substitutes not used: Nicholls (GK), Phillips, Noble, Donaldson.

Wed 21st July - England U19's 0-1 The Netherlands U19's

England team: Rudd, Clyne, James (C), Caulker, Baker, Mellis (Donaldson 83'), Parrett, Delfouneso, Nouble, Brown, Phillips (Noble 72').
Substitutes not used: Nicholls (GK), Briggs, Bostock, Cruise, Thompson.

Sat 24th July - England U19's 1-1 France U19's

England goalscorer: Phillips 90'+ 3'
England team: Rudd, Clyne, James (C), Caulker, Mellis (Bostock 78'), Parrett (Noble 74'), Delfouneso, Nouble, Cruise, Thompson, Donaldson (Phillips 76').
Substitutes not used: Nicholls (GK), Briggs, Baker, Brown.

Group A

1 France 7 pts
2 England 4 pts
3 Austria 3 pts
4 Netherlands 3pts

France and England qualify for the semi-finals.

Wed 27th July: Semi-Final: Spain U19's 3-1 England U19's

England goalscorer: Bostock 37'
England team: Rudd, Clyne, James (C), Caulker, Baker (Bostock 18'), Mellis (Noble 59'), Delfouneso, Nouble, Cruise, Thompson, Donaldson (Phillips 71').
Substitutes not used: Nicholls (GK), Brown, Malone.

All the games can be seen on Eurosport.

The 2009/10 European Domestic League's Winners and Losers, and the Top Scorers

English Premier League:
Winners: Chelsea
Runners-Up - Manchester United
Relegated - Hull City, Burnley, Portsmouth.
Top scorers: Didier Drogba (Chelsea 29 goals), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd 26), Darren Bent (Sunderland 24).

Italy Serie A :
Winners - Inter Milan
Runners-Up - Roma
Relegated - Atalanta Bergamo, AC Siena, AS Livorno.
Top scorers: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese 29 goals), Diego Milito (Inter 22), Fabrizio Miccoli (Palermo 19), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria 19).

Spanish La Liga:
Winners - Barcelona

Runners-Up - Real Madrid

Relegated - Valladolid, Tenerife, Xerez CD.

Leading scorers: Lionel Messi (Barcelona 34 goals), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid 27), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid 26), David Villa (Barcelona 21).

German Bundesliga:
Winners - Bayern Munich
Runners-Up - Schalke 04
Relegated: Bochum, Hertha Berlin.
Top scorers: Edin Dzeko (Vfl Wolfsburg 22 goals), Stefan Kiessling (Bayern Leverkusen 21), Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund 19).

French Ligue 1 League Table:
Winners - Olympique Marseille
Runners-Up - Lyon
Relegated - Le Mans, Boulogne-Sur-Mer, Grenoble.
Top scorers: Mamadou Niang (O.Marseille 18 goals), Kevin Gameiro (Lorient 17), Lisandro Lopez (Lyon 15), Mevlut Erdinc (PSG 15).

Dutch Eredivisie League Table:
Winners - Twente Enschede
Runners-Up - Ajax Amsterdam
Relegated - Sparta Rotterdam, Willem II Tilburg, Rkc Waalwijk
Top Scorers: Luis Suarez (Ajax 35 goals), Bryan Ruiz (Twente 24),Mads Junker (Roda 21).

Portuguese Liga Sagres League Table:
Winners: Benfica
Runners-Up - Sporting Braga
Relegated - Belenenses Lissabon, Leixoes SC.
Top scorers: Oscar Cardoza (Benfica 26 goals), Radamel Falcao Garcia (Porto 25),Liedson (Sporting CP 13).

Danish SAS Ligaen League Table:
Winners - FC Copenhagen
Runners-Up - Odense BK
Relegated - Aarhus GF, HB Køge.
Top Scorers - Peter Utaka (Odense 18 goals), Tim Janssen (Esbjerg 15), Dame N'Doye (FC Copenhagen 14).

Greek Super League Table:
Winners - Panathinaikos FC
Runners-Up - Olympiakos Pireus
Relegated - Pae Levadeiakos, Pas Giannina, Panthrakikos.
Top Scorers - Djibril Cisse (Panathinaikos 17 goals), Giorgos Barkoglou (Levadiakos 11), Javier Campora (Aris 11), Victoras Lacob (Iraklis 11).

Austrian Bundesliga League Table:
Winners - FC Red Bull Salzburg
Runners-Up - Austria Wien
Relegated - SC Austria Kelag Kärnten
Top scorers: Steffen Hoffman (SK Rapid 20 goals), (Roman Wallner LASK Linz 19), Marco Janko (FC Red Bull Salzburg 18).

The Greatest Football Team Of All-Time

With the 2010 World Cup only 58 days away I thought it time to wet the appetite of all football fans, right across the globe, by selecting MY OWN personal 'Greatest Football Team Of All-Time.'

Now football is without doubt a game of opinions, and you may consider the players I have selected as not worthy of their place in my greatest team, or feel I have missed out players who you would deem as more laudable of selection, which I fully appreciate.

This was not as tricky an exercise as I had initially thought, as so few players are the cream in all the fundamental categories deemed in my selection process.

The criteria for which I based my miscellany on was as follows:

* No pre-war players (footballer was a cruder game back then & the competition was less fierce)
* Great technical ability
* Sustained excellence over a number of years
* An ability to inspire others
* Fervour for battle

There are 12 Europeans and 4 South Americans, and they all satisfy the criteria in abundance.

Four of them played in the 1950's, seven started in the 1960's, two in the 1970's, two in the 1980's and one in the 1990's.

No one country is represented by more than two players.

Goalkeeper:

Lev Yashin - 1954-70 (USSR)

Defenders:

Paulo Maldini - 1988-02 (Italy)
Franz Beckenbauer - 1965-77 (West Germany)
Bobby Moore - 1962-73 (England)
Carlos Alberto Torres - 1964-77 (Brazil)

Midfield:

Alfedo Di Stefano - 1947 (Argentina) , 1957-61 (Spain)
Michel Platini - 1976-87 (France)
Johan Cruyff - 1966-78 (Netherlands)
George Best - 1964-77 (Northern Ireland)

Forwards:

Pelé - 1957-71 (Brazil)
Ferenc Puskás - 1945-56 (Hungary) , 1961-62 (Spain)


Subsitutes:

Goalkeeper:
Gordon Banks - 1963-72 (England)

Defender:
Franco Baresi - 1982-94 (Italy)

Midfield:
Zinedine Zidane - 1994-06 (France)
Forwards:
Diego Maradonna - 1977-94 (Argentina)

Eusebio - 1961-73 (Portugal)

If you feel you would like to agree or disagree with any of the players I have chosen in my 'Greatest football team of all-time,' or you would like to suggest a player who you feel should be included, then please do not hesitate to post any comments below.
All feedback is received with interest and thanks.