Porto to stage February draw
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Article summary
The draw for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship will take place at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto at midday on 8 February.
Article body
Portugal seeded
Hosts Portugal (position A1) will be seeded along with holders Italy (B1) and the two teams with the best coefficients based on qualifying results - Denmark and Germany (who cannot face each other). The other challengers are France, Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine and the Netherlands. The sides will be divided into two groups of four, with the winners of each pool advancing to play the runners-up from the other section, and vice versa, in the semi-finals.
Superb record
Italy and the Serbo-Montenegrins contested the 2004 final, with Claudio Gentile's Azzurrini winning 3-0 to make it five victories in the last seven editions. Germany, as hosts, were also involved in the previous U21 championship. Portugal have a superb record in UEFA's other youth competitions, but are yet to reign at this level.
