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Norway win sets up England showdown

Published: Thursday 6 September 2012, 21.45CET
Belgium 1-3 Norway
Harmet Singh, Jo Inge Berget and substitute Mushaga Bakenga all scored to keep Norway in pursuit of England, their final opponents on Monday.
by Berend Scholten
from Freethiel Stadion
Norway win sets up England showdown
Jo Inge Berget scored Norway's second ©Getty Images
 

Matches

Road to the final

The 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship comprises a qualifying group stage and play-off round to determine which seven teams join hosts Israel in the final tournament.

Qualifying group stage

Teams are split into ten groups – two of six teams and eight of five – and play each other on a home and away basis. The ten group winners and four runners-up with the best record against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their sections advance to the play-offs.

Play-offs
Play-off matches are played according to the knockout system, with each team playing each opponent home and away. The team which scores the greater aggregate of goals qualifies for the next round, with away goals, extra time and then penalties used to determine the winner in the event of a draw.

Final tournament
The final tournament comprises the seven play-off winners and Israel, who qualify automatically as hosts. The eight teams are split into two groups of four. Each team plays each other once in their group with the winners and runners-up advancing to the semi-finals where the winner of Group A plays the Group B runner-up and vice-versa. The winners advance to the final.

Further details, including the criteria for separating teams that finish level on points in a group, can be found in the official competition regulations.

Published: Thursday 6 September 2012, 21.45CET

Norway win sets up England showdown

Belgium 1-3 Norway
Harmet Singh, Jo Inge Berget and substitute Mushaga Bakenga all scored to keep Norway in pursuit of England, their final opponents on Monday.

Norway maintained their pursuit of Group 8 leaders England with a 3-1 win against ten-man Belgium. Harmet Singh, Jo Inge Berget and substitute Mushaga Bakenga got the goals in a victory that left Norway two points behind an England side whom they will face in their decisive final group match in Chesterfield on Monday.

Per Joar Hansen's team have now won all three away fixtures in their UEFA European Under-21 Championship campaign, giving them reason to believe against an England side who won 2-1 in Norway last October.

They got their noses in front after 12 minutes in Beveren. Having withstood some early Belgium pressure, Singh converted a penalty after Pietro Perdichizzi got his hand in the way of an Anders Konradssen goal attempt. Booked then, Perdichizzi earned a second yellow in the 25th minute, leaving Belgium a man down and they could have easily been further behind on the scoresheet. Valon Berisha mishit from one metre out, Vegar Hedenstad's free-kick struck a post, and Marcus Pedersen was wasteful when well-placed.

The second goal came when Berget struck on the hour, turning the ball in after Konradssen had headed a Hedenstad corner against the crossbar. Yet Belgium's ten men came back into the contest when substitute Igor Vetokele played Mitshy Batshuayi through and he finished low past Arild Østbø. There were 20 minutes remaining but Norway made their man advantage count in the end as Bakenga broke free to chip Thomas Kaminski and seal the win.

Only pride will be at stake when third-placed Belgium host Iceland on Monday; for England and Norway, though, there remains plenty to play for.

Last updated: 09/05/13 11.17CET

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http://www.uefa.com/under21/season=2013/matches/round=2000192/match=2006935/postmatch/report/index.html#norway+belgium

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