Elmander touts the benefits of U21 success

Sweden striker Johan Elmander urged participants at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship to follow his example, saying: "If you're a good player, you can use the tournament to force your way into the senior side."

'International breakthrough'
The 27-year-old Elmander, who joined Bolton Wanderers FC from Toulouse FC for €13m last summer, says that playing at the 2004 U21 finals in Germany, where Sweden lost a semi-final on penalties, provided a massive boost to his fledgling career. For the benefit of this summer's hopefuls, Elmander – who has now scored eleven goals in 39 games for Sweden – advised: "Take the chance. The Under-21s in 2004 was my international breakthrough."

Budding talent
Four goals at those finals left Elmander as the joint top scorer along with Italy's Alberto Gilardino, and the former Örgryte IS, Feyenoord, Djurgårdens IF FF, NAC Breda and Brøndby IF player said, "that tournament meant a lot for me" before adding: "We had an incredible team." He was not the only future star to benefit either, as he remembered: "Portugal had José Bosingwa, who's at Chelsea now and Germany had Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski."

Odd-numbered years
Elmander had hoped to play at UEFA EURO 2004™ with Sweden in the same summer as his U21 expedition, saying: "I felt I should have been there. So at the Under-21 EURO I saw my chance to prove my worth." With the U21 finals now being played in odd-numbered years, to avoid clashes with the major senior tournaments, future budding stars will have the chance to earn a place in UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup squads through impressive U21 final displays. "If you're a good player, you can use the tournament to force your way into the senior side in good time ahead of their championship one year later," said Elmander.

What might have been
The move to odd-numbered years also means that eligible senior players would also have the chance to impress in the U21 finals. Had that been the case in 2004, Elmander feels things might have been different for Sweden. "Imagine if we could have used Kim Källström, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Andreas Isaksson, who were with the senior squad in Portugal," he sighed.

This interview appeared in the Swedish Football Association's third UEFA European Under-21 Championship newsletter. Click here to read it.