Spain and Swiss on verge of milestone titles
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
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Having rescued victory from the jaws of defeat, Spain are one step away from a third Under-21 title but it is unlikely to be won easily against a Switzerland team playing their first final.
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They may have come within a whisker of elimination in Wednesday's semi-final but Spain's comeback victory over Belarus has taken them to within 90 minutes of a landmark UEFA European Under-21 Championship crown.
Luis Milla's side have been highly impressive in Denmark, winning two of their three group matches, dominating their draw with England and surviving a major scare against the Belarusians to prevail after extra time.
Georgi Kondratyev's charges led until the 89th minute of the last-four encounter, before succumbing to Adrián López's late leveller and overtime strikes by the in-form Adrián and Jeffren Suárez. But if the dramatic turnaround came late in Viborg, it still had the merit of carrying Spain to the verge of a third U21 triumph.
Propelled into the final by the 23-year-old Adrián, whose five goals have lifted him top of the tournament scorers' chart, Spain will become only the second team to claim three U21 titles by overcoming Switzerland in Aarhus on Saturday. Victories in 1986 and 1998 have them level in the all-time standings with USSR, Netherlands and England on two triumphs each. Only Italy have won more times, the Azzurrini adding to their hat-trick of successes in 1992, 1994 and 1996 with victories in 2000 and 2004.
Naturally, Switzerland have no intention of allowing Spain to end their 13-year trophy drought. Although they are bidding to win on their first appearance in the final – having been semi-finalists in 2002 – Pierluigi Tami's men have reason to be confident of pooping the Spanish party. Unlike their opponents, Switzerland have emerged victorious from all four matches in Jutland and, perhaps more impressively, the Group A victors have yet to concede a goal.