19/06/2023【Feature】Stuart Pearce – U21 EURO champion prediction

Stuart Pearce is one of the best defenders in the history of Nottingham Forest and English football. He won 78 caps for England between 1987 and 1999. Also, he was the manager of England U21 and guided them to the final of the 2009 U21 EURO.

Portugal to win European U-21 Championship

The European U-21 Championship is always a crucial stage in a player’s development because it gives them the experience of playing under real pressure and is a stepping stone to the senior national team.

I led England into four Euro U-21 tournaments, reaching the latter stages on a couple of occasions, including the final once. And there were some fantastic players in my squads, including Theo Walcott, James Milner, Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Daniel Sturridge and Chris Smalling.

Jordan Henderson, who captained my side in 2013 and went on to captain Liverpool in two Champions League finals, deserves a special mention while Kyle Walker has become one of the outstanding full-backs of his generation.

And I expect the upcoming competition in Romania and Georgia to showcase some of the finest talents that we’ll see in the years to come.

Portugal, Spain look strong; Germany to fall short

Looking at the teams involved, it’s going to be very competitive and there are several sides with a chance of winning it.

The 2021 runners-up Portugal have a strong squad, even though their top scorer in qualifying, Goncalo Ramos, has not been selected. But they have a number of players in top leagues all across Europe, including Arsenal’s Fabio Vieira and Wolves’ Pedro Neto, and I think that will stand them in good stead.

I also like the look of Spain, who had a 100% record in qualifying and have an excellent frontman in Abel Ruiz, who scored seven in the qualifiers, is performing well for Braga in the Portuguese top flight and has represented his senior national team.

The holders Germany have won two of the past three editions and they again have a lot of quality, but they are perhaps not as strong as in previous tournaments. Brentford winger Kevin Schade and Borussia Dortmund youngster Youssoufa Moukoko are two players I’m really looking forward to seeing. However, while I think they’ll definitely get out of the group, and maybe reach the semi-finals, I can’t see them going beyond that.

England in with a chance

As for England, I fear their chances have been dented by Folarin Balogun’s decision to represent the United States because he was their top scorer in qualifying, while Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi have been promoted to the senior squad.

I expect Morgan Gibbs-White, who played a huge part in keeping Nottingham Forest up, to be key in attack. Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey has been another top performer this season; he’s also been instrumental in the midfield for the U-21s and adds a scoring threat by arriving late in the box. So, a lot of England’s hopes rest with those two.

Can they win it for the first time in 39 years? They’ve been drawn in an okay group with old rivals Germany, Czech Republic and Israel, so they have a chance, but I’d put Portugal and Spain ahead of them.

With so many strong teams, it’ll be hard for a surprise package to go deep into the competition, but I like Belgium’s Lois Openda who scored 21 goals for Lens this season and got 50% of his side’s goals in qualifying. His form will be key to the Belgians’ chances.

Overall, it’s a really strong tournament, with 16 teams competing for the first time. My two favourites are Portugal and Spain as both were incredibly impressive in qualifying and boast strong squads. I actually think Portugal’s tougher group may help them because they should be battle-hardened by the quarter-finals. So, for that reason, as well as the number of top-quality players in their squad, it’s the Portuguese who’ll end up as champions.