Lineup complete for 2009 Under-21 finals

The line up for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was completed on Wednesday as Italy, Serbia and Germany won their play-offs to join England, Finland, Belarus and Spain alongside hosts Sweden in next summer's eight-team final tournament, the draw for which takes place on Wednesday 3 December at 18.30CET at the Svenska Mässan exhibition centre in Gothenburg.

Germany drama
If the qualifying campaign is any indication of what can be expected next summer then Sweden will play host to a memorable tournament after the play-offs delivered a succession of sparkling ties. There had been plenty of drama in Tuesday's second-legs: Finland defeated Austria on penalties to reach the final tournament for the first time, two-time champions Spain saw off Switzerland in extra-time, Belarus overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Turkey and Wales pushed England, semi-finalists in 2007, to the limit. There was no let up on Wednesday as Germany, who have never won at this level, knocked out France courtesy of Benedikt Höwedes's 90th-minute strike in Metz as Dieter Eilts's team return to the finals for the first time since 2006.

Holders out
In Wednesday's other ties, five-times champions Italy had a smoother ride, defeating Israel 3-1 in Tel-Aviv to advance by the same scoreline on aggregate, while Serbia were 1-0 winners against Denmark for the second time in five days. Serbia were defeated by the Netherlands in the 2007 final in Groningen, but there will be a new name on the trophy this time round as Foppe de Haan's side, winners in both 2006 and 2007, will not be on hand to defend their title.

Marathon campaign
It is a measure of the high standard of the qualifying tournament that the Netherlands were unable to progress from their group. Wednesday's matches bring to an end a marathon qualifying campaign that involved 51 nations and began on 31 May 2007, ten days before the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the Netherlands had even kicked off. According to England manager Stuart Pearce, whose side went ten matches undefeated to reach the finals, just getting to Sweden is an achievement before the hard work starts again ahead of the final tournament which runs from 15 to 29 June 2009.

'Tough'
"We're pleased to be through – there are only eight teams left now," Pearce said after his side's 5-4 aggregate win against Wales. "It is the hardest qualification campaign of anything in football I can think of. The top teams go through when you are qualifying for a World Cup or a European championship, here Spain won every game [in the group stage] and are still in a play-off, we've won seven out of eight and been unbeaten and still we had to go through [a tough encounter] against the Welsh. Wales won their group but still they are pitted against England. It is difficult. There will be eight good teams there because the qualification and the play-off situation is so tough to actually get there."

Qualified nations for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship:
Belarus, England, Finland, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Spain, Sweden*

The draw for the final tournament takes place on Wednesday 3 December at the Svenska Mässan exhibition centre in Gothenburg.

*Qualify as hosts