Trophy at stake as old rivals reunite

Almost three decades after meeting in the final, and seven days after they drew 1-1 in the third round of matches in Group B, England and Germany will cross paths again at the Malmö New Stadium on Monday to contest the destination of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship trophy.

• It was honours even at Örjans vall in Halmstad on 22 June as an England side boasting ten personnel changes from their previous encounter earned a draw through Jack Rodwell, the Everton FC man cancelling out Gonzalo Castro's fifth-minute opener by heading in Craig Gardner's inswinging corner after half an hour. England had already reached the last four courtesy of wins over Finland (2-1) and Spain (2-0) and a point was good enough to keep them top of the section, while Germany finished second having previously drawn with Spain (0-0) and defeated the Finns (2-0).

• The lineups for the group game between the sides were:

Germany: Manuel Neuer, Andreas Beck, Benedikt Höwedes, Jerome Boateng, Patrick Ebert (Dennis Aogo 85), Sami Khedira, Ashkan Dejagah, Mesut Özil, Änis Ben-Hatira (Marko Marin 68), Gonzalo Castro, Marcel Schmelzer.

England: Scott Loach (Joe Lewis 46), Andrew Taylor, Richard Stearman, Craig Gardner, Adam Johnson, Jack Rodwell, James Tomkins, Michael Mancienne, Andrew Driver (Kieran Gibbs 71), Fraizer Campbell (Theo Walcott 58), Danny Rose.

• England's Adam Johnson was chosen as the Carlsberg Man of the Match by UEFA's Technical Study Group. His team-mates Mark Noble (v Finland) and Micah Richards (v Spain) have also won the award during these finals, while in the Germany squad Benedikt Höwedes (v Finland) and Andreas Beck (v Italy) have collected the prize.

• The teams won their semi-finals in contrasting fashion. Andreas Beck's long-range effort in the 48th minute in Helsingborg proved enough for Germany to see off Italy. In Gothenburg, England had looked to be cruising to victory against hosts Sweden thanks to first-half interventions from Martin Cranie (1), Nedum Onuoha (27) and a Mattias Bjärsmyr own goal (38), only for Sweden to muster a sterling second-half fightback. A pair of strikes from Marcus Berg (68, 81) either side of Ola Toivonen's fine free-kick (75) took the game into extra time and, ultimately, penalties. Victory was there for the taking for the hosts after James Milner slipped to fire England's first kick high and wide, but Joe Hart promptly blocked from Berg and the conversion thereafter was faultless until Guillermo Molins hit the post with Sweden's sixth attempt to send England through.

• England claimed the last of their two U21 titles 25 years ago, defeating Spain 3-0 on aggregate over two legs in the 1984 final. The years since have largely been barren, with no title at any level since a side including Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Sol Campbell and Robbie Fowler triumphed on home soil in the UEFA European U18 Championship in 1993.

• Germany, meanwhile, have never won the U21 title.

• England have enjoyed the better of the countries' competitive meetings down the years, notably with victories over the Germans in the 1982 UEFA European Championship final and also in the qualifying play-off for the 2007 finals in the Netherlands.

• England have four wins and just one defeat from the previous nine encounters.

• The full breakdown of past results is:

2009 Finals Group B
22.06.09 Germany 1-1 England, Halmstad

2007 Qualifying play-off
06.10.06 England 1-0 Germany, Coventry
10.10.06 Germany 0-2 England, Leverkusen

2006 Qualifying Group 6
25.03.05 England 2-2 Germany, Hull
06.09.05 Germany 1-1 England, Mainz

2002 Qualifying Group 9
06.10.00 England 1-1 Germany, Derby
31.08.01 Germany 1-2 England, Freiburg

1982 Final
21.09.82 England 3-1 West Germany, Sheffield
12.10.82 West Germany 3-2 England, Bremen

• England's only competitive defeat by Germany came in the second leg of the 1982 U21 final, although they still lifted the trophy for the first time thanks to a 3-1 victory at Bramall Lane three weeks earlier.

• Pierre Littbarski scored a hat-trick as he led West Germany's recovery in the second leg in Bremen, but a 3-2 win was not enough to deny England the trophy.

• Gary Owen (2) and Justin Fashanu were England's scorers when they raced into a 3-0 lead in the first leg in Sheffield, before Rudi Völler's late strike gave the visitors hope.

• Mike Duxbury extended England's aggregate advantage with an early goal in the return, and although Littbarski hit back ten minutes later, Paul Goddard's strike 13 minutes from time looked to have put the tie beyond doubt. Littbarski scored twice more (80, 84) to set up a thrilling climax, but it was not enough.

• Theo Walcott came off the bench to score two unanswered goals in Leverkusen when England won the play-off 3-0 on aggregate to advance to the 2007 finals at the expense of their great rivals.

• Leading 1-0 thanks to Leighton Baines' first-leg strike, England had goalkeeper Scott Carson to thank for keeping out Gonzalo Castro's 22nd-minute penalty before Walcott secured their progress with his two goals in the final five minutes.

• Both teams finished with ten men following the dismissals of Markus Brzenska and Steven Taylor.

• The lineups for that second-leg contest were:
Germany: Michael Rensing, Dominik Reinhardt, Patrick Ochs (Sebastian Freis 83), Markus Brzenska, Jan Roberto Hilbert (Sascha Dum 69), Gonzalo Castro, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Eugen Polanski, Stefan Kiessling, Aaron Hunt, Mario Gómez.

England: Scott Carson, Micah Richards, Leighton Baines, Steven Taylor, Anton Ferdinand, Tom Huddlestone, Nigel Reo-Coker, James Milner, Gabriel Agbonlahor (Theo Walcott 76), David Nugent (Justin Hoyte 66), Ashley Young (Cameron Jerome 94).

• Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner and Micah Richards all featured in both legs of that play-off tie while the only survivor in the Germany squad is Castro. Jerome Boateng's brother Kevin-Prince figured for the Germans too.

• England secured first place at Germany's expense in their qualifying group for the 2002 competition thanks to a win and a draw against their rivals. Daniel Bierofka's late strike cancelled out Titus Bramble's opener to earn Germany a point at Pride Park, but England secured a 2-1 win in Freiburg ten months later. Francis Jeffers snatched the three points in the third minute of added time after Joe Cole and Christoph Metzelder had traded goals.

• The rivalry between Germany and England at senior level is well documented. England hold the advantage in head-to-head meetings with the past 31 matches having produced 15 wins for England, ten for Germany and six draws.

Final records

• This is England's third U21 final, both of their previous showpiece appearances having ended in victory.

• The full list is:
17.05.1984 Spain 0-1 England, Seville
24.05.1984 England 2-0 Spain, Sheffield

21.09.82 England 3-1 West Germany, Sheffield
12.10.82 West Germany 3-2 England, Bremen

• Mel Sterland scored the only goal of the 1984 final first leg in the 52nd minute at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, setting England up to take the trophy with victory at Bramall Lane a week later, where Howard Gayle (49) and Mark Hateley (51) were on target. That triumph kept England in possession of the title they had won against West Germany two years earlier.

• That 1982 defeat is Germany's sole appearance in a U21 final; indeed, before the 2009 edition that remained the only time they had reached the semi-finals.

• No member of the Germany squad has ever appeared in the final of a UEFA European Championship.

• Martin Cranie, Mark Noble and Andrew Taylor were all in the England side beaten 3-1 by France in the 2005 UEFA European U19 Championship final in Belfast – Cranie captaining the side – while Danny Rose was part of the U17 side beaten 1-0 by Spain in the 2007 final.

• Having won the UEFA European U19 Championship last July and claimed the U17 continental crown last month, Germany are on course for an unprecedented clean sweep of UEFA age-group competitions.

• At club level, Lee Cattermole came on as a late substitute as Middlesbrough FC were beaten 4-0 by Sevilla FC in the 2006 UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven.

• Chelsea FC's Michael Mancienne and Jack Rodwell of Everton were both unused substitutes in the FA Cup final on 30 May, the former getting his hands on a winners' medal as his side ran out 2-1 victors.

• The suspended Fraizer Campbell was part of the Hull City AFC side that defeated Bristol City FC 1-0 in the Championship play-off final on 24 May 2008 to secure promotion to the Premier League.

• A number of the Germany squad have already experienced finals this season. Mesut Özil helped Werder Bremen defeat a Hamburger SV team featuring Boateng and Dennis Aogo in the German Cup semi-finals and then scored the only goal in the final against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 30 May. Sebastian Boenisch also disputed the full game.

• Gonzalo Castro played 85 minutes in Berlin for Leverkusen.

• Boenisch and Özil also played in the UEFA Cup final, Bremen going down 2-1 to FC Shakhtar Donetsk in Istanbul.

Team links

• England manager Stuart Pearce was involved in two of the countries' most famous meetings in modern times.

• Pearce had a penalty saved in his country's FIFA World Cup semi-final shoot-out defeat by West Germany in 1990. Chris Waddle also failed from the spot as the Germans prevailed 4-3 on spot-kicks following a 1-1 draw.

• Pearce endured further heartache against Germany at EURO '96™, as part of the side beaten in another semi-final shootout, once again after a 1-1 draw.

• He was also in the England team that went down 3-1 to West Germany in a September 1987 friendly match. For his club side, Nottingham Forest FC, Pearce had no better luck, losing 7-2 on aggregate against FC Bayern München in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

• Germany coach Horst Hrubesch has his own unhappy memories of Anglo-German contests, having been part of the Hamburg side beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest in the 1980 European Champion Clubs' Cup final.

• Germany's Dennis Aogo and Jerome Boateng were part of the Hamburg team that knocked a Manchester City FC lineup featuring Micah Richards and Nedum Onuoha out of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in April.

• Aogo featured in both Hamburg's 3-1 home first-leg success and their 2-1 second-leg loss in Manchester, in which Boateng also played. Richards and Onuoha appeared in both legs for City, while England goalkeeper Joe Hart watched both matches from the bench.

• Manuel Neuer kept goal for FC Schalke 04 as they lost 2-0 to a Manchester City side containing both Hart and Richards during the UEFA Cup group stage in November 2008. Benedikt Höwedes came on as a 74th-minute substitute for Schalke.

• Marko Marin entered the fray in the second half of Germany's 2-1 defeat by England at senior level on 19 November 2008 in Berlin. Gabriel Agbonlahor played for 77 minutes.

• Richards appeared in England's first senior defeat at the new Wembley Stadium – a 2-1 loss to Germany on 22 August 2007. Gonzalo Castro was introduced in the final minute.

• Craig Gardner represented Aston Villa FC in their 3-1 UEFA Cup defeat by Hamburg in December 2008. Boateng, Aogo and Änis Ben-Hatira all played for the home team.

Final kit colours

Germany: All red, goalkeeper in blue
England: All white, goalkeeper in green

Squad news

Germany

• Germany plan to wear the official blue-and-yellow tournament T-shirts when they warm up before the match to say thank you to the Swedish Football Association for their organisation of the even. They will emphasise the point with a tack så mycket (thanks so much) banner.

• Against Italy, coach Horst Hrubesch made four changes to the side that had drawn the final Group B game against England. With Sami Khedira out due to the right knee injury he sustained in that match, Gonzalo Castro moved from right to central midfield and Fabian Johnson began on the right flank.

• Castro was partnered in the centre by Dennis Aogo, who replaced Patrick Ebert, with Marko Marin taking over from Änis Ben-Hatira on the left side of midfield. Meanwhile, Sebastian Boenisch recovered from the ankle injury he sustained against Spain to return to left-back in place of Marcel Schmelzer.

• Germany have the best defensive record in the tournament, having conceded just once. They also conceded fewer goals than anyone else in qualifying – four in ten matches.

• Andreas Beck's goal against Italy was his first in 14 competitive matches for the U21 side, though he did find the back of the net in a 2-2 draw with the Republic of Ireland in an U21 friendly on 21 August 2007. He was named the Carlsberg Man of the Match for his efforts against the Azzurrini.

• The goal was Germany's fourth in the tournament and so far defenders have had a hand in three of them. Aside from Beck's strike, centre-back Benedikt Höwedes opened the scoring in Germany's 2-0 win against Finland, before Jerome Boateng's pass set up Castro to score Germany's opener against England.

• Italy enjoyed 56 per cent of possession and mustered 27 efforts on goal compared to 12 for Germany. Italy also had eleven corners to Germany's four and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made eleven saves compared to three for Italy's Andrea Consigli.

• Germany coach Horst Hrubesch said: "We really wanted it tonight. What makes me particularly happy is the way we dominated the second half. We were really compact. First half, we made some mistakes and Italy could have scored from all the corners they had. However, the boys knew it was going to be a close match and that's what they got."

• Ashkan Dejagah will miss the final through suspension after picking up a 20th-minute booking against Italy.

• Marko Marin was replaced by Änis Ben-Hatira in the 54th minute after sustaining a knock to his right ankle but has been passed fit to feature in the final. Khedira is set to return too after recovering from his knee injury. "It looks really good for Sami," said Hrubesch. "And in Marko's case, it doesn't seem to be anything important."

• Mats Hummels made his first appearance in the tournament against Italy after coming on for Mesut Özil in added time at the end of the second half.

• With the final at the Malmö New Stadium, Germany will be the only team to have played at all four venues during the course of the tournament. They drew with Spain at Gothenburg's Gamla Ullevi, and beat Finland and drew with England at Örjans vall in Halmstad before overcoming Italy at the Olympia in Helsingborg.

• Marin agreed a four-year deal with Werder Bremen on Wednesday 24 June, sealing his switch from VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach for an undisclosed fee. Bremen's Boenisch and Özil are also in the U21 party.

• Germany senior coach Joachim Löw will be attending the final along with England counterpart Fabio Capello. Löw was at Germany's opening two games in Group B along with Oliver Bierhoff.

England

• Stuart Pearce fielded a completely different starting XI for the semi-final against Sweden to the team he sent out to face Germany in their final match in Group B.

• It was the same lineup which had kicked off the opening fixture against Finland, except for the inclusion of Nedum Onuoha for Michael Mancienne. Centre-back Onuoha sat out the opener with a groin strain.

• Strikers Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell are suspended for the final along with goalkeeper Joe Hart.

• Agbonlahor was taken off on the hour against Sweden, having picked up his suspension following a 23rd-minute yellow card. His replacement, Campbell, was booked in the 84th minute and saw red after a second booking on 104 minutes. Hart picked up his second yellow card of the competition during the shoot-out.

• No England player has scored more than one goal in the finals. Three have been scored by defenders (Micah Richards, Onuoha and Martin Cranie), three by midfielders (Lee Cattermole, Jack Rodwell and James Milner) and only one by a forward (Campbell). England's eighth and final goal came via the leg of Sweden captain Mattias Bjärsmyr.

• Five of those eight goals have come from corners – all three against Sweden and headers from Richards and Rodwell against Finland and Germany respectively.

• Cranie's first-minute effort against Sweden was the fastest in the 2009 finals. It was his first goal at any level since 12 March 2003, when he scored on his international debut for the U17s against the Czech Republic in Chester.

• England's No1 penalty taker Milner has missed both of his spot-kicks in Sweden – in the first half against Spain and the opening spot-kick in the semi-final.

• All 23 players in the England squad have appeared in the tournament.

• Three players have worn the captain's armband thus far – Mark Noble, Craig Gardner and Onuoha.

• England finished top of Group B with seven points, which meant they did not have to leave their base in Varberg for the semi-final. With the final being played in Malmo, however, they have headed south to set up a new camp.

• Pearce said of the semi-final victory: "The players were all on their knees at the end but it was an exciting match – although not for the managers. At one stage, we look as if we're going to win it comfortably; at another it looks like we're going out of the competition. The one thing about this group of players is that they have a lot of character and that showed. We've come to win it and for me this is just a semi-final. Now only one team in Europe stands in our way."