Denmark the goal for class of 2011

As the dust settles on a memorable tournament in Sweden, qualifying for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in neighbouring Denmark has already begun. Newly crowned champions Germany kick off the defence of their trophy on 4 September against San Marino, but before then qualifying resumes today.

Under way
Germany were impressive 4-0 winners against England in the final as they collected the trophy for the first time and they have already begun building for the future under new coach Rainer Adrion, whose reign began with a 3-1 defeat to Turkey in a friendly on Tuesday. Of the seven other nations that took part in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Sweden only Belarus are in competitive action tonight. Georgi Kondratyev has replaced the late Yuri Kurnenin as coach and will be aiming to emulate his predecessor by taking Belarus back to the finals, starting against Austria in Borisov in their first Group 10 fixture. The other six – England, Finland, Italy, Serbia, Spain and hosts Sweden – begin their campaigns in September, allowing the rest of the continent to steal a march on the road to Denmark 2011.

Hungary impress
Italy, semi-finalists in Sweden, are already playing catch up to Hungary and Wales in Group 3. Hungary top the section after winning their opening two games and could pull further clear should they beat Wales, second with four points from two games, when the pair meet at the Racecorse Ground in Wrexham. Elsewhere, Switzerland, who began with a 2-1 win against Armenia, will go level with Turkey at the top of Group 2 should they beat Estonia in Schaffhausen, while in Group 5 – Germany's section – early leaders the Czech Republic travel to Iceland. New Serbia coach Ratomir Dujković will be keeping a close eye on events in Famagusta where his side's rivals in Group 7, Cyprus and Norway, go head to head.

Derby match
Like Sweden before them, Denmark face a diet of friendlies before hosting the 2011 finals which will take place from 12 to 25 June 2011 in the northern cities of Aalborg, Viborg, Aarhus and Herning. Fittingly, the two sides meet in a friendly in Viborg on 12 August as Sweden hand the baton on to their neighbours across the Oresund. Similarly, local heroes of 2009 including Ola Toivonen, Rasmus Elm, Gustav Svensson and Marcus Berg – winner of the adidas Golden Boot award – cede their places as across Europe the next generation of stars are given the chance to shine.