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At times Stuart Pearce has sounded like a lone voice this summer as the England coach has attempted to state the case for the European under-21 Championships as an invaluable stepping stone towards success at senior level.Despite impressive performances in the last two tournaments - England were beaten by Germany in the 2009 final and lost an agonising penalty shoot-out to Holland at teh semi-final stage in 2007 - the focus before the finals in Denmark has been trained more on the withdrawals from Pearce's squad.
The coach originally named six players with senior international experience in the squad but of those Micah Richards, Andy Carroll and Kieran Gibbs have pulled out because of injury while Arsenal's Jack Wilshere has cited exhaustion as his reason for staying at home.
That leaves Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck as the remaining full caps in the squad and Pearce will expect Henderson in particular to shine after completing a £17 million move from Sunderland to Liverpool on the eve of the tournament.
Similarly Phil Jones will arrive in Denmark with enhanced status following his £16 million transfer from Blackburn Rovers to Manchester United.
If England are to go one better this time around, Jones and Henderson must demonstrate why they have secured such high profile moves at the start of their careers with the opening group game against Spain providing an immediate test of England's ambitions.
Spain's success in winning Euro 2008 and then the World Cup last summer has encouraged the rest of the footballing world to scrutinise the country's development structure and with the under-21 side demonstrating the same style and technique as their senior colleagues, they are inevitably regarded as the side to beat.
England and Spain are joined in a formidable looking Group B by 2006 finalists Ukraine and the Czech Republic who had the best record in qualifying of any of the eight finalists.
Less daunting is Group A where hosts Denmark are joined by Switzerland, Iceland and Belarus although Iceland's record in qualifying certainly marks them out as ones to watch.
GROUP A
Denmark
The hosts have not played a competitive game for over two years and their plans were hit when Wolfsburg refused to release the highly rated defender Simon Kjaer. Home advantage helped Sweden to reach the semi-finals two years ago while Holland won in front of their own supporters in 2007.
Switzerland
The Swiss will not lack experience despite this being their first appearance in the finals with four of the squad - Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Innocent Emeghara and Admir Mehmedi -having featured in the recent Euro 2012 qualifier with England at Wembley.
"We want to reach the semis and get our ticket to the Olympics," coach Pierluigi Tami told www.uefa.com. "This has to be our goal, even though a team like Switzerland are never favourites in a group."
Iceland
Iceland beat Scotland in the play-offs to reach the tournament after finishing runners-up behind the Czech Republic and ahead of Germany, whom they beat 4-1 at home, in their qualifying group. They also beat England in a friendly at Preston in March, confirming their standing as potential dark horses in the finals.
Belarus
Like Iceland, Belarus have shown themselves capable of beating more established footballing powers, recovering from a 2-0 first leg deficit to beat Italy in a play-off to qualify for Denmark.
GROUP B
England
The withdrawals will undoubtedly affect Pearce's side but there still enough players with significant Premier League experience who should be able to make an impact on this tournament. Pearce has proved himself to be an effective motivator at this level and if his enthusiasm counts for anything, England could do well.
"I don't see a downside if I'm honest with you in coming to play for your country - I never have done," Pearce told the BBC. "They're playing against the best that Europe has got to offer, in a three, four, five-game scenario that we've got here. There are so many upsides to it."
Spain
Any team that can boast two World Cup winners amongst its ranks must be one of the favourites. Javi Martinez and Juan Mata were members of Vicente del Bosque's senior squad in South Africa and are joined at this level by Barcelona's Bojan Krikic and Jeffren along with David de Gea, the Atletico Madrid keeper expected to join Manchester United this summer.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic were the only unbeaten team in qualifying making them one of the favourites in a competition they last won in 2002.
"We qualified as the best European team, but that is in the past now," coach Jakub Dovalil told www.uefa.com. "We must look forward, and our ambition is to qualify for the semis. It will be difficult, as we are in a tougher group than Group A, but I think we will make it."
Ukraine
The convincing 5-1 play-off victory over Holland confirmed Ukraine's qualities and with seven senior internationals in the squad, they are capable of finishing in the top two of Group B.
Opening Fixtures:
June 11, 2011
Group A
Belarus v Iceland, Aarhus, 1700 BST
Denmark v Switzerland, Aalborg, 1945 BST
June 12, 2011
Group B
Czech Republic v Ukraine, Viborg, 1700 BST
Spain v England, Henning, 1945 BST
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/06/10/european-under-21-championship-preview-tough-test-for-pearces/
Jamie Carragher Jason Day Javier Mascherano Javier Zanetti Jeff Overton
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