The 2-1 comeback win for Denmark against Belarus in Aarhus underlined the importance of the host nation progressing in a tournament. While it might be too big a leap of faith to credit Danish Football Association chief Allan Hansen's claim that the UEFA U21 tournament "has caught the imagination of the Danish public," - too many of them were enjoying th e Pentecost weekend holiday to watch their Under-21s lose to Switzerland - the Denmark v Belarus clash was an 18,000 sell-out, double the crowd of any other game so far. Outsiders might look on the U21s as a provincial tournament, and the sleepy setting of Herning appears to confirm that impresssion, yet fully one fifth of Denmark's popu lation watched the Belarus game on TV, the equivalent of a 12 million viewership in the UK. The England v Spain crowd was about a thousand short of capacity in Herning (9,000), which made official claims of being able to sell the stadium out again worth investigating.Either way, the decision not to use Copenhagen as a host city still seems odd. FC Kobenhavn's Parken stadium holds 38,000. And travelling fans and journalists are spending as much time as possible in the capital, whose myriad attractions heavily outweigh the mon otone fields and bucolic hamlets of Jutland, where the tournament is taking place. Denmark has always been a minor football nation in Europe, which ma kes this somewhat of a highlight in its football history. Its best club side, F.C. Kobenhavn, have only once made it to the knock-out staes of the UEFA Champions League (in 2010-11 when they lost to Chelsea), whilst its national team fell victim to Japan at the 2010 World Cup in the most symbolic testament yet to the Asian football ascen dancy.After years of mediocrity, 1984 saw the birth of 'Danish Dynamite' as the national team beat England to reach the European Championship in F rance, going as far as the semi-final where they lost on penalties to Spain. The Danish team which made it to Mexico '86 briefly dazzled the world in a 6-1 thrashing of Uruguay , before, to everyone's surprise, being duly turned over 5-1 by the Spanish in the second round. Success on the World stage has eluded them since, although they did reach the 1998 quarter-final where they lost 3-2 to Brazil. The Danes' crowning glory of course came in 1992 when they came from literally nowhere to win the European Championship . Denmark had failed to qualify and were bussed in as a last-minute replacement for war-torn Yugosalvia. From relaxing on the beach when they received the unexpected phone calls, the players ended u p beating France, the Netherlands and World Champions Germany to hoist the trophy aloft in Gothenburg. Hope lies in youth, as it does with many nations, and the Danes seem to have unearthed a gem in Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen , a name on many scouts' radar at th e U21s. Another talent they are proud of is Villareal striker Nicki Bille Nielsen, who netted 13 in 20 for the D anish U21s before the tournament. Five of the 23-man Danish squad play overseas - Eriksen and Nicolai Boilesen at Aja x, Mikkel Andersen at Reading, Nicolai Jorgensen at Bayer Leverkusen and Bille Nielsen at Villareal. It is too early to say if a new Preben Elkjaer is upon us, or stars as bright a s Brian or Michael Laudrup or Peter Schmeichel were, but unearthing the "supers tars of tomorrow" are what UEFA reminds us this competition is all about. For the people of Denmark at least, a country too small to host a European Championship or World Cup alone, this is a big footballing occasion, and they are not willing for it to end as soon as on Saturday evening in Aalborg. Group A points after two games: Switzerland 6, Denmark 3, Iceland 3, Belarus 0. Sat 18th June 20:45 Denmark v Iceland (Aalborg)Switzerland v Belarus (Aarhus) (c) Sean O'Conor & SoccerphileTags World Cup Pens World Cup Posters Euro 2012 football

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The UEFA u21 Championship gets slowly bigger every two years, but remains half in shadow, a curious sideshow to the bigger tournaments.

Over 100 scouts registered to attend the UEFA u21 Championship which has just finished in Sweden. Previous participants have included Raul, Luis Figo, Frank Lampard, Henrik Larsson, Eric Cantona and Zinedine Zidane. Here are the rising stars who caught my eye - #1 - MARCUS BERG, 22, Groningen & Sweden The hottest shot of the to urnament began with a hat-trick and ended with seven goals in four games. A class apart from his rivals with two deadly feet and immaculate off the ball running. What are the big clubs waiting for?

UEFA u21 Championship Final Germany 4:0 England Germany pricked the bubble surrounding Sturat Pearce's England u21s by blanking them 4-0 in the UEFA u21 final in Malmo. Werder Bremen's Mesut Ozil, one of the best midifielders in the tournament, was the ringleader of the tormentors as Pearce's dream of Euro glory once more foundered at Teutonic feet. Leading 1-0 at the interval from an almost copycat goal of the one they scored against England in Halmstad, the Germans sat back in the second half and let the Three Lions monopolise possession, but picked them off with three killer counter-attacks, which left the final score appear like a rout had happened. It had not. England enjoyed 60% of the ball and dominated proceedings in the second half, but had lost the verve they showed in the group stages and semi-final when leading Sweden 3-0 at half time. The yellow cards shown to Gabriel Agbonlahor, Fraizer Campbell and Joe Hart cost them dear in Malmo. With no recognisable strikers left, Theo Walcott, baptised star of the show before the first game, was left forlorn up front in the middle, unable to physically dominate the defenders around him and shorn of decent through-balls to sprint after. Then at the back, Watford's Scott Loach was a less than adequate replacement for Hart. He was wrong-footed for Ozil's swerving goal in the 48th minute and let Sandro Wagner's 79th minute strike fly through his legs. Germany however, played a tactically sound game, marked closely, defended en masse and did a textbook job in frustrating their more fancied opponents, waiting until England lost possession before raiding upfield. A surprise then, as Sweden, Belarus and Italy had looked more impressive than the Germans beforehand, and a devastating loss for England, who had looked all set from day one to bring home their first u21 trophy since 1984. After Italia '90 and Euro '96, Pearce's run of misfortune against the Germans goes on. GER - Castro 23' GER - Ozil 48' GER- Wagner 79' GER - Wagner 84' Germany- Neuer, Beck, Howedes, Boateng, Boenisch, Hummels (Aogo 83'), Johnson (Schwaab 68''), Castro, Khedira, Ozil (Schmelzer 89), Wagner.

UEFA u21 Championship Final, Malmo, Sweden England v Germany After a ding-dong semi final in which they threw away a three-goal lead before winning 5-4 on penalties, England return to Malmo for the final of the UEFA u21 Championship. Stuart Pearce will be missing three key players through suspension - goalkeeper Joe Hart and forwards Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell, which means Theo Walcott should take on a central striking role against the Germans, who edged Italy 1-0 to reach the final.

Any coach who can afford to leave Theo Walcott out of his team is a lucky one. But when that team is the England U21s and Walcott has started the last two games for the National Team, the manager opens himself up to scrutiny. Is the team really that good? Or is there another reason? Predictably, journalists have latched onto Pearce's sporadic use of his best player as a story to run with and them to interrogate him on at every opportunity. Pearce denies any exceptionalism at every turn, but the hacks are still baffled.

It's do or die now as the UEFA U21 enters its semi-final stage. Germany tackle the Italians in Helsingborg while a tasty clash is on the menu in Gothenburg, where a sell-out crowd is expected for Sweden v England.

Soccerphile Exclusive: England u21 revelation Andrew Driver Andrew Driver is not exactly a name on many fans' lips, but after a s tellar debut for the England u21 side against Germany on Monday, expect to hear more of this young talent soon.

Soccerphile Exclusive: Manchester United & Serbia's Zoran Tosic M anchester United ’s Serbian u21 star Zoran Tosic has said he will leap at the chance of replacing Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford next season if given the opportunity.