Greece 0-1 Spain
(Ivan Perez 65)
Steaua Stadium, Bucharest
Guti, Michel Salgado, Juan Carlos Valeron and Roger Garcia all came to the fore as Spain claimed their second UEFA Under-21 European Championship trophy in Bucharest. Inaki Saez's well-drilled side's triumph was built on the bedrock of an impervious defence, which did not concede in a campaign that ended with a characteristically obdurate 1-0 victory against Greece in the final. Greece reaped their reward six years later, when four of the side played a part in the victorious UEFA EURO 2004™ squad.
Defensive bedrock
Marshalled by FC Barcelona goalkeeper Francesc Arnau, Spain conceded just six goals in eight games in qualifying - an impressive record, but their back line made even that look lax during the final tournament in Romania. Goals were also hard to come by for the side's strikers and in the quarter-final victory against Russia they had to wait until six minutes from time before Ivan Perez earned a narrow 1-0 victory. They left it even later in the semi-finals where Victor Sanchez's extra-time strike saw off Norway to seal Spain's second successive final appearance.
Karagounis form
There they met a Greece team that had only reached the final tournament courtesy of an away-goals play-off victory against England the previous November. Led by the excellent Georgios Karagounis, they were soon into their stride in Romania. The Panathinaikos FC midfielder scored the only goal of the game as Ioannis Kollias's side saw off Germany, including a youthful Michael Ballack, in the quarter-finals to set up a last-four meeting with the Netherlands.
EURO 2004™ legacy
Two goals from Nikolaos Liberopoulos helped them to a 3-0 victory against the Dutch, but the final was to prove a much tighter affair. A goalless first half left Greece frustrated and Spain seized on a lapse just before the hour mark when Ivan Perez stole in to break the deadlock. That sealed Spain's second title, but Greece's reward would come later - Karagounis, Traianos Dellas, Ioannis Goumas and Vassilios Lakis all playing a part in their nation's EURO 2004™ triumph.