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ESPNsoccernet: England | |
Stuart Pearce's England Under-21s will face a clash with Germany in the group stages of next year's European Championships in Sweden.
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Pearce's youngsters have been dealt a tough draw for the finals, with Spain and Finland completing Group B and the top two progressing to the semis.
England will be encouraged by defeating Germany in a play-off over two legs to reach the 2007 finals, where they got to the last four before getting beaten by hosts Holland in a marathon penalty shoot-out.
They faced Spain early in Pearce's reign as Under-21 coach, with David Nugent and Leroy Lita scoring to secure a draw after falling 2-0 behind.
Pearce's side have not been beaten since the last tournament - their unbeaten record within 90 minutes stretches further back still - and they are targeting victory in Sweden next summer.
"I believe we'll be in a better position this time around than we were going into Holland in 2007," said Pearce
"Our aim has been to win it and between now and then there is a lot of football to be played, so we must use that to improve as a squad and individually."
Hosts Sweden were drawn in Group A with Italy, Belarus and Serbia.