Aarhus will be hosting this event together with the Danish cities of Aalborg, Herning and Viborg, and spectators can look forward to a superb array of the biggest European football talents, many of whom have already made their distinctive mark in the Champions League and other major club tournaments.

As host country, Denmark is automatically qualified, and national A-team players such as Nicklas Bendtner, Simon Kjær, and Michael Lumb will all still be of an eligible age to compete in the U-21 finals tournament in the summer of 2011.

Aarhus will be the shortcut to the London Olympics

UEFA ranks the U-21 finals tournament as the biggest football event in 2011, and the matches in Denmark have been given an extra boost as this tournament will also count as a qualifier for the Olympics in London in 2012.

Aarhus is expected to be appointed host venue for the final of the European U-21 tournament on Saturday 25 June, and some of the group-stage matches are also expected to be played at the Aarhus Stadium.

Rapid increase – 100 million TV viewers

The U-21 finals tournament has developed rapidly in recent years. For the finals in 2007 in the Netherlands there were 212,000 spectators for the 15 matches, and for the finals in Sweden in the summer of 2009 there were 163,000 spectators.

On TV nearly 100 million viewers in 45 countries watched the matches in Sweden, and this number is expected to be surpassed for the finals tournament in Denmark.

Revenue to the tune of millions for the host cities

A tourism financial report from the finals tournament in Sweden shows an additional turnover of SEK 130 million for the host cities, and the tournament achieved massive coverage in the national and international media. As an example, there were 750 accredited journalists in Sweden, and this resulted in 10,900 articles in relation to the tournament, corresponding to an advertising value of SEK 187 million.

53 countries competing to qualify

The qualifying draw for the European U-21 tournament finals in Denmark took place in Aarhus in February 2009. And for the first time ever in UEFA history all 53 member countries have entered a team for the tournament. The qualifying matches are already well underway and the standings in the ten groups can be followed on uefa.com.

The winners of the ten groups and the four best second-placed teams will meet in October 2010 in the playoffs in order to determine the seven nations that will join Denmark in the eight-team final tournament in June 2011.