U21 Euros scouting report, part 3: A flying Georgian, Italy wing-back and Englands future No 1? -

Welcome to part three of The Athletic’s Under-21 European Championship scouting articles, in which we’re keeping track of interesting players and compelling performances during this summer’s tournament in Georgia and Romania.

As before, an important caveat. The aim here isn’t to re-celebrate famous players. Instead, and without trying to be contrary, there will be a bias towards those who aren’t already stars and who didn’t feature in the Ones To Watch lists published before the competition began (here’s ours).

We’ll do one more update after this and the names in that entry will likely be more familiar. For now, we’re still looking for players either from the smaller nations, or those operating in the shadows of higher-profile team-mates.

Zuriko Davitashvili

Forward/Winger (Bordeaux/Georgia), 22

The obvious point first: what an outrageous goal that was against the Netherlands. Davitashvili picked the ball up 40 yards from goal and then just kept running and running. Remember Sasa Curcic’s famous goal for Bolton Wanderers against Chelsea in 1995? Just like that.

🇬🇪 Zuriko Davitashvili's sensational solo goal!#U21EURO | @GeorgiaGff pic.twitter.com/a8g26Tgu6C

— #U21EURO (@UEFAUnder21) June 28, 2023

Something happened to Davitashvili after he scored that one on Tuesday. Every time he touched the ball thereafter, the crowd were on their feet, howling at him to drive forward and take players on.

He duly obliged and ended up giving a thrillingly optimistic performance, during which he looked to change the game with every touch. The goal was, of course, marvellous — the kind a player scores once in a career — but he was consistently dynamic throughout.

But how good is he? Five goals and two assists in 29 appearances in the second tier of French football last season doesn’t make an overwhelming case. Still, he has a crouched-over dribbling style and a burst of speed which, when used to sharply change direction, makes him extremely difficult to defend against.

Tuesday might have just been one of those nights, then, but it was certainly fun to watch.

Irakli Azarovi

Left midfield (Red Star Belgrade/Georgia), 21

So, Davitashvili produced the moment of the night against the Netherlands, but team-mate Azarovi was probably more important to Georgia’s resistance in the 1-1 draw. He started on the left of midfield in a 4-4-2, but really operated as an auxiliary full-back. He plays there for his club, Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade, and that showed in his nose for danger.

That isn’t to say that he isn’t good with the ball — he has a sweet left foot and a handy feint — but Georgia were not ambitious in this game and when they did win possession in their own half, there weren’t always many targets up the field to look for.

Azarov stepped away from pressure nicely and slalomed between tackles on a few occasions, but the way in which he periodically dropped into the space between his full-back and left centre-half spoke to his concentration.

Azarovi in action (Photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

At other times, he also dropped into a more orthodox role, allowing full-back Aleksandre Kalandadze to move inside and the Georgian defence to fall into a back-five shape. He made a couple of smart interceptions from those positions, too, and the Dutch didn’t really produce meaningful chances from his side.

So, no, tactical versatility is probably not an enrapturing quality in a player, but Azarov — in this game at least — was emblematic of the discipline Georgia have shown throughout the group stage and partially explains why they remain unbeaten at the tournament.

Castello Lukeba

Centre-back (Lyon/France), 20

With France already qualified for the quarter-finals before Wednesday night’s group finale against Switzerland, there was an opportunity to look back at Lukeba’s first two performances — and it was a useful chance, because the weight of attacking talent had overshadowed him and his defensive colleagues in those opening two games.

He’s left-footed and has been playing to the left of RB Leipzig’s Mohamed Simakan in the middle of a back four. All things do have to be viewed through the prism of France’s superiority, particularly in their second game against Norway, but he does make the passing and carrying parts of his role look very easy.

True, the Norwegians didn’t really press him, and nor did Italy in the first game, but he seems so calm on the ball and so at ease in possession.

Lukeba celebrates (Photo: Eóin Noonan – Sportsfile/UEFA via Getty Images)

Without the ball, he looks terrific. He’s been very patient when trying to win possession. He hasn’t barged through the backs of forwards when contesting headers and hasn’t poked at the ball recklessly when competing for it on the ground.

Those abilities are going to receive further examination as the tournament starts knockout play on Saturday, but he’s certainly someone to keep an eye on.

Raoul Bellanova

Full-back/wing-back (Cagliari (on loan at Inter Milan)/Italy), 23

Italy have been hit and miss in their three games — unlucky against France, and then having two contrasting halves against the Swiss. Influence has come from the expected players — Sandro Tonali, Pietro Pellegri and Wilfried Gnonto — but Bellanova has had a good tournament from wing-back.

He’s been on loan at Inter Milan from Cagliari, and the Champions League finalists have an option to buy. Should they make the move permanent, then presumably wing-back would be his role within their 3-5-2, and he looks suited to it in an athletic sense. His acceleration is amazing, and so is his stamina. Yes, those are prerequisites for the position, but they still stand out. As does the way he holds his acceleration over long distances in that freakish, Gareth Bale-type way.

However, he isn’t the most elegant on the ball — much of what he does looks like hard work. But that isn’t to be confused with a lack of quality: see the perfect cross he provided for Gnonto against Switzerland or the teasing ball which induced the mistake for the second Italian goal later in the same game, for example.

Bellanova will probably need refinement, and his touch can be a little heavy, but he’s a powerful, dynamic player.

Ze Carlos

Full-back (Vitoria Guimaraes/Portugal), 21

Portugal were extremely fortunate to beat Belgium 2-1 in Wednesday’s group finale, relying on a ludicrous penalty decision to progress to the quarter-finals.

Ze Carlos had a good game at right-back, though. Particularly so because, unlike Bellanova, he’s not an explosive athlete and he actually seems to struggle for pace. He survived up against Belgium’s roaming forwards thanks to a combination of smart positioning and good anticipation which prevented them from becoming a real influence.

He looks like a possession player, snapping passes infield and up the pitch. Any time he received the ball near the touchline it triggered a Belgian press in his direction — and he dealt with that really well, either calmly stepping away from danger, drawing a foul or laying the ball off to maintain possession.

The aggressive Francisco Conceicao played ahead of him on the right and so he wasn’t that important to Portugal’s attacking game.

Ze Carlos has impressed defensively (Photo: Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)

Beyond the halfway line, he was just a reliable part of the build-up, rather than an outright influence.

Defensively, he was very much an asset though, and Portugal will need him to be so again when they face England on Sunday.

Goalkeeper (Manchester City/England), 20

England also qualified for the last eight with a game to spare, but then beat Germany 2-0 for good measure.

It might have been different, though, had Trafford not been as good as he was against the Czech Republic in the first match. He made his first save of this tournament after just three minutes, parrying well after a breakaway, and his second shortly before half-time, getting down quickly to his left to deny Vasil Kusej.

Two other moments against the Germans on Wednesday also really stood out, for different reasons.

The first was an outstanding save to deny Kevin Schade in first-half stoppage time. It was very similar to that Kusej stop, only it was on Trafford’s right side rather than his left, and it kept the score at 2-0. It was particularly impressive because he’s 197cm (almost 6ft 6in), and tall goalkeepers don’t usually get to the ground that quickly.

The second moment came much earlier in the night, when he intercepted a long ball 20 yards outside his penalty box, chested it down, and knocked a pass out to the right-wing despite pressure around him. It looked simple enough, but it was indicative of the desirable tendency in modern goalkeepers to perform the sweeper role and allow the defenders ahead of them to operate with a high line.

Trafford’s performances in the group phase were as good as any of the goalkeepers at this tournament. He spent last season on loan at Bolton and got a whole year’s worth of League One experience, so you would imagine he will be a regular again somewhere next season, too. He’ll be worth watching.

(Top photos, from left: Davitashvili, Bellanova, Trafford. Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k29rb3BjbXxzfJFsZmluX2eGcLHUq6apnZGjerZ%2BkGaaoZmdpbawutKhoKllo5i8tsDIp55mqpWlvLPAjGxm