By Charlie Henderson

At the time I don't think I really acknowledged how big an achievement it was Mark Hateley

On Friday the England Under-21 side will discover who they will face in the last eight of the 2007 European Championship in Netherlands.

Much will be expected of England's young stars - with high hopes of repeating the success of the Under-21 side of 1984.

Mark Hateley led the line that year when they lifted the trophy after beating Spain over two legs, scoring one of the goals in a 3-0 aggregate win.

And he believes today's team of Theo Walcott and co have an excellent chance of emulating the success he enjoyed when they travel to the Netherlands next summer.

"There are some great, great youngsters in the Premiership and the Championship and if you can play in that and transform that on to the European stage we have as good a chance as anyone," Hateley told BBC Sport.

"The talent's there and the level they play at stands them in good stead."

Their Spanish opponents of 1984 featured legends in the making such as Andoni Zubizarreta and Emilio Butragueno, but it was England who successfully defended the title they had also won two years earlier.

ENGLAND v SPAIN 1st leg (Seville, 17.5.84) Spain 0-1 England Goal: Sterland 2nd leg (Sheffield, 24.5.84) England 2-0 Spain Goals: Hateley & Gayle

And it was Hateley who stole the show at Bramall Lane with a "sweet strike", having proved his fitness after going off early in the first leg with a rib injury.

"The Watford player Nigel Callaghan swung in a ball from the right and I caught it first time on a volley and it screamed into the top corner," he reflects.

"After the game, the press interviews and what have you, I was straight back down the road.

"At the time I don't think I really acknowledged how big an achievement it was.

"You're plugging away and concentrating on getting in the first team at your club and hoping you can get into the under-21s and playing regularly, which means you get a bigger chance of retaining your place in the first team at your club.

"And you want to catch people's eye - playing at that level can be a springboard for your whole career.

"I'd imagine that's how a lot of young players still look at it.

LOOK BACK IN TIME - MAY 1984 Britain was in the grip of the miners' strike with clashes at Orgreave near Sheffield Thames Barrier opened British No 1: Johnny Logan's "What's Another Year" Liverpool won the league title and the League Cup, Everton the FA Cup and Chelsea led the way in Division Two Births: Nigel Reo-Coker Deaths: Eric Morecambe and John Betjeman

"I was just focusing on getting as high as I could up that ladder - every young England player has that dream."

The following month Hateley was living that dream, winning a place in England's senior squad.

He scored the "other goal" at the Maracana in his first senior start, when John Barnes made his name with a wonderful solo strike in beating Brazil.

That performance sealed a move to AC Milan and, to use the 45-year-old's own summary, "the rest is history".

But what happened to the other men on show in Sheffield against Spain?