Uefa Under 19 Championship
Spain U19 vs Belgium U19
Spain U19 vs Belgium U19
20-07-2011 from 18:00 until 20:00
Big and unwieldy, it sprawls over three stages and whittles a starting group of 52 teams down to a final seven, who then join the hosts in the Final Tournament stage.
This year’s hosts, Romania, are joined by teams from Ireland, Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia, Turkey, Belgium and Spain, all of whom booked their places on the plane to Bucharest by virtue of their performance during a highly competitive Elite Round.
Surprise, surprise: it’s the Spanish! Having won the tournament four times in the last decade and narrowly lost to France in last year’s final, Spain more than a touch of pedigree when it comes to dominating at this level. Their coach Gines Melendez may have taken the reins only recently, but as a former coach of the U17 team, he’s more than familiar with the array of talent under his command.Spain U19 vs Belgium U19.
Greece, who managed to oust the defending champions en route to taking maximum points during their Elite Round campaign look the most likely to threaten the Iberian hegemony, but the bookies would have you believe the Czech Republic are worthy second favourites. Well spotted. Ireland enter the competition as something of an unknown quantity. It’s generally accepted that football at this level has a high turnover of players (you know, what with their ageing and all), but coach Paul Doolin, of Drogheda United fame.Spain U19 vs Belgium U19.
We won the first two games in Bulgaria but then lost to Serbia, who looked stronger technically and physically. I’d had no involvement in picking that squad so I wanted to see what was available to me. I had a look round the clubs in England, where most of our players are. Then we went to Cyprus with a blend of some players from the qualifying round and some I’d introduced and we did well again. Our elite round was good but this is another step up. We’re really looking forward to it.Spain U19 vs Belgium U19.
They’re unbeaten in seven matches and their progression from the Elite Round did include an improbable thrashing of Italy, a berth in the semi-finals looks anything but secure.Some of the pundits think that we may have been dealt with an easier group at these finals, missing out on the big teams such as Spain and Turkey, but I can guarantee that every player in this squad is mindful of the threat that teams such as Czech Republic, Greece and the hosts, Romania possess. With just eight teams at these finals, every team is here on merit [except Romania] and we will not be taking anybody for granted. Spain U19 vs Belgium U19.
Match scheduled:
Spain U19 vs Belgium U19
Last updated: 20-07-2011 from 18:00 until 20:00
20-07-2011 on 18:04
Group Stage :: The UEFA European Under-19 Championship 2011 - Final Tournament :: Romania
No comments:
Post a Comment