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UNDER 17 CHAMPIONSHIP: Israel welcome formidable opponents

/noticias.info/ Last season's UEFA European Under-17 Championship runners-up England and former winners Russia and France present formidable opposition for Elite round Group 3 hosts Israel, but home coach Motti Iwanir is still hopeful that his team can pip their opponents to the finals in Turkey.

'Extra edge'
Israel start their campaign on Tuesday against 2006 champions Russia while the victors two years before, France, will hope to avenge the defeat suffered in the semi-finals by last season's squad against England. Iwanir, whose team topped a tough qualifying round group against Serbia, Iceland and Lithuania in the autumn, believes home advantage could help them repeat that feat, not to mention the goalscoring of striker Muhamad Gadir, who has struck five times for the U17s this season, and midfielder Eyal Golassa. "We have a very settled side which has been together for the past two years and have been successful so far," he said. "It has a base of 12 players who have been together right from the start. Obviously, this is one of the toughest, if not the most difficult, group of them all with Russia, France, England and Israel, all possible winners. But we are hosting this mini-tournament which could give us that extra edge."

England strength
The hosts complete their fixtures on Sunday against England, a team coming into the Elite round unbeaten in ten matches and having not conceded a goal in seven. In the qualifying round they beat Malta and Estonia 6-0 before a goalless draw against Portugal, and the same result against that team clinched first place in February's Algarve Tournament as it followed a 3-0 win against Denmark and 2-0 defeat of France. Manager John Peacock, who is aiming to reach his fifth finals tournament in six years, has called up midfielder Jack Rodwell, who has already played in the UEFA Cup and Premier League for Everton FC and scored in a 1-0 U16 win against Spain at Wembley last April.

Lyon base
France's loss to England was one of three suffered in eleven matches this season, though another was a narrow 1-0 defeat in the qualifying round by the Netherlands, who last week booked a place in the finals. Coach Francis Smerecki, who won the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup with EA Guingamp, has picked five Olympique Lyonnais players including striker Clément Grenier, scorer of six U17 goals this season, and they will aim to emulate the 2004 feat of club-mates Hatem Ben Arfa and Karim Benzema. Smerecki said: "This season my players have realised how tough international games are compared to the league games they usually play. They know how important this competition will be for them. It's a tough challenge to top a group with four teams but we can do it."

Russian success
Russia were steady if unspectacular in the qualifying round, drawing 1-1 with Azerbaijan and Finland either side of a 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina, who were only just pipped to the finals last week by the Netherlands. Nikolai Savichev then led his team to victory in the Minsk Tournament in January, beating Italy, Moldova and Belarus U16s before a 2-0 final win against the hosts U17 side. notas_de_prensa_archivo