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UEFA WOMENS UNDER 19: Pilard takes heart from home comforts

/noticias.info/ France coach Stéphane Pilard believes home advantage could tilt the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship in his side's favour as Les Bleuettes set their sights on a second continental crown. Victorious under Bruno Bini in 2002/03, France have come close to securing further triumphs in their three campaigns with Pilard, beaten finalists in 2004/05 and 2005/06 and taking eventual winners Germany to extra time in the last four 12 months ago.

'Source of motivation'
With this year's tournament taking place in the Loire Valley in the heart of France, Pilard is determined to end the run of near misses. "Hosting the tournament definitely gives us an advantage," the 39-year-old told uefa.com. "I'm convinced there will be a lot of spectators and that'll provide a great source of motivation for the girls. We've come very close in previous years, so perhaps this time the fans can give us the extra push we need." The one disadvantage of staging the tournament is the lack of a qualifying campaign, meaning fewer top-level matches in which to fine-tune preparations. "I would have preferred to have had some competitive games," the former USO Mondeville player admitted. "But we've organised several get-togethers through the spring. And in any case, the pros of being the host nation easily outweigh the cons."

Norway rematch
France's rustiness was evident during a mini-tournament in La Manga, Spain in March, as they lost their opening match 4-0 to Norway before defeating the Netherlands 2-0 and holding the United States to a goalless draw. They will have an opportunity to set the record straight when they take on Norway in Group A, having been pooled with the two-time losing finalists as well as Italy and former winners Spain. "When we played Norway in La Manga we hadn't really had any time to work together," Pilard reflected. "That won't be the case at the finals because we've been training hard since then. The context was a bit different in Spain and I don't think 4-0 is a fair reflection of the ability of the sides."

'Exceptional quality'
Before the Norwegian test, France face a repeat of their opening game of the 2006/07 finals as they entertain Spain in Blois on Monday, then face Italy three days later. Despite having avoided last year's finalists Germany and England, Pilard remained circumspect about the draw, saying: "It's difficult to know if you should be happy or not because the quality is exceptional throughout. We beat Spain [1-0] last year, but they've still got seven or eight players from that side so they'll be extremely tough. Norway have also kept a lot of their squad together and Italy are making their first finals appearance for a few years and will be particularly keen to make a good impression." Pilard also expressed mixed feelings at being kept apart from Germany in the group stage; the five-time winners have become France's bête noire over the last two campaigns, but Pilard said: "It's maybe better to get Germany in the group stage because two teams go through. Now there is a chance we could get them in semi-finals." notas_de_prensa_archivo