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UEFA UNDER 19: Group A quartet aim high at U19 finals

/noticias.info/ Hopes and expectations are high among the four coaches in Group A as they prepare their charges for the first round of matches in the seventh UEFA European Under-19 Championship, which kicks off on Monday in the Czech Republic.

Prague conference
Holders Spain are joined by Germany and first-time qualifiers Bulgaria and Hungary in the section, which is played in Zizkov, Plzen and Pribram – and with Spain having won the last two editions of the competition (and four of the six U19 finals to date) and Germany reaching the semi-finals last season, they would seem the favourites to progress. None of the four coaches see it that way, however, and at the pre-finals press conference in Prague all were keen to emphasise how close they expect the six group games to be.

'Do our best'
Spain's Ginés Meléndez set the tone, playing down his side's unmatched record in youth tournaments by saying: "We expect high-level matches and we'll do our best, as always." The Spain coach also points to the senior team's win at UEFA EURO 2008™ as an inspiration, with many of those players having graduated from the youth set-up, including David Silva and Sergio Ramos, part of the victorious U19 squad four years ago. "That will motivate the players," said Meléndez. "We're happy to have won EURO and the fact there were so many former players from our youth teams will be a motivating factor. There's no extra pressure on us as holders – the Spanish Football Federation knows that these tournaments are to form players for the senior team in the future."

Hrubesch hopeful
The first opponents for Meléndez and company are Germany, in a repeat of the 2002 final. Spain won that and also triumphed in the sides' two subsequent competitive U19 meetings yet Horst Hrubesch is optimistic his squad can prevail in this competition for the first time since East Germany's U18 success in 1986. "In Germany, this side is known as a good team," the coach said. "All eight teams have the most difficult part behind them – they've survived qualifying and now we can concentrate on these finals. Everyone wants to win the trophy and we're no different. We're really looking forward to it."

'Great experience'
While Spain and Germany meet in Plzen, Bulgaria and Hungary open the section in Zizkov in the day's first game and both their coaches recognise the significance of what their teams have already achieved. "We've never reached these finals before and this is a big celebration in Bulgaria," said Mihail Madanski. "This will be great experience for the players and it will be of benefit to the whole of Bulgarian football. We're all here to learn and, of course, we'll do our best to win against three very strong opponents."

'Like the challenge'
Hungary were last involved in the U18 finals in 1997 and their coach Tibor Sisa is hopeful this qualification heralds the start of a bright new era. "After eleven years, it's a big result for us to qualify," he explained. "We lost our way but recently we've been developing and we hope to continue that here. We're not a bad team but all eight sides are good and we'll have to see what we can do. We know all of them very well – they're all well-organised and it will be difficult, but we like that challenge." notas_de_prensa_archivo