Belgium conscious of semi chance

Only once in the previous five UEFA European Under-17 Championship final tournaments have the hosts not made it past the group stage, and 2007 home nation Belgium aim to avoid making it two out of six.

Hard work
A win later today against Iceland in Tournai would ensure Belgium second place in Group A - unless England and the Netherlands play out a high scoring draw in Tubize. Belgium captain Dmitri Daeseleire is determined not to let this chance slip. "We have worked very hard for three years," he told uefa.com. "And when you can make the semi-finals it is very good. It would be very good for the team and for Belgium."

Chance there
Belgium have never played in the semi-finals of either of UEFA's youth tournaments, and coach Bob Browaeys is happy just to have the opportunity of putting that right. "They have a big chance," he said. "But we will try to play our own game - I am not putting pressure on our players. We are very happy to play these type of games and that we are still in the running for the semi-finals - that is the most important thing."

Similar results
Both Belgian matches so far have had many similarities. In the opener with the Netherlands, Belgium were fortunate to be 1-0 up at the break but after conceding an equaliser improved in the second period and at 2-1 to the good were unfortunate not to make the game safe before being pegged back late on for a draw. Two days later against England, Belgium were again second best in the first half and could have been more than one down but a reshuffle at the interval transformed their fortunes and having quickly equalised were the better team towards the end but were unable to win it.

Disappointment tempered
Daeseleire said: "It is a little bit disappointing as we had a lot of second-half chances, but 1-1 is a very good result." Browaeys agreed: "At the end of the game we had the chance to win, but it was the correct result. I am very happy as we have two draws against two big nations. We have a third game against Iceland now and we have a chance of reaching the semi-finals."