Record-breaking crowd ready to witness U17 final

On Tuesday Germany beat the Netherlands 2-0 but the result satisfied both teams as they each qualified from the UEFA European Under-17 Championship group stage. There can be only one winner when the nations are matched again in Monday's final at 11.00CET at a sold-out Stadion Magdeburg.

Precedents
Hosts Germany hope to match the feat of France, who were the most recent hosts to triumph in 2004 and also the last U17 champions with a perfect five victories, culminating in a final watched by the current competition record crowd of 13,000 in Chateauroux, a mark that will be broken by around 10,000 on Monday. But the Netherlands had much of the play when losing to Germany in Jena, and home coach Marco Pezzaiuoli is expecting another tough game.

Dutch ability
"They are a typical Dutch team," Pezzaiuoli said. "They play 4-3-3 with very technical football. They try to keep possession, the same as Spain. They have a good striker and we need to work hard in defence and take our chances up front. The Netherlands are highly motivated after losing the group game. But one thing is important, we need to be proud of the first game, we won 2-0 and we have enough strength left to win the final."

Confidence
Netherlands coach Albert Stuivenberg, who like Pezzaiuoli expects to have a full squad available, takes comfort from his side's showing against Germany. "It was a group game and we know they were without four players, but still the match gave us confidence," he said. "We know we can create chances against Germany but they are a very strong side, very fit. It is a different game with a full stadium and the tension of the final though I'm confident the players can handle that."

Nerves
Most inside the stadium will be behind Germany, and Pezzaiuoli is hoping his side have become accustomed to the expectations of the large home support. "In the first game against Turkey they were a bit nervous early on, the same against England, the crowd was 8,500," he said. "On Monday morning there will be 23,000 people in the stadium, a new situation for the players but I hope they can keep their minds on football."

Development
Germany proved their stamina in scoring two late goals to beat Italy 2-0 in the semi-finals, while earlier on Friday the Netherlands clung on in a 2-1 defeat of Switzerland, not for the first time in this fortnight showing a steely edge. "There has been a development in the team," Stuivenberg said. "When you have success something grows. At the beginning I did not know this team had these qualities."

Löw congratulations
If the Netherlands succeed, they would be the first Dutch side to win a European youth title having been runners-up in this competition four years ago, while Germany – in their first U17 final – have been congratulated by a man who worked with Pezzaiuoli a decade ago at Karlsruher SC, Joachim Löw. "He sent a message, he congratulated us on playing well, and said we presented Germany very well and he's very happy," Pezzaiuoli revealed.