Holders face hard task

By Andy Hall

Spain begin their defence of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship on Tuesday evening in one of the toughest qualifying pools imaginable.

Holders' rivals
Having lifted the trophy for the second time in three years last summer, Spain now welcome four-time U18 champions France, perennial youth tournament contenders Portugal and a young Israel side for Elite round Group 3.

New coach
Only one team will advance to the finals in Northern Ireland from 18-29 July, and Spain are well aware that their only failure in the three U19 championships to date came in the 2003 Elite round against the French. Ginés Meléndez, 55, has succeeded Armando Ufarte at the Spanish helm, and the former Albacete Balompié coach brings more than 20 years' experience to the job.

Valencia duo
Valencia CF striker Sisinio González 'Sisi', part of the team that reached the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship final, is among the prospects in the squad. Another Valencia product, David Jiménez Silva, has been in fine form on loan at SD Eibar this term.

Previous encounter
Spain kick off their campaign against Israel on 12 April, before meetings with Portugal and France, whose coach Jean Gallice and seven of his squad are veterans of the 2003 U17 Elite round, when eventual runners-up to Portugal, Spain, pipped France to the finals with a 2-0 win.

Kaboul commitment
Gallice, whose side have lost only one of their eleven friendlies this season, gathered his team for a training camp on Tuesday, later joined by AJ Auxerre's Younes Kaboul, who is missing the second leg of his club's UEFA Cup quarter-final with PFC CSKA Moskva to represent his nation.

'On our guard'
Unlike seeds Spain, they were not excused the qualifying round, where they defeated Armenia, Azerbaijan and F.Y.R. Macedonia. Gallice said: "Spain at home will be a difficult proposition, and we also have to face Portugal and Israel. We feel confident but are on our guard."

Top-flight regulars
Kaboul is not the only top-flight regular in the 18-man selection. LOSC Lille Métropole's Yohan Cabaye and Stade Rennais FC's Yohan Gourcuff, son of former France coach Christian Gourcuff, have also tasted Ligue 1 action this season.

Portugal progress
Portugal, beaten finalists in 2003, start against France in Navalmoral. They also won their qualifying round group, defeating Kazakhstan and Bosnia-Herzegovina and drawing with Italy.

'Tight matches'
Coach António Violante knows it will be tough. "There will be very tight matches," he told uefa.com. "Our ambitions are the same as the other three teams in the mini-tournament and there are no favourites."

Porto sextet
Among the six FC Porto players involved is striker Ivanildo, who impressed so much on his recent SuperLiga debut that club coach José Couceiro gained special permission to field him against city rivals Boavista FC last Saturday.

'Young team'
Israel squeezed through the qualifying section ahead of Belarus, with whom they drew as well as beating Moldova and losing to the Netherlands. Coach Ze'ev Zeltzer said: "We have a very talented yet young team. We might be the most inexperienced side of the four, and in the toughest group of all, but it will not stop us from competing as equals."

Key players
The key players for Israel are prolific striker Eden Ben Basat, midfielder Mesaye Dego and captain Ami Gilbert, who has two years' senior experience in Hapoel Haifa FC's midfield. They have also called up Maor Bar Buzaglo after his vital role in helping the U17s to qualification.

Additional reporting by Christian Isnard, Diogo Teixeira & Ofer Ronen-Abels