Iberians lead European challenge

By Luke Williams

The FIFA World Under-17 Championship begins on Wednesday with hosts Finland, Portugal and Spain representing Europe.

Tenth edition
The tenth edition of the tournament runs for 18 days with a total of 32 matches taking place in four venues. Although the competition is not traditionally a happy hunting ground for European teams (just two UEFA-affiliated countries have lifted the trophy, most recently France in 2001), there are reasons for optimism this time around.

Strong teams
The Portuguese and the Spanish have the advantage of having honed their form at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in May. On that occasion host nation Portugal beat favourites Spain 2-1 in a pulsating final in Viseu. The Portuguese have formidable fighting spirit - their semi-final victory against England came courtesy of a last-gasp equaliser and penalty shoot-out - and a solid backbone. Goalkeeper Mário Felgueiras and defender Tiago Costa were outstanding for António Violante's side, while Paulo Machado held together the midfield with steely determination.

Extravagant talents
Violante also has some extravagant natural talents at his disposal. Adelino Freitas is a right winger of exquisite skill, whose build and style recall Brazilian FIFA World Cup winner Juninho. Meanwhile Márcio Sousa, double goalscorer in the European final, has a wondrous left foot.

'Give our best'
If Portugal do triumph they will have done it the hard way, having been handed a tough draw in Group C alongside Brazil, Cameroon and Yemen. With only the top two sides progressing to the quarter-finals, Violante's side can ill afford to slip up in their opening game against Yemen on Thursday in Tampere. "In the last FIFA World Cup, France and Argentina were favourites and didn't qualify for the second phase," Violante said. "So we can only promise to give our best."

Mouthwatering rematch
If Portugal do reach the last eight a mouthwatering rematch with Spain could lie in wait. The Spanish have an easier draw, with the United States expected to be their main challengers for Group D supremacy, while Sierra Leone and the Korean Republic hope to cause an upset.

Intense pressure
The Spanish will hope to wrap up qualification before their final group game against the Americans, but question marks remain against their ability in pressure situations. "The aim is to reach the latter stages," said coach Juan Santisteban. "But look what happened in Portugal - we played very well but when it got to the final and we had to win, we couldn't."

Necessary tools
Spain have all the necessary tools - Santisteban's pedigree is second to none and they have a rich abundance of attacking players, including European Championship top scorer David, Xisco, Jurado and Cases. With such talent at their disposal, expect plenty of squad rotation - which could work in their favour during what will be a long and tiring tournament.

Hard to predict
As for Finland, it is hard to predict how they will fare. Home advantage, and a familiarity with the artificial Helsinki surface on which they will play their Group A games against Mexico, China and Colombia, will help but their form is erratic. They failed to qualify for the European Championship after finishing bottom of their second qualifying round group, while in friendlies good results (draws with Italy, Japan and European semi-finalists Austria) have been mixed with less impressive ones (including two heavy defeats by Chile).

Petrescu one to watch
"We have played against tough opponents on purpose," said coach Jyrki Heliskoski. "Physically we are still behind the top countries. We need to pass the ball faster and be able to read the play better." A quarter-final place would satisfy the home fans, and is within reach if young striker Tomi Petrescu has his scoring boots on.