Stylish Spain in control

Spain underlined their status as favourites to capture the UEFA European Under-17 Championship title when they came from behind to complete an impressive 4-1 victory over the Czech Republic in Nykøbing.

Surprise lead
However, there was no indication of a Spanish win during the early stages, as the Czech Republic took an unexpected lead after only five minutes. A long throw-in from Roman Švrcek was flicked on for the on-rushing Michal Papadopoulos to head past a helpless Cecillio Perez Gonzalez in the Spanish goal.

Quick response
But Spain wasted no time in levelling the scores, when Francisco Molinero robbed Thomáš Burša of possession. The Club Atlético Madrid SAD player then fed Jonathan Soriano, who made no mistake from close range. Spain looked impressive in attack but were nearly exposed at the back on the half-hour mark, when Zdenék Látal produced a perfect through-ball for Petr Kobylík, whose shot went only centimetres wide off the far post.

Bad to worse
Spain continued to dominate after the interval when Roberto Soldano Rillo capitalised on a defensive blunder, dribbled past keeper Tomáš Cerny and rolled the ball into the empty net in the 42nd minute. Things then went from bad to worse for the Czech side, when a similar scenario allowed Jonathan to score his second goal of the match. Jaime Gavrilan Martinez completed the scoring eleven minutes from time, as he reacted first to drive in a rebound after Cerny had made two fine saves.