Germany looking to bounce back

With many expecting the winners of Group D of the UEFA Under-17 Championship to be either Germany or Poland, it is Georgia who have emerged as the surprise package after the first round of matches.

Germany favourites
Germany, winners of the then UEFA U-16 Championship in Cyprus in 1992, could only draw 1-1 with rank outsiders Georgia at the Slagelse stadium on Sunday and will be looking to get their challenge back on track against Hungary today. Hungary lost 3-1 to Poland in their opening match and will be desperate to bounce back against a German side seemingly short on confidence.

Thomik the hero
Coach Jörg Daniel has assembled a technically gifted and combative German squad, but will have been disappointed with his side's display against Georgia. Only a goalkeeping error by Zviad Chaladze allowed Paul Thomik to score an equaliser and salvage a point for Germany in a match that the favourites failed to dominate. They must now beat Hungary in Slagelse to improve their chances of reaching the quarter-finals, the same stage at which they lost out on penalties to England last year.

Kódöböcz suspended
Hungary will be relishing the prospect of facing Germany, having seen Georgia prove that their opponents are far from invincible. A victory would give them every chance of a top-two finish and a place in the quarter-finals but they must improve defensively after conceding three against Poland on Sunday. Coach András Sarlós saw his side overcome the threat of Croatia, third-placed finishers last year, Azerbaijan and Albania in a tough qualifying section but they must rediscover that form if they are to keep their hopes of progressing alive. Csaba Kódöböcz misses the match through suspension after being sent off against Poland.

Tarnowski the key
In the day's other Group D fixture, leaders Poland will not be taking their match against Georgia in Roskilde lightly. Goals from Marcin Tarnowski, Tomasz Szczepan and Mariusz Solecki were good enough to beat Hungary, but today's opponents are likely to pose a different threat. Poland have the upper hand in terms of history in the tournament - they won the U-16 Championship in 1993 in Turkey - but Georgia have already proved that they are no pushovers in this year's tournament. The lively Tarnowski could be the key man for Poland, as coach Andrzej Zamilski looks to guide his team one stage further than last year when they fell at the first hurdle - finishing bottom of Group B.

Inspirational Iashvili
Georgia will once again be looking to Sandro Iashvili for inspiration, after the FC WIT Georgia Tbilisi playmaker's fine performance against Germany. Iashvili was a constant thorn in the Germans' side and scored their goal with a powerful header. Georgia had a perfect record in qualifying - beating Israel and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group 10 - and while they only scored three goals, against Poland's seven, coach Koba Jorjikashvili will be looking for his side to show again the defensive qualities that saw them keep two clean sheets then, and limited Germany to just one goal on Sunday.