Surprise packages come face-to-face

Something has to give when Georgia and Switzerland, the two surprise packages of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, meet in their quarter-final match in Slagelse today.

Tough groups
Switzerland's 100 per cent record in a very tough Group B - where they faced Portugal, France and Ukraine - was a shock to many, while Georgia were ranked as outsiders to qualify from a Group D that included Germany, Poland and Hungary. Qualify they both did, and one of the two will now progress to a semi-finals meeting with England, 1-0 victors over Yugoslavia in yesterday's quarter-final.

Swiss favourites
The Swiss will be favourites for the match, due to their record in the group, but coach Markus Frei will not be taking the threat of Georgia lightly. Frei was understandably up-beat about his side's chances in the last eight and said: "Nobody would have expected us to have three wins from three matches at this stage. We have beaten three of the best sides in Europe so far and that proves that we can beat anybody".

Last four?
Georgia, who beat both Israel and Bosnia-Herzegovina to reach the finals, were also unbeaten during the group stage. Back-to-back draws with Germany and Poland were topped off by a superb 2-1 victory over Hungary in their final match. Coach Koba Jorjikashvili has built a resilient squad and will be hoping that they can go one step further and reach the last four of a major European competition.

Khojava missing
Having relied on striker Sandro Iashvili for all of their four goals in the tournament so far, Jorjikashvili will be looking for the rest of his attacking line to find their scoring touch. Georgia will be without captain Gocha Khojava, who is suspended after picking up his second booking of the group stage in the final match against Hungary. His absence will be a blow for Jorjikashvili, as Khojava's leadership is one of the key factors behind Georgia's success.