All to play for in Group D

Poland face Germany in their final UEFA European Under-17 Championship match today knowing that the winners will be through to the last eight, while the losers could be eliminated if Georgia win the other Group D match.

Make or break
Poland and Germany currently top the group on four points, two clear of third-placed Georgia. Whichever team wins the encounter in Næstved will win the group and sail safely into the last eight, while the losers would be left sweating on the result between Georgia and already-eliminated Hungary. Should the match between the top two finish in a draw, Georgia could leapfrog both with a sizeable victory over a Hungarian side with little other than pride to play for.

Westerhoff key
Germany coach Jörg Daniel will be hopeful that strikers Sebastian Westerhoff and Mario Gomez can continue the goalscoring form that saw them strike five of Germany's six goals that eliminated Hungary. The impressive Westerhoff scored a hat-trick, while Gomez scored twice to cap a dominant display by the Germans. After a slow start to the tournament, Germany now seem rejuvenated and are producing the form that saw many tip them as title contenders before the competition.

'We must win'
Daniel believes his side have the measure of Poland but knows the significance of three points rather than one. "Poland are a team very much like Georgia," he said. "Against Poland, I feel we must win to be sure of qualification, but if we play against them like we played in the second half against Hungary, we will win. We'll just have to make sure we play like that through the whole match."

Late equaliser
Poland, who started the tournament in blistering fashion with a 3-1 win against ten-man Hungary, were then held 1-1 by a resilient Georgia in Roskilde. Only a 77th-minute equaliser from Marcin Kowalczyk earned Poland a share of the spoils, thus preserving their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals. Coach Andrzej Zamilski will be keen for his team to bounce back with a win but would surely rather not be in what could prove to be a precarious position come the end of the match.

Only a win for Georgia
In the day's other match, Georgia know that only a win will do if they are to keep their dream of a quarter-final berth alive. Even then, they may bow out if the other result doesn't go their way, as they realistically need either Germany or Portugal to win to close the two-point gap on their rivals. Having held their own against the two leading countries, coach Koba Jorikashvili will be confident that Georgia can fulfil their part of the bargain, against Hungary and will once again be looking to in-form forward Sandro Iashvili to inspire his team-mates. FC WIT Georgia Tibilisi striker Iashvili has scored both of Georgia's goals so far and proved to be a thorn in the side for both Germany and Poland.

Lessons to learn
Hungary coach András Sarlós is already resigned to departing Denmark after their final match, but will be looking to leave on a high note after 3-1 and 6-2 defeats against Poland and Germany respectively. Bottom of the table and with no points, Hungary can finish third in the group should they defeat Georgia, a statistic that would numb the pain of failing to reach the quarter-finals. "Yes, we are out, but the positive thing about is that we scored two goals against Germany," Sarlós said. "And for the future, we have learned that to be successful we will have to play an open, aggressive style of football. We must take fewer touches, and make more passes."