Cesc boosts Spain hopes

Home advantage
Co-coaches Juan Santiesteban and Armando Ufarte will be confident of progressing from a section that also includes Hungary – who reached the final tournament last year – Russia and the Czech Republic, particularly as Spain also have home advantage for the mini-tournament.

Fabulous Fabregas
Spanish hopes will be built around Arsenal FC attacking midfield player Francesc Fabregas, who inspired his team to the FIFA World Under-17 Championship final last year, where there were narrowly defeated 1-0 by Brazil.

Key figure
Fabregas was an instrumental figure throughout the tournament, scoring five goals to earn the Golden Boot and Best Player awards, and such was his sensational form that Arsenal had prised him away from FC Barcelona within a month.

Finals countdown
Cesc has been freed by the English Premiership leaders for this mini-tournament, and will be hoping to inspire Spain – who received a bye to this second qualifying group stage – to first place in the section and a place in this summer's finals in France.

Solid defending
However, qualification will not be a straightforward process, with Russia having finished top of Group 10 in the previous round. Igor Chugainov's team remained unbeaten in a section that also included Iceland, Lithuania and Albania, and look strong in defence having kept three clean sheets. The main goalscoring threat is likely to come from midfield player Denis Bolshakov, who scored three times in the last round, Ilia Maximov and striker Evgueni Gavruk, who both found the net twice.

Binic blow
The Czech Republic also look dangerous, although coach Jakub Dovalil is without AC Sparta Praha defender Vladan Binic, who broke his arm last week. Binic, whose father Dragisa is a former Yugoslavian international and member of the FK Crvena Zvezda side that won the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1991, qualifies for the Czech Republic through his mother, and his absence will be felt. "It is a big loss for us as he is the best defender in Czech youth league," said Dovalil.

League experience
Two other Czech players also have top-flight experience - SK Slavia Praha defender Michal Svec and FK Teplice striker Martin Fenin. Fenin scored three times in the first round as the Czechs finished second behind Belgium in Group 6, with Kamel Vacek and Jakub Mareš scoring twice each.

Spanish favourites
Dovalil considers the first game against Spain to be key, saying: "They are the favourites, not only because they are playing on home soil. They have won this event twice and finished second once in the last five years." The Czech Republic were runners-up in 2000.

Best third-placed side
The section is completed by Hungary, who reached last summer's tournament in Portugal only to lose all three games without scoring a goal. László Szokolai's side finished third in Group 3 in the first qualifying round behind Scotland and Norway, and progressed as the best third-placed side. Striker Adam Hrepka scored twice in a 4-0 win against San Marino, and will be looking to repeat his success in Spain.

2003/04 UEFA European Under-17 Championship second round mini-tournament groups and dates: