Danish delight at maximum points

Denmark and Romania comfortably progressed to the second round of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship by claiming the top two positions in Group 5.

Perfect record
A 1-0 victory again Romania in the final match gave Hans Brun Larsen's Danish side first place in the section with a maximum nine points, while Romania finished second with six from their three games. Andorra and Cyprus finished with a point each and were both eliminated from the competition.

Opening victory
Denmark began their campaign in impressive fashion, easing past Cyprus 6-2 in Bucharest. The Scandinavian side were quick to lake the lead, Navid Dayyani opening the scoring in the fourth minute, before Lasse Qvist scored a hat-trick, including two goals in two first-half minutes, to put Larsen's team in total command. Although Alexandros Dimitriou and a Andreas Avraam penalty reduced the arrears, further goals from Vestergaard Ulrik and Michael Vester gave Denmark an emphatic victory.

Winning start
Hosts Romania also got off to a winning start, an Alexandre Martinez Gutierrez own goal and a Cristian Cigan strike earning a 2-0 success against Andorra in Bucharest.

Three more for Qvist
Denmark, and Qvist in particular, also found goals easy to come by in their second game, with Qvist scoring another three goals and Magnus Troest the other in a 4-0 success against Andorra in Bucharest, a result that confirmed Denmark's place in the second round.

Qualification assured
Gheorghe Cristoloueamu's Romania side also guaranteed their progress with a 4-0 victory, goals from Marius Roman, an Apostol Muzac penalty and Alexandru Tudose giving the hosts a three-goal lead before Cyprus goalkeeper Andreas Tingis scored an own goal after Dimitriou had been sent off.

Decisive strike
The top two met to decide who would finish top of the section, with Ulrik's 47th-minute goal proving decisive. "We managed to win because of our physical strength, our discipline and of our ability to concentrate in the decisive moments," said Larsen after the game.

'Satisfied but disappointed'
Cristoloueamu, meanwhile, said: "I'm satisfied with the qualification, but I am disappointed because we didn't finish first. We shall play in the second phase, and it is important is to play only against strong teams, because players at this age can progress only by playing against strong opponents."

Goalless draw
The game between Andorra and Cyprus in Bucharest finished goalless.

Second-round qualifiers: 

N.B. Seeds in bold. The winners of each second-round group will join hosts France at next summer's final tournament.