Holders' hopes on the line

Portugal face a stiff task as they seek to kick-start the defence of their UEFA European Under-17 Championship against England at the Stade Vallée du Cher in a repeat of last year's semi-final.

Scoreless draw
In their first Group B game on Tuesday night, Carlos Dinis's men were held to a scoreless draw by a solid Austria side who might have won the game had leading scorer Erwin Hoffer been able to convert one of three golden opportunities. Perhaps surprisingly, for all their flair Portugal struggled to create clear chances against well-drilled opponents, but Dinis is hoping his side will flourish under different conditions.

'Open game'
"The next game will be a different type of match," the Portugal coach told uefa.com. "The English have a different style of play, so I think that it will be a more open match. They like to play football and we try to do the same, so I think that we have different chances."

Shoot-out setback
England were 2-0 winners against Ukraine in Avoine in Tuesday's other Group B game, and will be eager to avenge their 3-2 penalty shoot-out defeat in Viseu last year. Dinis believes his side have a sizeable task ahead of them, saying simply: "Before the tournament, we expected a very difficult group, and so it is proving."

Peacock pride
His England counterpart, John Peacock, was quietly satisfied as second-half strikes from Shane Paul and Nathan Doyle earned his side victory against Ukraine, but remained reluctant to look too far ahead. "We've only done one third of the job so far and we will now refocus on what will again be a very difficult game on Thursday," he said.

Solid foundation
"We played Portugal earlier this year in the Algarve tournament and drew 0-0 in an open game. We know that it's going to be a very difficult group and, as the saying goes, we'll take one game at a time. We've got a good start and we want to try to secure a good result in the next game."

'Step by step'
In the other Group B game Austria meet Ukraine in St-Cyr-sur-Loire and coach Paul Gludovatz echoed Peacock's view after his side's fine display in Tours, saying: "We take it step by step. After all, it is only one third of the way into the tournament. It is a clear philosophy of the tournament, step by step."

Learning experience
Austria matched the Portuguese throughout and will be confident of imposing their combative and hard-working style on a Ukrainian side who struggled to cope with wet and windy conditions against England. Nevertheless, coach Viktor Kaschey believes the experience will have benefited his side, saying: "We came here to learn and this is a very good football school for us.

Play to win
"We are trying to use all the players we have at this event, to give them experience at international level. Obviously we are always trying to win. This defeat is not a tragedy for us, as the results of the second and the third match do not depend on this game, but obviously we always go out to win matches. Otherwise there's no point in being here."