Jacquet praises French youngsters
Friday, April 2, 2004
Article summary
Former France coach Aimé Jacquet was an interested party at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship draw.
Article body
French 'imagination'
Jacquet, now technical director of the French Football Federation, saw the French hosts drawn in Group A alongside Northern Ireland, Spain and Turkey. "The French team is not exceptional," he told uefa.com. "But they work well together, they are well balanced and play with lots of imagination."
Home magic
France were runners-up in the first staging of this competition two years ago, but failed to qualify for the final tournament last year. They will hope that home advantage, which helped inspire Portugal to lift the trophy last year, also works its magic this May.
Dinis satisfied
Holders Portugal were placed in Group B with England, Austria and Ukraine. "The two groups are fairly equal," their coach Carlos Dinis told uefa.com. "All the teams that have qualified are good teams. Portugal's top priority is to reach the semi-finals. After that you never know what will happen."
