Contenders gather in Pisa

By Paul Saffer

The eight contenders for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship are on tenterhooks as they await the draw for the finals in Pisa on Saturday morning, which can be followed live on uefa.com.

Elite octet
Hosts Italy will be joined by Elite round group winners Belarus, Croatia, England, Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Turkey in the pot at the Opera Primaziale Pisana from 11.00CET, postponed from Friday afternoon due to the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The coach of Italy's senior national team, Marcello Lippi, will be present along with UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee chairman Jim Boyce and the president of the organising committee, Innocenzo Mazzini.

Tournament schedule
Two pools of four teams will be drawn, with the group stage fixtures played in the Tuscany region on 3, 5 and 8 May. The top two from each group will compete in the semi-finals on 11 May, with the victors competing for the trophy in Pontedera three days later. Those teams will also advance to the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Peru from 16 September-2 October along with the winner of the third-place play-off, which precedes the final.

Absent friends
Switzerland are the sole former European U17 champions in the draw, having won the inaugural competition at that age group in 2001/02, while only England have qualified for all four final tournaments. Holders France, 2002/03 victors Portugal and the runners-up in both those seasons, Spain, all departed in the Elite round.