Only the strongest will survive

By Paul Saffer & Paolo Menicucci in Tirrenia

Before the UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals began, all four Group A coaches argued that their pool was the tougher. Only now, with each team level on three points with just one game left, is it clear how true those words are.

Results reversed
England and Italy both made tremendous starts, beating Belarus 4-0 and talented Turkey 1-0 respectively. But on Thursday, Belarus grabbed a single-goal victory versus the hosts, and then England, having come back to equalise from two down against Turkey, were defeated 3-2.

Hosts meet England
Goal difference is all that leaves England top of the group, and only requiring a draw from their much-anticipated meeting with third-placed Italy in Cascina to reach the semi-finals. Italy, however, must almost certainly win and coach Francesco Rocca is expecting a third tight contest.

‘Difficult game’
"I knew from the beginning that our group was extremely difficult," he said. "England defeated Belarus 4-0 in the first game and they are very strong, no doubt about that. I expect a very difficult game on Sunday."

‘Second chance’
Rocca's opposite number, John Peacock, stayed good to his promise of utilising squad rotation in this tournament, by making four changes for the Turkey game from the starting lineup against Belarus. Of the encounter with Italy, Peacock said: "It will be a tough match but we look forward to it. It will be our second chance to qualify to the semi-finals."

Turkish task
Assuming England and Italy do not play out a high-scoring draw, Turkey need only avoid defeat against Belarus in Castelfranco di Sotto to claim a semi-final berth. Coach Abdullah Avci is taking nothing for granted against the pre-competition outsiders.

Belarus studied
Avci said: "I was not surprised with the Belarus victory. Anything is possible and we know Belarus well. We watched them in Bulgaria in the Elite round and I thought they could be the surprise package here in Italy. We will have a meeting with our scouts and decide together the right tactics to face them. However we know it will be a difficult game."

Giving everything
Belarus coach Piotr Mikheyeu must oversee another impressive victory for his team to progress to next week's knockout fixtures, but is not worrying about their opponents. "We have no time for thinking about Turkey's strength," he said. "We came here from far away and want to go back home as late as possible. We want to give our best and play all our cards in order to reach the semi-finals."