Trio take group to the brink

By Paul Saffer in Tirrenia

The calculators could be out before the end of the concluding UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group B fixtures, but a couple of things are clear before leaders Switzerland face Croatia and Israel take on the Netherlands.

Croatian target
Firstly, a draw for Croatia in Santa Croce sull'Arno would take them into the semi-finals - as group winners if the Netherlands prevail in Santa Maria a Monte or otherwise second behind the Swiss. Secondly, Israel cannot make the semi-finals, but a win for them would take them into third place, a creditable outcome.

Dutch need win
Should the Dutch not win, Switzerland and Croatia would prevail regardless. A Netherlands victory would take them through in second place, unless the other game ends in a draw - in which case the complications really start.

Complicated calculations
Kaiser's Dutch team would be OK if the score in the other game was 0-0 and 1-1, but a draw of 3-3 and higher would end the Netherlands' campaign, taking both Croatia and Switzerland through. A 2-2 result would leave the Dutch needing to better the 3-0 Swiss win against Israel, and if the final scores are 2-2 and 3-0, the Netherlands and Switzerland would have to be split on fair play ranking.

Débonnaire relaxed
Still, Swiss coach Yves Débonnaire is not worrying about the mathematics of qualification. He told uefa.com: "It is different for this age group, you don't make the calculations like with the seniors where you do the mathematics before the game. We should not think about the points, we just have to play. Either it works or it doesn't."

Playing to progress
"The aim here is to get better as individuals and a team, to obviously win and all the mathematics we leave to everybody else. It is just not the way we think at the Swiss Football Association, we think of the progress of the players and the team, and if the result comes, even better."

New opponents
As for the Dutch, who made a dramatic comeback to hold Croatia 2-2 but were frustrated in a goalless game with Switzerland, coach Ruud Kaiser admits Israel will be new opponents for him. "I know nothing about them, but we have someone who went to see them playing their two matches," he said.

Bahar determined
Israel may be without a point, but against Croatia on Thursday they led twice and only three late goals gave the scoreline a lopsided look at 4-2. Coach Avraham Bahar is determined to leave the tournament on a high.

'Strongest team'
"We must still play for our honour," he said. "So we are going to play our strongest team, because we want points out of this championship. We will do everything possible against the Netherlands to get at least one point." Bahar will be without Baram Kayam, who scored first against Croatia but also received his second booking of the finals and is suspended on Sunday.