Eye-catching openers for hopefuls

UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group A is made up of four strong nations and the opening games, which match France and Spain at 16.00 CET and Germany with Ukraine two hours later, are certainly eye-catching occasions.

Real test
France and Spain meet in the opening televised fixture in Verviers, an encounter of the 2004 winners and the six-time U16 champions. Both nations have high hopes in this tournament, at the very least of being among the five sides to reach the FIFA U-17 World Cup, but know this game will be a real test. "Our goal is clear - to qualify for the World Cup - and then you have to finish in the top two in the group, or at least third," France coach François Blaquart said. "We look at it match per match, but the first match is the match, against the strong Spanish who have a very good team."

Strong opponents
Spain's experienced coach Juan Santisteban, whose team finished third last season, is an old hand at these events and takes no opponents lightly. "It was very hard to get here," he said. "We really had to fight to qualify. With France we will meet another big nation, just like we will with Germany. Ukraine might have a lesser name, but they have become a very strong nation, seeing how they qualified and overcame a team like Italy."

German support
It will be no less competitive in Eupen, where Germany coach coach Paul Schomann, whose side's unbeaten run ended with a friendly defeat by Belgium at the weekend, expects a big turnout to support his team. "We are so close to the German border we will get a lot of support from our nation's fans, so it will be a bit like playing at home," said Schomann. "Ukraine deserve our respect with their excellent qualification. Now we are here, it will come down to form on the day and luck might also play a role. Like our opponents we will do everything possible, and hopefully we might end this match with a victory as a good start in the tournament is our wish. Although some players have some minor injury concerns, I think they all will be fit in time."

Ukraine suspensions
Ukraine's assistant coach Yuri Moroz admits they are concerned by suspensions to two key men for their opener, striker Dmytro Korishko and defender Kyryl Petrov. "Obviously it makes it more difficult," Moroz said. "But we do not build a team around one or two players, we have 16 players left to cope with that. Again we are faced with very strong opponents which is an excellent test for us to see how far the players have developed and made progress looking to the future. Germany will be the first test, they are a very complete team, in physical and technical qualities. I can only predict the outcome of this match on Wednesday at 8pm!"