Old rivalries reprised in Under-17 draw
Friday, April 3, 2009
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Holders Spain and France will repeat their 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship final in this season's group stage after the draw was made in Leipzig, with Germany facing Turkey, England and the Netherlands.
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Hosts Germany open the UEFA European Under-17 Championship against Turkey while Spain and France will replay last season's final in the group stage after the draw was made at Leipzig City Hall on Friday.
Old rivalries
The hosts will be in Group B along with England and the Netherlands, who lost to Turkey in the 2005 final. Holders Spain are in Group A along with Italy and former winners France and Switzerland. Spain beat France 4-0 in the 2008 final in Turkey, having drawn 3-3 in the group stage, when both sides defeated Switzerland. France themselves won against Spain in the 2004 final but Les Mini-Bleus lost the 2002 decider to Switzerland.
Tickets going fast
The draw was conducted by UEFA General Secretary David Taylor and German Football Association sporting director Matthias Sammer. Two teams from each group will proceed to the semi-finals on 15 May in Grimma and Dessau-Rosslau, with the decider three days later at Stadion Magdeburg, for which a record 18,000 tickets have already been sold. The sides which finish third in each group will progress along with the semi-finalists to the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria between 24 October and 15 November. The final tournament schedule, which will include nine matches shown live on Eurosport, will be confirmed shortly.
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