Holders Spain seek to hold off challenges

The UEFA European Under-17 Championship Elite round is launched on Thursday and appropriately Spain will be the first team in action as they stage Group 2 in Benidorm, running until Tuesday.

Challenge
Spain are aiming for an unprecedented third straight U17 title but former U19 coach Ginés Meléndez, who took the junior helm from the venerable Juan Santisteban in the summer, believes all three section opponents could block their path to the Germany finals. Their first foes Belgium are a nation that nearly pipped them in the 2007 semi-finals while the Czech Republic won a tournament in Spain a month ago and Kazakhstan could be tough to beat.

SPAIN
Meléndez put his players through their paces in what proved to be three testing workouts prior to Elite round qualification. Spain enjoyed a last gasp 2-1 victory over the United States thanks to Sergi Gómez's injury-time strike in Madrid and then went into a double header against Romania and won the first of the two encounters by 2-0, Rubén Sobrino and Alex the goalscorers. A scoreless draw followed two days later after which Meléndez explained the task ahead for his young charges, who hope not to become only the second Spain U17 team to miss out at this stage after the 2004/05 squad. "It will be the most difficult qualification phase in the past few years," Meléndez said. "The Czech Republic are incredible, Belgium have a very good team and Kazakhstan have reached this phase for a reason. Our objective is to qualify."

Qualifying round: Estonia 6-0, Armenia 2-0, England 1-1 (Group 13 winners)

Key players: Kilian Falcón (goalkeeper, Villarreal CF), Jorge Resurrección 'Koke' (midfielder, Club Atlético de Madrid), Borja González (forward, Club Atlético de Madrid)

CZECH REPUBLIC
Meléndez's praise for the Czech Republic is well founded judging by their performances at the La Manga tournament in February, when they took first prize by beating the Netherlands 4-0 and Norway 6-1, and drawing 0-0 with Turkey. They also seem to have found a successor to the striker that helped them to the 2006 final, Tomáš Necid, in the shape of Václav Kadlec. His tally of 14 goals in 24 appearances is three higher than Necid at this level. Coach Josef Pešice said: "This side is exceptionally strong in attack, more than the previous squads. However Spain are favoutites, particularly on home territory."

Qualifying round: Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1, Georgia 3-2, Hungary 0-0 (Group 3 winners)

Key players: Marek Kysela (defender, FC Internazionale Milano), Milan Jirásek (midfielder FC Internazionale Milano), Václav Kadlec (forward, AC Sparta Praha)

BELGIUM
Belgium have been working hard for their task in Spain. In January, Eric Abrams took his side to the Minsk International Tournament, and after losing 3-0 to Ukraine and beating Belarus 1-0 and Lithuania 3-0 were beaten by Finland 4-2 on penalties in the fifth-place match following a goalless draw. Then on 25 February they drew 1-1 with fellow Elite round contenders Luxembourg. Abrams, without winger Maxime Lestienne due to a hamstring injury, admits life will be tough in Spain. "It is not really a gift to have to play in the lion's den," Abrams told uefa.com. "Spain has proved for years to have an excellent youth development programme, and we can only have respect for that. But obviously our goal is to go as far as possible in the tournament, if possible to the final. And results from the past give hope, like in 2007 on home soil, when Belgium were only denied a final place by a Bojan [Krkić] strike."

Qualifying round: Austria 0-2, Liechtenstein 5-2, Northern Ireland 2-0 (Group 1 runners-up)

Key players: Gaetan Lambreghts (attacking midfielder, KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen), Igor Vetokele (striker, KAA Gent), Florent Cuvelier (midfielder, Portsmouth FC)

KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhstan came through as one of the two best third-placed teams in the qualifying round, but still maintain hopes of reaching their first UEFA youth finals, taking a full-strength squad to Spain. Coach Aleksandr Arefiev said: "We will play against very strong teams in the Czech Republic, Belgium and Spain. But I am not afraid of these opponents as we perform better when we are underdogs. As far as our team goes, I must say that I like the way we play in defence but we need to be more efficient in attack."
 
Qualifying round: Portugal 0-2, Wales 2-0, Faroe Islands 1-2 (Group 4 third place)
 
Key players: Didar Zhamenkeyev (goalkeeper, Lokomotiv Astana), Evgeni Levin (midfielder, FC Ordabasy Shymkent), Alibek Ayaganov (midfielder, FC Irtysh Pavlodar)