Spain

Spain have been the dominant nation in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, adding to six triumphs in the previous U16 competition with victories in 2007 and 2008. They will be keen to improve on last year's showing when they exited in the group stage after a unique record of three 0-0 draws. Scoring 25 goals in six qualifiers suggests they will not do so again, though they were grateful to Northern Ireland for beating Belgium in the last set of elite round games, allowing Spain to qualify in a three-way tie breaker.

Qualifying round: Faroe Islands 6-0, Lithuania 9-1, Romania 4-1 (Group 2 winners)

Elite round: Northern Ireland 4-0, Belgium 0-1, Poland 2-0 (Group 4 winners)

Key players
Jonás Ramalho (defender, Athletic Club), Suso (midfielder, Liverpool FC), Jese Rodríguez (forward, Real Madrid CF), Paco Alcácer (forward, Valencia CF)

Coach: Ginés Meléndez

Date of Birth: 22 March 1950
Nationality: Spanish
Coaching career: Albacete Balompié, Spain Under-19/U20, Spain U17

Meléndez, a qualified teacher, is a revered coach in his native Albacete and has also made his name on the international stage as he continues to impress with Spain's youth teams. After dedicating his career to Albacete, he joined the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in 2002. His ability to coach youngsters was honed during 18 years in charge of the youth set-up at Albacete, before he stepped up to the first team to become Benito Floro's right-hand man. Meléndez also enjoyed three spells as head coach at the Carlos Belmonte Stadium and spent two seasons in charge of the Castilla-La-Mancha regional team. Soon after taking up his role at the RFEF, he was awarded a silver medal for services to the region.

In 2003, Mélendez was assistant to Juan Santisteban when Spain finished as runners-up in both the UEFA European U17 Championship and FIFA U-17 World Cup, before joining forces with Armando Ufarte to help steer the U20 side to the final of their own World Cup and then the 2004 European U19 championship. Mélendez then presided over the 2006 U19 success and assisted Santisteban to 2007 and 2008 U17 victories before taking over that squad and leading them to the 2009 and 2010 final tournaments. He and Santisteban also coached a Europe U18 selection to victory against Africa in the 2007 UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup.

Team records

Qualifying top scorer
Paco Alcácer: 8

UEFA European Under-17 Championship best
Winners: 2007, 2008
Runners-up: 2003, 2004

Honours in UEFA youth competitions
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Winners: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007
UEFA European Under-18 Championship
Winners: 1995
Runners-up: 1996
UEFA European Under-16 Championship
Winners: 1986, 1988, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2001
Runners-up: 1992, 1995
International Youth Tournament (U18)
Winners: 1952, 1954
Runners-up: 1957, 1964

Other honours:
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Winners: 1999
Runners-up: 1985, 2003
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Runners-up: 1991, 2003, 2007