Hungary, Iceland, Russia and Romania meet

A competitive UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round Group 7 is in prospect when Hungary welcome Russia, Iceland and Romania. UEFA.com previews the action.

Hungary
The team coached by Ferenc Bene – son of the 1966 FIFA World Cup quarter-finalist – did well on home soil in the qualifying round and return to Szombathely and Buk for these games. They warmed up with two 3-0 defeats of Belarus, prompting Bene to say: "If the team spirit is the same and accompanied by courage and good personal performances we will be strong in these games as well."

Key players: Ramón Halmai (midfielder, Szombathelyi Haladás), Attila Lőrinczi (midfielder, Budapest Honvéd FC), Soma Novothny (forward, Veszprém FC)

Qualifying round: Andorra 5-0, Faroe Islands 2-0, Slovakia 1-1 (Group 10 runners-up)

Russia
Since the qualifying round, coach Vadim Nikonov has been replaced by Vladimir Shcherbak, who had been working as a scout for the Russian Football Union (RFS). He took the team to the annual youth tournament in Minsk, Belarus, where they finished third and he has subsequently led training camps in Turkey and Austria. "We were working on different aspects of the game, trying to improve physical conditioning and set pieces," Shcherbak said.

Qualifying round: Finland 1-1, Moldova 5-1, Spain 1-2 (Group 13 runners-up)

Key players: Mikhail Zhabkin (midfielder, FC Dinamo Moskva), Serder Serderov (forward, PFC CSKA Moskva), Artem Fedchuk (forward, FC Spartak Moskva).

Iceland
Iceland were only fifth in the Nordic tournament last summer but then topped a strong qualifying round group ahead of Turkey and the Czech Republic, the second of whom reached the finals last week. They aim to emulate their predecessors who qualified for the U17 showpiece in 2007 – when they also ended the elite round against Russia, winning an extraordinary game 6-5. Coach Gunnar Gudmundsson told UEFA.com: "We know we are a small nation who must work hard to achieve success. We cannot expect any easy games but we also know we have a good team. Our key players were born in1995 so they can play for the U17s next year having benefited from this experience."

Qualifying round: Czech Republic 2-4, Turkey 2-0, Armenia 2-1 (Group 7 winners)

Key players: Hjörtur Hermansson (defender, Fylkir), Oliver Sigurjónsson (midfield, Breidablik), Arnar Adalgeirsson (forward, AGF Århus), Ragnar Bragi Sveinsson (forward, Fylkir).

Romania
Romania's U17 team have been the most successful of all their youth squads in the last year. Coached by former forward Adrian Vasai, they won tournaments in Hungary and Moldova during 2010 and scored 12 unanswered goals in their three qualifying round victories. Fabian Himcinschi equalled a competition match record by netting five against Liechtenstein. Since the new year they have played Moldova U18s, drawing 3-3 and winning 1-0, and emerged with credit from the Algarve Cup – having held England and Germany 1-1 before a 2-0 loss to hosts Portugal. "We travel to Hungary confident and committed," Vasai told UEFA.com. "We are hungry for success and the time has come for Romania to qualify after a decade without reaching the finals. We face three strong teams, but we are as strong as they are. We beat Hungary last year, in the final of a tournament they hosted, we know Russia very well, while Iceland, despite not being a force, won their group against Turkey and Czech Republic."

Qualifying round: Kazakhstan 1-0, Liechtenstein 9-0, Belarus 2-0 (Group 6 winners)

Key players: Claudiu Bumba (defender, FC Maramures Baia Mare), Darius Buia (midfielder, LPS Banatul Timisoara), Fabian Himcinschi (forward, Unirea Alba Iulia)

Reporters: Márton Dinnyés, Oleg Sokol, Stefán Stefánsson & Paul-Daniel Zaharia