France on course for double bid

A French side based around the core of their 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Championship-winning squad showed their determination to land the U19 crown two years on - a feat that has never previous been achieved in UEFA's two youth tournaments - as they secured maximum points in qualifying round Group 7 to go through ahead of Austria.

Twelve veterans
In all 12 of France's 18-man party from their U17 triumph played in this mini-tournament, also on home soil and again under coach Phillipe Bergeroo. However, in the first minute of their opener in Limoges they were given a shock when Curtis McDonald gave Wales the lead. Sandy Paillot, one of the six additions to the 2004 U17 squad, equalised on 23 minutes and Hatem Ben Arfa and Paillot struck in the first eight minutes of the second half to set up a 3-1 win for the nation defending the U19 title.

Austrian cruise
By then Austria had already overcome San Marino 8-0, a scoreline that was to prove invaluable later on. Patrick Burger and Besian Idrizaj scored at either end of the first half, and Veli Kavlak added another in the 48th minute. Tomas Simkovic and substitute Sandro Zakany both scored twice in the second half, Simkovic's first a penalty, and goalkeeper Bartolomej Kuru also stepped up to convert a spot-kick.

France through
Austria, who had seven players in their squad from the team that reached the 2004 U17 finals, were then held 0-0 by Wales, allowing France to book their Elite round berth by defeating San Marino 3-0. Issiar Dia claimed the first in the 19th minute and Abdelkarim El Mourabet struck just before the break. Samir Nasri, scorer of the dramatic winner in the 2004 U17 Championship final against Spain, came off the bench to make it three in the 80th minute.

Welsh hope
Wales now needed to defeat San Marino, and hope France overcame Austria by enough to overturn the goal difference deficit in the race for second place. The Welsh beat San Marino 5-1, Robert Davies and McDonald scoring in the first half. Davies and substitute Mark Bradley both struck just past the hour before Adam Davies made it five in the 86th minute. San Marino pulled one back deep into added time through substitute Marco Rosti, but by then Wales's hopes were over.

Second place decided
In the other game occuring simultaneously, France had won, but the 2-0 scoreline meant Wales would have had to win by an eight-goal margin. Nasri scored on 43 minutes and Karim Benzema wrapped up a fine mini-tournament for the French in the 64th minute. France and Austria now enter the Elite round draw in Cyprus on 30 November, but Wales's record will not be enough to take them through as the best third-placed team.