Under-19 team guide: Austria

THE COACH:
Despite facing three previous winners of the competition in Group B - Czech Republic, England and France - coach Paul Gludovatz was optimistic about Austria's prospects when he said recently: "We are surely in the tougher group, but our goal must be the semi-finals." The 57-year-old has been in charge of the U19s since 2001 and has worked for the Austrian Football Federation for many years, playing a key role in the education of coaches.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
SK Rapid Wien forward Roman Kienast and SK Sturm Graz midfield players Klaus Salmutter and Jürgen Säumel have all gained significant experience in the Austrian Bundesliga. In this respect the coach is benefiting from a recent trend in Austria for clubs to blood homegrown youngsters rather than field more expensive foreign imports.

Foreign-based trio
Midfield player Salmin Cehajic from SC Interwetten.com has also impressed while Gludovatz can also call on the foreign-based trio of defender Markus Berger (Eintracht Frankfurt), midfield player Thomas Prager (SC Heerenveen) and striker Lukas Mössner (SC Freiburg). Prager missed most of the side's preparations because of injury but should be fit.

ROUTE TO THE FINALS:
Having gained a bye from the first qualifying round, Austria booked their ticket to the finals when they beat favourites Serbia and Montenegro 2-0 to finish top of Group 5 in the second qualifying round. Austria, with the benefit of home advantage, had already beaten F.Y.R. Macedonia (3-1) and Cyprus (4-0) before the decider against Serbia and Montenegro, which was decided by goals against the run of play from Säumel and Ernst Öbster. The Austrians have also beaten Germany, Belgium and Slovakia this year.

Honours in UEFA youth competitions: None