Under-19 team guide: England

THE COACH:
Baxter's playing career began at Preston North End FC in 1968 but ended in Sweden, where he played for Helsingborgs IF, Landskrona BoIS and Örebro SK. It was with Orebro that he started out on the coaching ladder in 1985 and he has since had an itinerant coaching career which includes spells in Norway and Japan. After five years in the J-League, he came back to Europe in 1998 and took the job of AIK Solna coach. Swedish Cup successes followed in 1999 and 2001 and, after a year with SFK Lyn in Norway, he finally returned to England and replaced Martin Hunter as England Under-19 coach.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Blackburn Rovers FC's Ciaran Donnelly scored some vital goals from midfield in qualifying, while Middlesbrough FC defender Andrew Davies also caught the eye. Among those players who have already played senior football is striker Tommy Wright, who scored on his full debut for Leicester City FC in the spring and struck twice in the second qualifying round. Goalkeeper Luke Steele was in Manchester United FC's FA Youth Cup-winning side while the trio of Lee Croft, Wayne Routledge and Dorryl Proffitt are all a year ahead in their development, having been promoted from the Under-18 group.

ROUTE TO THE FINALS:
England cruised through the first qualifying round in November, beating F.Y.R. Macedonia 3-0, Moldova 9-0 and Romania 4-0 to top Group 3. The second qualifying round offered a more serious test which Baxter's side passed with flying colours. After beating hosts Republic of Ireland 1-0, they overcame Slovenia 3-0 and Switzerland 1-0.

Honours in UEFA youth competitions:
UEFA European Under-18 Championship
Winners 1975, 1980, 1993