Under-19 team guide: Liechtenstein

THE COACH:
As a footballer in his native Germany, Ralf Loose's playing career yielded 225 Bundesliga appearances between 1977 and 1994 and included nine years with BV Borussia Dortmund. It also gave him first-hand experience of playing international youth football: he won 18 Under-18 caps and was in the West Germany team that won the UEFA European Under-18 Championship and FIFA World Youth Championship in 1981.

Senior national team
After retiring from playing, Loose had a season as assistant coach at 1. FSV Mainz 05 in Germany before arriving in Liechtenstein in 1996 to coach the country's junior teams. Within two years he had also taken on the job of the senior national team coach. Under Loose, in 2000 the Liechtenstein Under-17 team playing in the Swiss junior league were crowned champions.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Liechtenstein are a young team and among the squad is the talented 16-year-old midfield player Martin Büchel. Most of the squad play together in the Liechtenstein U18 team, who, under Loose's guidance, compete in the Swiss junior league. Defender Reto Mündle, midfield players Matthias Biedermann, Christoph Frick and Marco Ritzberger and striker Michael Noser form the contingent from FC Vaduz, the principality's strongest team.

ROUTE TO THE FINALS:
Liechtenstein qualified automatically as hosts yet their preparations for the finals began in January. The players have been training together two or three times a week since then and the build-up culminated with 1-0 friendly defeat against Austria in Salzburg in the week prior to the finals. Loose said: "At this moment the team has not so much talent but I think we have very good team spirit and good organisation because we have had six months to prepare and the players are highly motivated."

Honours in UEFA youth competitions:
None