Group 9 takes the breath away

Austria and Serbia and Montenegro squeezed into the second round of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship by the narrowest of margins after a teak-tough Group 9 mini-tournament - leaving hosts Sweden to sweat on whether they will finish as the best third-placed side from the 12 first-round groups.

France eliminated
One thing is certain though - and that is that the four-time winners of this trophy France are now definitely out of the running for a place in the second round. Before the conclusion of Group 9 the French were the leading third-placed side from round one, however they have now ceded that status to the Swedes - who in turn are far from guaranteed a place in the next round with a further five mini-tournaments still to be completed.

In doubt until the end
Group 9 began in thrilling fashion and the identity of the qualifiers from the group were in doubt until the final minute of the final set of games. Serbia and Montenegro got their campaign under way with a narrow 1-0 win against Kazakhstan - Miroslav Lecic scoring the only goal of the game after just eight minutes.

Breathless match
Later the same day, Sweden delighted the 800-plus fans in Degerfors by coming from 2-0 down to snatch a 2-2 draw against Austria. Michael Wojtanowicz struck twice in the first 12 minutes to leave the Swedes reeling, but Petter Andersson reduced the arrears on 28 minutes and Sebastian Larsson levelled matters on the stroke of half-time. The goalless second half allowed the crowd, and players, to get their collective breath back.

Austria seize initiative
Austria seized the initiative in the second round of matches with a crushing 7-1 victory against Kazakhstan. Martin Dorner opened the scoring after 20 minutes but 14 minutes later the Kazakhs were level after a fine finish from Adylet Yeshenkulov. The Austrians made their opponents pay for their impertinence though. Wojtanowicz hit his second on 40 minutes to restore his side's lead and Markus Berger made it 3-1 just before the interval.

Hat-trick completed
In the second half things got even worse for UEFA's newest member association - Wojtanowicz completed his hat-trick and further goals from Dorner, Rene Gartler and Andreas Schicker made the final score 7-1.

Another Swedish comeback
Meanwhile, Sweden mounted another impressive comeback to draw their second game in a row 2-2. Johan Guiomar-Nilsson turned the ball into his own net to give Serbia and Montenegro the lead after just 15 minutes. Thirteen minutes into the second half Matin Mutuma draw the sides level but Simon Vukcevic restored the Serbo-Montenegrins' advantage within five minutes. However Larsson rescued a point for the Swedes with 15 minutes remaining.

Andersson hat-trick
Going into the final round of games, Austria and Serbia and Montenegro led the group with four points apiece while the Swedes were just behind on two - with a game against point-less Kazakhstan to come. Sweden duly won their final match 9-2, with Andersson hitting a hat-trick while Larsson scored for the third consecutive game and Mikael Dahlberg grabbed a double.

Photo finish
With the Serbo-Montenegrins leading Austria 3-1 going into the final 19 minutes of their encounter it looked as though the Swedes were through - but the prolific Wojtanowicz made it 3-2 with 12 minutes left and Gartler's 85th-minute equaliser sent the Austrians throiugh as group winners, while Serbia and Montenegro clinched second place and Sweden were third - with the top three only being separated on head-to-head goals scored.

Second round qualifiers:

N.B. Seeds in bold. The winners of each second-round group will join hosts Switzerland at next summer's final tournament.