Slovakia set up dream date

By Luke Williams

As the FIFA World Youth Championship enters the knockout stages, three of Europe's six participants are still standing.

Trio through
Spain, Republic of Ireland and Slovakia are all in the last 16, while eliminated trio England, Germany and the Czech Republic must console themselves with the thought that they will improve for their experiences in the United Arab Emirates.

Fairy tale continues
Slovakia's success in their first appearance in these finals continues a fairy-tale which began in 2002 in Norway, when they finished third at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

Second place for Slovakia
Peter Polák's side beat hosts the UAE 4-1 in the opening match of the tournament and despite losing against Burkina Faso recovered to beat Panama 1-0 in their final match to secure second place in Group A. Their qualification is even more impressive when you consider they have been without influential duo Marián Kurty and Filip Šebo since the opening game after they were laid low by flu.

'Thrilled to qualify'
"We are thrilled to qualify," said Polák. "We have some sick players, but now we have time to rest and recover." The reward for Slovakia's endeavours is a dream date with three-time champions Brazil. "They will be very tough opponents, but we have no fear," Polák insisted.

Unexpected delight
Ireland's success in reaching the last 16 is also an unexpected delight. Despite a superb youth pedigree, many observers thought the departure of youth supremo Brian Kerr to the country's senior coaching post last year might lead to a downturn in a results.

Remarkable success
However, Gerry Smith has continued the country's remarkable success rate by winning Group E, using 19 of their 20 players in the process. A 2-0 victory against Saudi Arabia preceded a superb fightback to draw 2-2 with Côte d'Ivoire. Another 2-0 win against Mexico then secured a showdown with Colombia.

'So proud'
"I am so proud of my players," said Smith after the Mexico game. "They battled throughout and kept on running and running. We wanted to win and finish in first place to avoid getting the calculator out."

Spain recover
Spain's progress is the least that was expected of their talented side. After a hard-fought 2-1 loss against tournament favourites Argentina their qualification was in doubt, but they recovered with 2-0 and 1-0 wins against Mali and Uzbekistan and will now face Paraguay in the second round.

'We believe'
Key player Andrés Iniesta, scorer of the winner against Uzbekistan, said: "The important thing is to keep getting through the rounds." Coach José Ufarte is also upbeat, saying: "We know any side we come up against now are not going to be easy, but we believe in ourselves."

Reed pride
As for the eliminated sides, England and Germany were the big disappointments. The former were without many top stars and departed without scoring a goal. "In spite of not scoring any goals, the players gave it their best out there," said England coach Les Reed. "We're more experienced now and we hope to make amends in the next edition."

'We were sleepwalking'
Germany coach Uli Stielike was more critical. "We continued to play poorly," he said after losing to Paraguay. "It looked like we were sleepwalking." The Czechs were a touch unfortunate. Despite being shorn of many players they drew with Brazil and Australia before it all went wrong against unfancied Canada. "It has been a long season and many players couldn’t perform to their ability. The responsibility is mine,” said coach Pavel Vrba, but his side had much to be positive about.

FIFA World Youth Championship knockout stages:
Second round (European countries in bold)

Quarter-finals:

Semi-finals: