English hopes on the line

England will be seeking to qualify for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship for the third consecutive year, but face a stiff test if they are to progress from Group 4.

Familiar foes
Dick Bate's team will play Denmark, Ukraine and mini-tournament hosts Slovenia, who they knocked out at the same stage of last year's tournament. England went on to the finals in Liechtenstein, but failed to progress beyond the group stage.

Perfect record
However, under Bate – who took over from Stuart Baxter – England reach this stage in fine form, having won all three Group 8 games in the first qualifying round. Liechtenstein were defeated 2-0 in the opening match in the section, before a 4-0 win against Andorra and a narrow 1-0 success against hosts Russia ensured England finished with maximum points.

Notable results
Six different players found the net and English morale is high after recent friendly successes. Goals from James Milner and Ian Henderson earned a 2-0 win against the Netherlands, before a 1-1 draw in Germany in the final warm-up for this mini-tournament.

Two wins
However, Slovenia are also in form, having finished top of Group 1 in the first qualifying round. Branko Zupan's side wrapped up first place in the section with a 2-0 win against Romania and a 3-1 victory against Northern Ireland in their first two matches. With qualification assured, Hungary ran out 4-0 victors in their final game in the section, but Slovenia had already done enough.

Injury worries
Borut Semler scored three times, but the FC Bayern München forward is struggling with injury, as are defenders Ziga Kljajic and Boris Kralj. "All the teams will come aiming to clinch first place and a place in the finals in Switzerland," Zupan said. "It will not be easy, but we will try to surprise our opponents. This generation has already proved that they can play as a team; I hope they will do the same this time."

Second places
Denmark and Ukraine both reached this stage having come second in their respective first-round qualifying groups. The Danes finished level on points with Germany to progress from Group 4, having secured comfortable victories against Malta and Luxembourg.

First-team experience
Coach Per Andersen has named an experienced squad, with AGF Århus striker Morten Nicolas Rasmussen – scorer of a hat-trick against Luxembourg - joining Brøndby IF trio Kasper Lorentzen, Johan Hindsgaul Absalonsen, and Niki Zimling among a number of players with top-flight experience.

'Strong opposition'
"It is an advantage that some of our players have already appeared for their clubs' first teams," Andersen said. "I feel we are ready. Over the last year, we have beaten Germany, the Czech Republic and Portugal, who are all strong teams. I am therefore optimistic, but we face three strong teams."

Aliyev on target
Pavel Yakovenko's Ukraine side bounced back from an opening-day defeat by Group 11 winners Armenia to win their next two games and clinch the runners-up position. Olexandr Aliyev scored four goals, including both in the decisive 2-1 win against France, and the FC Dynamo Kyiv forward could be joined up front by Artem Milevskyy, a naturalised Belarussian who has been given permission to play for Ukraine by FIFA and who appeared against FC Internazionale in this season's UEFA Champions League.

Friendly success
Dynamo provide the overwhelming majority of the players, most of whom feature for the club's reserve side in the first division. Ukraine won a prestigious friendly tournament in early April against hosts Portugal, Norway and the Republic of Ireland despite missing Dynamo defender Oleksandr Yatsenko and Dmytro Chigrinskyy of FC Shakhtar Donetsk.