Poland complete finals octet

Poland earned a place in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament as they ended second qualifying round Group 6 with a 100 per cent record.

Flawless Fabianski
Finland, who beat Scotland but lost on Thursday to Austria, went into today's decider knowing victory by any score other than 1-0 would take them through. But they reckoned without Poland's goalkeeper Lukas Fabianski, who yet again produced a flawless display in the 2-0 win.

Finland frustrated
A point from a place in Switzerland this July, Poland kept their opponents on tight rein in the first half. And as Finland began to be frustrated, Slawomir Peszko went close five minutes before half-time, his strong shot hitting the post.

Szczepan scores
Two minutes after the break Poland went ahead as Finnish goalkeeper Niki Mäenpää could only parry as Peszko shot after being released by Tomasz Szczepan, but Lukasz Piszczek was on hand to put in the rebound. Jarno Parikka almost levelled soon after in a one-on-one, but Fabianski denied him.

Victory sealed
Then just before the hour Poland all but sealed their finals berth as Szczepan broke into the area, and although Mäenpää got a touch to his cross, Piszczek again turned in the rebound. Three minutes from time Parikka seemed set to pull one back, but again Fabianski made a great save to keep his fifth clean sheet in six tournament appearances this season.

Coach 'delighted'
As Poland celebrated qualification, coach Andrzej Zamilski said: "I am delighted that we are through to the finals after winning our six qualifying matches in both phases. We feared this game because we think that Finland are a technically gifted side. We anticipated a tight first half but knew that if we stayed level at half-time we would win. Finland had a few good chances but ran out of steam. Above all we are delighted to have an outstanding goalkeeper."

'Best team are through'
Finland coach Timo Liekoski said: "We are disappointed not to have won but, in the end the best team are through. They have qualified on merit as their defence conceded only two goals from set-pieces. They exploited mistakes throughout the tournament and even today they scored twice from rebounds."

Eight contenders
In the finals from July 13-24, Poland join hosts Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, Turkey, Belgium and holders Italy - the only one of the eight qualifiers to also play in the 2002/03 finals in Liechtenstein.