Finalists' eyes on U19 prize

By Andrew Haslam in Jongny

Spain coach Armando Ufarte and his Turkish counterpart Müjdat Yalman are both hoping their players can produce one more fine performance to lift the UEFA European Under-19 Championship trophy in the final in Nyon.

'Equal and beautiful'
The two coaches paid fulsome tribute to the qualities of their opponents, but both believe that their own players will have enough to win the day. "We have worked very hard to be in this final, and it will be an equal and beautiful match," Ufarte told uefa.com. "You always trust your team, sometimes you are lucky, sometimes unlucky, but I believe in them."

Tense ties
Both sides come into Saturday's match after gruelling semi-finals, Spain holding their nerve in the penalty shoot-out against Ukraine to win 4-1 after a thrilling 2-2 draw, while Turkey knocked out hosts Switzerland 3-2 in Fribourg, also after extra time.

Physical demands
Ufarte, who admitted that midfield player Gavilán was doubtful for the game with a minor injury, said that he was unsure how much Wednesday's game had taken out of his players, adding: "My team has played a lot, and the period of extra time demands more, so it's obviously a lot harder to play well and produce a good performance. We have worked on the players' recovery in training, trying to improve their physical condition."

'Excellent team'
The two sides have already met in Group B, Spain winning 3-2, but their coach does not believe that match will have any bearing on the final. "I don't think it is an advantage to have already played Turkey as every match is different," he said. "Turkey have an excellent team and very strong players, and they are in the final because they deserve it. Of course, we have studied them and looked at their important players, but we are focused on ourselves and what we can do."

'Faith in my players'
Yalman was equally confident, telling uefa.com: "I am very happy with this achievement; I said my prayers before the tournament and put my faith in the players and they have done extremely well. Now I hope that they can go on and win; I have been in charge of this team for 92 matches and we have been preparing for this for a long time."

Spanish strength
The Turkey coach paid tribute to the quality within the Spanish side but, like Ufarte, he believes the performance of his own side will be the more important factor. "Spain are a very strong team and it will not be easy," he said. "Of course, we are concerned with them, but we must focus on ourselves; the mentality of our team is more important than anything Spain will do."

'Different situation'
Yalmaz also agreed with his opposite number about the relevance of the earlier meeting, saying: "The situation is completely different. Spain are a very strong team overall, there are no individuals that we will pay particular attention to and we will look at our performance rather than worrying too much about the opposition."

Quality players
Turkey are without midfield players Olcan Adin and Sinan Turan through suspension, although Zafer Sakar is available again, and Yalman believes the quality of his squad is sufficient to cope. "Morale is good among our players and I think that we will see that tomorrow," he said. "We have not changed our preparations at all, we have continued exactly as normal. Having two players suspended is not a great problem as we came here with 18 players and all are equally good. We will show that tomorrow."