Surprises galore in Elite round

By Andrew Haslam

There will be a new name on the UEFA European Under-19 Championship trophy after this year's final at Belfast's Windsor Park on 29 July following a dramatic conclusion to the Elite round on Tuesday evening.

Armenian celebrations
With holders Spain already eliminated, 2003 winners Italy went into their final round of fixtures in Group 4 knowing that victory against Belgium would all but guarantee a place in the eight-team final tournament, which will be played in Northern Ireland from 18 to 29 July. However, Paolo Berrettini's team slumped to a 2-0 defeat, allowing Armenia - who had never before reached a UEFA finals tournament at any level - to qualify in style, with a 5-1 win against mini-tournament hosts Hungary.

New names
The tournament will have an unfamiliar look about it, with Northern Ireland having never reached a finals tournament at U19 or U18 level while only Germany of the sides who were present in Switzerland a year ago qualified this time round. The Germans clinched their finals berth with something to spare, emerging victorious all three Group 2 games to ensure a six-point winning margin in the section.

English exuberance
The first side to join the hosts this summer were England, who claimed first place in Group 1 thanks to three wins on home soil at the end of March. Martin Hunter's side were next joined by France - four-time winners of the old UEFA European-18 Championship, the last in 2000 - who travelled to Spain for Group 3, and held firm to end the holders' reign.

Serbo-Montenegrin success
Group 7 was the next to be decided, and again the first-placed side won all three games to progress in style - this time it was Serbia and Montenegro who made the most of home advantage to claim a finals berth. Group 6 proved a different story, however, as mini-tournament hosts Russia were joined by near-neighbours Ukraine and Lithuania - but it was Norway who held sway, winning two games and drawing one to hold off the Ukrainians by a point.

Final-day drama
With the Germans then winning Group 2, that left two places in Northern Ireland still to be decided. Both sections went down to the last round of fixtures, with Armenia prevailing in Group 4 while Greece claimed their third successive Group 5 victory to secure the eighth and last place in the finals.

Finals draw
The eight successful teams will discover their final opponents on Friday when the draw takes place in Belfast at 14.30CET.

* - Elite round mini-tournament hosts. Qualifiers in bold.