Zivkovic cautious for conclusion

By Andrew Haslam in Belfast

Serbia and Montenegro are within touching distance of a place in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-finals, but coach Zvonko Zivkovic is taking nothing for granted ahead of Saturday's final Group B game against Greece.

Point enough
The Serbo-Montenegrins lead the section by three points having defeated Germany and hosts Northern Ireland, leaving them needing only a point at The Oval in Belfast to make sure of progress. Zivkovic is not counting on that, though, saying: "I still do not want to look beyond the next game against Greece.

'Tough match'
"I think it will be a tough match and we will play our best team in order to get the best possible result," the coach continued. "We are going to play to win and not start making calculations. The Northern Ireland match was my ninth in charge and to date we have won eight and drawn one."

Greeks deflated
In contrast to Serbia and Montenegro's buoyant mood, Greece must pick themselves up having lost their second fixture to Germany 3-0. Coach Nikolaos Nioplias feels the real test lies ahead, however, saying: "Although the results so far are obviously significant, Saturday's game is the most important of all."

Solid start needed
Nioplias insists his side have to start better than they did against the Germans to have any chance of victory. "In our first game against Northern Ireland we scored early and that gave us a big advantage," he told uefa.com. "Against Germany, the opposite was true - we didn't begin the match well, so had nothing to build on.

Uncertain outcome
"Saturday's result depends on many things. We've watched Serbia and Montenegro on video against Germany and they are a good team, but we will fight as hard as we can and we will see. In football, the outcome is never certain - the Serbo-Montenegrins came from two goals down to defeat Germany so anything can happen."

Injury worries
Germany, meanwhile, have a number of injury worries as they seek to continue their revival against the Northern Irish in Ballymena. Defenders Sascha Dum and Jerome Polenz have returned home because of a knee injury and a pulled muscle respectively, while midfielder Stephan Schröck misses the final group match with a calf problem. Coach Ulrich Stielike, however, had ordered his players to "show their quality" against Greece, and is hoping for an equally impressive display against the hosts.

Opponents studied
"Everyone knows what a European Championship finals is about and of course we want to reach the semi-finals," he told uefa.com. "I don't know much about Northern Ireland, but we will certainly study them before the game. We are certainly good enough to reach the semi-finals."

Narrow defeats
With Greece and Germany level on three points, Northern Ireland must overcome the Germans by a substantial margin and hope Serbia and Montenegro heavily defeat the Greeks to stay in the competition. Mal Donaghy's team lost their first two games 1-0, but the coach is not letting his players get downhearted.

'Melting pot'
"We are still in the melting pot," he said. "Mathematically we have a chance and nothing is impossible in football. Greece were in a battle [against Northern Ireland], Serbia and Montenegro were in a battle, Germany can expect no less. We have our own game plan and system. It works well for us and I am not going to change much for the match against Germany. We will put a plan into action and see what happens."