Semi-final foes flying high

By Andrew Haslam in Belfast

Serbia and Montenegro and England are both in buoyant mood as they prepare to meet in the first semi-final of the 2004/05 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, at Mourneview Park in Lurgan on Tuesday afternoon.

Saturday successes
Serbia and Montenegro reached the last four in style, winning all three Group A games to clinch the section by three points from Germany and enjoying a 3-0 success against Greece last time out. England, meanwhile, scored twice in the last ten minutes against Norway on Saturday to edge above the Norwegians and claim the runners-up berth in Group B. These results leave both coaches full of optimism.

'Huge achievement'
"Reaching the semi-finals of this competition for the first time is a huge achievement for our team," said Serbia and Montenegro coach Zvonko Zivkovic. "Of course, I hope that this is only the start for our team, and that we can go on and reach the final. We will see next Tuesday.

'Test against the best'
"We want to play the best team possible. I want to test my players against the best and see how they perform against the top sides," Zivkovic went on. "But a semi-final is nothing special, you only have to win that and reach the final. We will have no problem getting motivated to play England. Now I think it will be much easier for us - I hope we will play better in the knockout stages than we did in the group games."

Competitive instinct
Zivkovic has tinkered with his side throughout the tournament and may opt to do so again, saying: "I might look to freshen up the side - some of the players are tired and I always try to make changes when I see that happening. I'm a sportsman and I'm here because I think we can win the tournament. If I didn't believe that, I'd go and play a nice relaxing game of golf."

Footballing contest
For his part, England coach Martin Hunter is relishing the opportunity the semi-final offers his players, saying: "Serbia and Montenegro will be a different game, more of a football game than the match with Norway, which was a real battle. I went out to watch Serbia and Montenegro in the Elite round and they are a very talented team, so it's going to be a very good game, a very tight game I would have thought, and we're looking forward to it."

'Heart and passion'
Grant Leadbitter has been a key presence at the heart of the England midfield and believes his side can get better and better. "We've got the heart and passion, we know we haven't been at our best, but the best is yet to come from England," he told uefa.com. "All three sides we've played so far have been very different, very different styles of play - the French were very technical, Scandinavians make it hard for you, and Armenia were a counterattacking side - so it's three different challenges and I'm really glad we've come out of it.

'Physical battle'
"Serbia and Montenegro will be a very tough game," the Sunderland AFC player continued. "I imagine it will be similar to the game with Norway in terms of a physical battle, but if we can match them at that, we have the players to go on and win the game and get to final." England are without one of Saturday's goalscorers, striker Dexter Blackstock, through suspension.