Spain's César seizes the day

Spain striker César Díaz staked his claim for a UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-final starting place with a fine example of forward play and an excellent goal in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Portugal.

Clinical header
The Albacete Balompié man was a frustrated observer as Ginés Meléndez's side recorded victories in each of their first two games to win Group B with a game to spare. Given his opportunity in the concluding fixture, César made a considerable impression, heading Spain level from Antonio Calvo's pin-point cross and causing the Portuguese defence no end of problems with his technical expertise on the ball.

Team ethic
"I'm happy with my individual performance, but of course it would have been better if my team had taken three points and I hadn't scored," the 19-year-old told uefa.com. "We didn't play so well in the first half and fell behind [to a Bruno Gama penalty] but because I hadn't had the opportunity to play before, I was really motivated to play well and was fortunate enough to score."

Call for caution
The Portugal draw maintains Spain's unbeaten record in the finals and sends them into a semi-final meeting with Austria in Wronki on Wednesday. César said: "In theory, two 'big names' from our group have gone out in Turkey and Portugal, but it will still be very difficult to get to the final. Spain are always considered to be the favourites in these competitions, but we have to be careful because the standard is so high in this particular tournament that every team can beat any other."