Talented Turkey face hard task

UEFA European Under-17 Championship victors in 2005, Turkey are aiming to become the first nation to also triumph at U19 level two years on but must get past a tough Elite round Group 4 against Portugal, hosts Scotland and Georgia.

Injury concerns
Turkey beat Luxembourg and Wales in the qualifying round before a 2-0 defeat by the Czech Republic, but their friendly results since have been mixed. Tevfik Köse, the top scorer in the 2005 finals, remains prolific but coach Tolunay Kafkas said: "Eight of our players who won the European Championship including Aydın Yılmaz, Serdar Keşçi, Caner Erkin and Mehmet Yılmaz are sidelined through injury. It would be much better if we were able to field a full-strength squad for the Elite round but nevertheless we aim to finish top."

Scotland form
Scotland were surprise runners-up a year ago in Poland, but have undergone major overhaul. Archie Knox, who has worked with Sir Alex Ferguson and Walter Smith, is now the coach and in the qualifying round his side scored eleven goals without reply to defeat Bosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia and Germany. They drew with the Netherlands and beat finals hosts Austria 2-0 on 1 May, and the form of Motherwell FC goalkeeper Alan Martin has attracted attention at home and abroad. Midfielders Lewis Stevenson and Darren Smith have tasted regular first-team football with Hibernian FC and Motherwell this season.

Dundee opener
Identifying their opener in Dundee against Turkey as crucial, Knox said: "The expectation is higher because we got to the final last year but people have to remember we have a new group of players this year who haven’t played that many games together. It's vital we take something from the first game and if we can do that we won't be too far away from winning the group."

Portuguese talent
Portugal drew all their finals games last year - including with Scotland and Turkey - and of that squad Bruno Pereirinha is again involved this season. Victories against Latvia and San Marino and a 2-2 draw with Norway secured progress from the qualifying round and Edgar Borges's side hosted the Torneio Internacional do Porto early last month, winning 1-0 against Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland before a 3-0 defeat by Germany. Goalkeeper Rui Patrício and defenders Daniel Carriço and Yago Fernandez have impressed but Borges warned: "I hope they will not show signs of fatigue in the Elite round. I have plenty of confidence in this group of players."

Georgian preparations
Senior Georgia coach Klaus Toppmöller also leads the U19s and they got experience of playing Portugal in the Lisbon tournament in March, losing 3-1 to Ireland but then beating Belgium 3-0 and the hosts 1-0, striker Vakhtang Fantskhava impressing alongside Rati Tsinamdzgvrishvili. Georgia, who overcame Belgium to get through the qualifying round after victory against Northern Ireland and defeat by Romania, have held training camps this year in Germany and Luxembourg and spent the last week as guests of Blackburn Rovers FC. Toppmöller said. "We have done a lot of work having watched many players before choosing the best ones. The backbone of this team is built. We have played good football in friendlies and I'm sure we will produce a decent showing and hope we can make it to the finals."

Additional reporting by Hugo Pietra & Soso Kotoreishvili