Spain put U19 title on the line

Having wrapped up their third UEFA European Under-19 Championship in five years last season in Poland, Spain approach Elite round Group 5 against home side Norway, Iceland and Azerbaijan hoping to ensure they can do better than in 2002/03 and 2004/05 when they were knocked out at this stage as holders.

Talent
Coach Ginés Meléndez, fresh from assisting Juan Santisteban in Spain's recent U17 triumph, will have three survivors from the 2006 U19 champion squad: Juan Manuel Mata, Diego Capel and Alberto Bueno - the top scorer in Poland, who struck both goals in the 2-1 final defeat of Scotland. Two others to watch are forward Adrián López and fellow attacker Aarón Ñíguez, who helped Spain win bronze at U17 level a year ago. Meléndez has also called up Stephen Sunday 'Sunny'.

Respect
The Nigerian-born midfielder was involved in two March friendlies with Portugal, the first a 1-0 defeat but the second won with a goal from Liverpool FC defender Miki Roqué. Meléndez said: "We hope to qualify again, although we know that it'll be tough because of the strength of our rivals, but we hope at least to play well. Norway have a great team and that's why we respect them so much as hosts but the other sides will definitely put up a fight and have their chances so it'll be an attractive round."

Home hopes
Norway reached the U19 finals in 2005 but last year lost out in the qualifying round. However, wins against San Marino and Latvia and a 2-2 draw with Portugal took them through this time around and coach Tor Ole Skullerund can call on the likes of Vålerenga IF midfielder Mohammed Fellah and forward Glenn Roberts plus 16-year-old FK Haugesund defender Håvard Nordveit. Boosted by April's 4-1 friendly victory against Italy, Skullerud said: "That win shows that we can compete with the best European sides. This is a strong crop of players, with many of them playing in the Eliteserien."

Iceland improvement
The strength of Icelandic youth football was shown by their qualification at U17 level and U19 coach Gudni Kjartansson has several players with overseas experience, including midfielders Birkir Bjarnason from Norwegian side Viking FK, Everton FC's Bjarni Thór Vidarsson and Real Betis Balompié's Marko Pavlov. Kjartansson, whose team progressed to this stage as the best third-placed team in the qualifying round, may also call up U17 goalscoring hero Kolbeinn Sigthórsson if he recovers from injury and said: "The boys are very promising and need to have self-confidence. Many are experienced and possess winning spirit."

Azerbaijan experience
Azerbaijan are making their debut in the Elite round and coach Arif Asadov can call on the likes of midfielder Elvin Mamedov of PFK Turan Tovuz and striker Vagif Dzavadov. The latter moved to FC Karabakh from PFC CSKA Moskva in the winter and is uncapped at U19 level but has already played for the seniors. Karabakh provide nine of the squad in all, and four are first-team regulars. Asadov said: "I track all the candidates and most of them get to play in the top flight, which makes me happy. This means the best will travel to Norway. Of course, we expect tough matches, especially against Spain, but we qualified for the Elite Round which means we are capable of much."

Additional reporting by Eivind Aarre, Stefán Stefánsson & Erkin Ibragimov.