Greece gear up for Group 5 task

Fixture list
Spain beat Greece 1-0 in the 2007 final, and they will be determined to go one better as they take on outsiders Moldova in their opening game on 24 May, while Russia meet the Netherlands. The Dutch meet the hosts in their second game two days later as Russia play Moldova, while the final day's matches on 29 May see Greece take on Russia while Moldova play the Netherlands.

GREECE
Greece have changed coach since their final appearance last year, with 44-year-old former Greek international Alexandros Alexiou taking over from Nikolaos Nioplias. His biggest concern ahead of the Elite round may be 18-year-old winger Sotiris Ninis, who could be in line for a place in the senior squad at UEFA EURO 2008™ after scoring in a recent friendly game for Otto Rehhagel's squad.

Qualifying round: France 2-2, Slovenia 1-0, Luxembourg 5-1 (Group 4 runners-up)

Key players: Michalis Pavlis (forward, AEK Athens FC), Sotirios Stratakis (midfielder, BV Borussia Dortmund), Eleftherios Matsoukas (striker, Olympiacos CFP)

MOLDOVA
Coach Vlad Goian has dropped Alexandr Dedov, Alexandr Pascenco and Ion Demerji from the squad that competed in the qualifying round due to lack of match practice, while Pavel Novitchi is injured. The coach said: "Our main goal in this tournament is to play good football and if we succeed the results will come. Russia may be favorites, because they are the only side who won their qualifying group, but the other sides are strong as well."

Qualifying round: Scotland 1-0, Ukraine 1-2, Azerbaijan 0-0 (Group 11 runners-up)

Key players: Artur Ionita (defender, FC Iskra-Stali), Radu Catan (midfielder, FC Zimbru Chisinau), Andrei Verbetchi (defender, FC Tiraspol)

RUSSIA
FC Spartak Moskva's Sergei Parshyvlyuk has a broken collarbone, while Alan Alborov of PFC CSKA Moskva and Aleksandr Lobkov of FC Dinamo Moskva were omitted as they are serving one-match bans. Spartak midfielder Igor Gorbatenko is also looking shaky after recovering from a long-term injury. Coach Igor Kolyvanov said: "We must keep up the traditions of this team from 2006, when we won the [UEFA] European Under-17 Championship."

Qualifying round: Estonia 7-0, Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0, Germany 3-2 (Group 12 winners)

Key players: Eugeni Pomazan (goalkeeper, PFC CSKA Moskva), Pavel Mochalin (midfielder, FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Aleksandr Prudnikov (forward, FC Spartak Moskva)

NETHERLANDS
A 2-1 friendly win in Scotland and a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic have kept the Netherlands sharp since the qualifying round, and coach Wim van Zwam feels the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals hosts were particularly useful opponents. "The Czechs made it extremely difficult for us, but at the finals we will have to expect these kind of opponents," he said. "Last year we got very close to qualifying, so it is not an impossible task, but it will be tough enough for us."

Qualifying round: Georgia 2-1, Latvia 2-0, Norway 1-3 (Group 8 runners up)

Key players: Daley Blind (defender, AFC Ajax), Nacer Barazite (midfielder, Arsenal FC), Genero Zeefuik (forward, PSV Eindhoven)