Croatia

After five successive elite round exits between 2004 and 2008, Croatia finally qualified for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship for the first time with an impressive six-game sequence, scoring 12 goals and conceding only two. Coach Ivica Grnja has moulded his players into a solid unit who were the only team to win all their qualifying fixtures and will now be keen to make an impact at the finals in France.

Qualifying round: Estonia 3-0, Lithuania 2-1, Switzerland 1-0 (Group 4 winners)

Elite round: Belgium 2-1, Montenegro 3-0, Scotland 1-0 (Group 1 winners)

Key players: Matej Delač (goalkeeper, NK Inter Zaprešic), Mario Tičinović (midfielder, HNK Hajduk Split), Filip Ozobić (midfielder, FC Spartak Moskva), Andrej Kramarić (forward, NK Dinamo Zagreb), Arijan Ademi (midfielder, NK Dinamo Zagreb)

Coach: Ivica Grnja
Date of birth: 26 April 1948
Nationality: Croatian
Playing career: NK Osijek, Toronto Metros-Croatia, Tampa Bay Rowdies
Coaching career: NK Osijek, NK Belišće, Croatia Under-19, Croatia U21 (assistant)

After injury brought an end to his long playing career while at Osijek, Grnja spent two years looking for a job as a coach, eventually gaining employment with his hometown club. He started out with Osijek's junior teams, leading a side that included Davor Šuker to the Yugoslavian Youth Cup final in 1986. Although that ended in a 1-0 defeat by FK Vojvodina, two years later Osijek and Grnja were back, a team featuring the likes of Igor Cvitanović, Goran Vlaović and Robert Špehar lifting the trophy.

In 1989 Grnja was promoted to take charge of the club's first team, though his career was disrupted by civil war and the break-up of Yugoslavia and when football resumed in Croatia in 1994, he was again put in charge of the youth set-up. In 1998 Grnja was hired by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) as a regional coaching instructor, a post he still holds, although he also took charge of the Under-19 national side in 2002. Since then he has helped develop the likes of Luka Modrić, Niko Kranjčar, Vedran Ćorluka and Nikola Kalinić and had a spell as an assistant to Slaven Bilić with the U21 team in 2005. His greatest success was to come in 2009/10, though, when he guided the team to their first U19 finals.

Team records

Qualifying top scorer
Anton Maglica: 4

UEFA European Under-19 Championship best
Final tournament 2010

Honours in UEFA youth competitions
UEFA European Under-18 Championship
Third place 1998
UEFA European Under-17 Championship
Fourth place 2005
UEFA European Under-16 Championship
Third place 2001