Denmark set sights on border crossing

With just 34km separating Copenhagen and host country Sweden, the Denmark coach Keld Bordinggaard has promised to "throw everything" at Serbia as he looks to negotiate a two-legged tie against the 2007 runners-up and lead his side into the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Finland's Markku Kanerva was another Scandinavian coach plotting a path to Sweden, as uefa.com rounds up the reaction to today's play-off draw in Malmo. 

Denmark v Serbia
Keld Bordinggaard, Denmark coach
We've seen Serbia grow a lot. They reached the final in Holland last time and they've had a great group stage so we're expecting a tough one. Serbia also beat Sweden [on Wednesday], so perhaps I can get some tips from my Swedish counterpart. It would be great for us to participate so close to our own country. If we qualify it would be easy for our fans to come and watch our young talents. We'll throw everything at it, and will hopefully be able to take the last step.

Austria v Finland
Manfred Zsak, Austria coach
My team is in good condition and have shown some really good form in our matches so far. Our goal is to qualify for the European Championship and we want to take part in Sweden at all costs. Our Under-21 team could qualify for a final tournament for the first time. It is a chance to make history and we want to take it. We must beat Finland.

Markku Kanerva, Finland coach
The most important thing for us is that our team is fit and ready for the play-offs, who we play is secondary. The draw was OK, but we will have to be at our best against Austria. We have already shown we can give that little bit extra when required. I don't know much about them but they had excellent results in their qualifying group and didn't lose a game. I hope our team will finally be the one which gets Finland to a major tournament – that's our dream.

Wales v England 
Brian Flynn, Wales coach
Welsh players and fans are always excited when we face England, and we are keen to make amends after losing 2-0 in a friendly in May. Both matches promise to be great occasions.

Stuart Pearce, England coach
When two British teams play against each other there's always something special in the match. It's going to be tough for both. I don't think Wales wanted to play us before the draw and we didn't want to play Wales. There are a lot of good teams in the draw and I think the finals next summer will be fantastic, I really do. There have been so many surprising results. Two months ago Holland looked like they were definitely through, but Switzerland beat them home and away. And Wales beat Romania 3-0 away. A fantastic result.

Germany v France
Dieter Eilts, Germany coach
Germany against France is the absolute top match and the most interesting duel. Two powerful football nations will face each other. Each should be in the final tournament. Last year at the Toulon tournament we lost 4-1 against them so we don't have very good memories of this team. But we are going to prepare to be at our best for the play-off matches and we'll do everything to qualify for the finals.

Erick Mombaerts, France coach
It's an interesting draw and we'll see two exciting matches. Both nations have good systems in place for youth development. We have high hopes for the generation born in 1986/97; they can return the glory to the game. In fact, the current senior team is full of players who could be in our Under-21s: Benzema, Ben Arfa, Nasri, Gourcuff. Unfortunately we won't be able to use them as they're part of the senior team.

Italy v Israel
Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italy coach
To be honest, I don't know the Israel team very well. I know they were the joint-winners of their qualifying group with Germany so I presume they're a great team. At this stage every team is strong, so we have to be aware that it will be a tough match. We will play the first leg in October meaning the players will be in better physical condition than they have been in the last two games.

Motti Iwanir, Israel coach
We were drawn against one of the toughest teams, if not the toughest team. We will learn about our opponents and go into these matches believing anything is possible. We will do everything we possibly can to try and reach the European finals.