Bernhardt acting the part for Estonia

Estonia currently lead the way in qualifying Group 2 for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and German coach Frank Bernhardt deserves much of the praise for their impressive start.

Rapid progress
Bernhardt came to Estonia looking to improve youth football two years ago, taking the reins of the national side in four different age groups, and a year later he added the U21 team to his list of responsibilities. Having led the U19 side through to the Elite round of the UEFA European U19 Championship last year, the 40-year-old is now matching that progress with the U21s, who opened qualifying with a 1-0 win in Switzerland and have since beaten Georgia and drawn with the Republic of Ireland.

Coaching chance
As a player, Bernhardt rose no higher than the third tier in Germany before back surgery ended his career, but coaching gave him the chance to stay in football, and after working with the youth sides at FC St. Pauli for six years, he faced a choice between leading a fourth division outfit in Germany or moving to Estonia. "I liked this country and its people from the beginning," he said. "There was lots of room for improvement and that was a real challenge for me. I felt young enough for such a hard and interesting job. Now, after two and a half years, the situation is nowhere near as bad as when I started. Then, 15-0 and 20-0 defeats just shocked me. There were a few talented players and they didn't have an opportunity to improve."

Education programme
One of Bernhardt's first tasks was to institute a programme for educating new coaches. "Each team needs a head coach, an assistant and a goalkeeping coach," he said. "Besides, different youth teams play their matches in different places, so we needed a coaching staff of six or seven people. The success didn't come fast. I looked for candidates, then told each one of them my view of football and training methods. That was a way of making all the youth teams play in the same style."

U19 breakthrough
The first signs of progress came at the end of 2008, when the U19s defeated Croatia and Kazakhstan to reach the Elite round of the UEFA European U19 Championship, though they then lost at home to Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic. "I don't agree that success came too early," said Bernhardt. "Of course, those losses were hard to forget, but we gained vital experience. For many players, it was the biggest tournament of their lives."

Right direction
At present, it is the U21 side who are making waves. "We started really well," explained Bernhardt. "But we have to live in reality. We'll prepare for one match at a time and then later we might start thinking about the European finals." Indeed, the trainer does not expect his team to be able to compete with the likes of Germany and Spain any time soon. "Estonia is a small country," he noted. "Only 1.5m people live here, while in Germany it's 80m. But a positive example such as Denmark or Norway helps us believe that Estonia's senior team will one day fight for a place at a European Championship or World Cup."