Fidler keeps England pioneers grounded

Lois Fidler says her England squad will not be entering the inaugural UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship finals in Switzerland with "a false confidence" despite an almost perfect qualification record.

Prolific scorers
England played six matches over the course of two qualifying rounds to progress to the last four in Nyon, winning five and scoring 24 goals along the way. Their other result was the 0-0 draw with the Netherlands that confirmed their semi-final against France on 20 May, as well as a trip to the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in New Zealand later this year. However, Fidler is setting her squad high standards in a bid to avoid any complacency setting in.

'No illusions'
"One thing we are really mindful of is developing a false confidence; we are always attempting to raise the bar, we never settle for second best and we're more than acutely aware, as are the players now, of bigger challenges that lie ahead," Fidler told uefa.com. "But we are under no illusions that it's going to be tough and what we are trying to do is teach the players how to play in tournament football, which is so different to one game in isolation. And at the end of the day, once they cross that white line and are out on the pitch, they need to make decisions and solve problems."

'Strong' nation
Fidler admits that facing France will prove a new experience. England may never have played Gérard Sergent's side before, but Fidler is well aware of the quality her side will encounter at the Colovray Stadium. "Obviously there is a lot of experience at U19 and senior level but it will be a new experience for us," she said. "We are hearing a lot of good things about the French side; we wouldn’t expect anything else from such a strong footballing nation and, again, [the players] are excited about competing against arguably the best teams in Europe."

Germany challenge
Germany play Denmark in the other semi-final but Fidler says it is a challenge to pinpoint a winner of the fledgling tournament. "I think it's difficult to say [who the favourites are], bearing in mind it's the first ever U17 European Championship finals," she said. "But if you go by the other age groups and the world standings, you can't not but think that Germany are going to be tough to beat in this competition."