Sergent's troops plan next advance

Free scoring
Gérard Sergent's managed 31 of those goals in the first qualifying round against F.Y.R. Macedonia, Armenia and Denmark, while Norway, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland were then dispatched to make the finals in Nyon, Switzerland which start on Tuesday. A semi-final against England will be their toughest test so far, but Sergent believes his team have the qualities to emulate their 2003 women's U19 side and take the title, not least as 14 different players found the target in qualifying.

Collective strength
"As our goalscoring chart displays, we are not a team of a few individual talents but threats can come from several positions in our team," he said. "This collective strength and team spirit is what we will rely on in the tournament."

England question
The 42-year-old's team are well positioned for the finals in Nyon, not least thanks to that 4-0 qualifying win against fellow contenders Denmark as well as victory in their most recent meeting with Germany. "With Germany, we have strong links with friendly programmes and we know each other very well," Sergent said. "This season it went very well also against Denmark. England remain a bit of a question mark but we will study them."

World Cup chance
This new competition, which have given all four finalists a place in the first FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in New Zealand later this year, is something Sergent welcomes, especially in terms of preparing the players for challenges to come. "All these competitions are designed to enrich the experience of the players," he said. We think first about the future and prepare them for the coming years. It's more than interesting both for the players and staff. It's the culmination of two years' hard work."