Dramatic end to opening stage

By Andrew Haslam

The first qualifying round for the 2004/05 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship came to a dramatic end this weekend, with the outstanding qualifying games played on Saturday. Forty nations were divided into ten groups of four teams, with the top two from each section progressing to the second qualifying round along with the six best third-placed teams. Germany and Norway qualified automatically for the second qualifying round as the two nations with the best coefficients. uefa.com rounds up the action.

Group 1
The Netherlands qualified in impressive fashion, winning all three games and scoring eleven goals without conceding. Edwin Paulus Engelkes's team began with a 3-0 victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina, then brushed aside Slovenia 1-0 and won the section with a narrow 1-0 win against Austria in the final round of matches. Despite that setback the Austrians also progressed in second place with six points, with Slovenia third and Bosnia-Herzegovina fourth.

Group 2
Scotland won the section in emphatic style, emerging victorious in all three matches and scoring an astounding 24 goals without reply, with Diana Barry, Pamela Liddell and Kathryn Bennett enjoying particular success in front of goal. The Scots set the tone with a 6-0 win against Ukraine, then scored 13 times without reply against Belrus before defeating mini-tournament hosts Moldova 5-0. Ukraine secured second place, largely thanks to a resounding 8-1 victory against Moldova in the second round of matches. Despite that, the Moldovans scraped through as one of the best six third-placed teams.

Group 3
The 2003 winners France reached the second round with something to spare, scoring 22 times in three games to win the section with maximum points. Stéphane Pilard's side scored ten times in each of their first two games, against Lithuania and Azerbaijan respectively, before early goals from Elodie Thomis and Jessica Houara secured the group against second-placed Denmark. The Danes finished second and registered an astounding 20-0 victory against Azerbaijan, with Louise Kristiansen scoring six times and Camilla Sand Andersen getting four goals.

Group 4
British pair England and Wales clinched the first two places in the section, with third-placed Romania also progressing. England mustered eleven goals without conceding, opening with a 6-0 win against Bulgaria before going on to defeat the Romanians 3-0 and confirming their position at the head of the standings with a final-day 2-0 win against Wales. The Welsh finished second with six points, winning 4-1 against Romania and 5-0 against Bulgaria, while a 4-0 victory against the Bulgarians in the final round of matches proved enough for the Romanians to qualify.

Group 5
Last season's semi-finalists Russia also won the section without dropping a point, scoring 19 goals in the process thanks in no small measure to the contributions of Elena Terekhova and Olga Petrova. Valentin Grishin's side defeated Latvia 7-0, Kazakhstan 9-0 and Israel 3-0 to finish with nine points, three ahead of Israel.

Group 6
Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland finished level on seven points at the head of the section and were joined in the second qualifying round by third-placed Greece, who collected three points. The Swiss won the section by virtue of a superior goal difference after a goalless draw against the Irish, scoring nine goals to Ireland's three. A 4-0 win against Iceland was enough for Greece to claim third place.

Group 7
Sweden finished above 2004 semi-finalists Italy with three victories, including an emphatic 5-1 success against the Italians in the final round of matches. The top two easily confirmed their progress, with the Scandinavian side scoring a remarkable 31 goals, beating Estonia 15-0 and Armenia 11-0; Tina Heurlin, Lisa Dahlkvist and Anna Bod all scoring hat-tricks. Italy, meanwhile, managed 18 strikes, Agnese Ricco getting seven of them.

Group 8
Finland comfortably progressed with a perfect record, finishing with nine points - five ahead of Serbia and Montenegro. A 6-1 win against Portugal proved the bedrock of Finland's success, which was followed by a 2-0 win against Slovakia and a 1-0 success against Serbia and Montenegro. Dragan Bradaric's side edged out the Portuguese for second place thanks to a 5-2 victory in the meeting between the two sides but, with Slovakia bottom of the table, both progressed.

Group 9
Belgium finished in first place with seven points, two ahead of runners-up Poland with third-placed Croatia also qualifying. The Belgians won their first two games, 1-0 against Croatia and 4-0 against the Faroe Islands respectively, before a 1-1 draw against the Poles confirmed their progress. The Poles also drew 2-2 with Croatia, but still finished a point above their rivals.

Group 10
Holders Spain made a confident start to the defence of their title, winning all three games and conceding a single goal. Ignacio Quereda's team scored 17 times, including a 9-0 victory against F.Y.R Macedonia and a 5-1 success against runners-up the Czech Republic. The Czechs scored eight times in defeating Northern Ireland and the Macedonians and finish second, with the Northern Irish claiming third position and a second-round place.