Prime forces matched in final

The two most successful nations in the history of the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship go head to head in the final of the ninth edition on Saturday evening as Germany take on France at Berne's Neufeld stadium.

France remember defeat
While no one can match Germany's record of three tournament victories at U18 or U19 level, France have reached four of the last five finals, winning in 2003 having lost to the Germans at that stage the previous year. Last summer France also made it to the showpiece but fell to Russia on penalties, and both coaches believe that result could have repercussions this time around.

Motivation
France's Stéphane Pilard told uefa.com: "We have seven players from the final last year and they really want to win it, because they felt a little bit of injustice. They feel they were better than Russia, but we lost. They really want to win because of that." Meinert agreed: "That could make them even more dangerous as they are trying to get something they missed last year."

'A complete team'
Pilard, though, knows Germany will be strong too - having defeated Russia 4-0 in the semi-finals following a goalless first half and some inspired substitute performances. "We have not played Germany for two seasons but we know them," he said. "They are a very strong team, 18 players able to do things - as in the semi-final. They are a complete team. It is the same for us, the first half is always difficult. It will be a tough and testing match."

'No pressure'
Meinert won European and world titles as a player, so is well used to the atmosphere of an international final - and how unpredictable it can be. "It is just one game," she said. "You can talk about a lot of things, who are favourites. But when you step on the field you just have to give your best. If we lose, we have still had a good tournament so there is no pressure on my team."

Delie target
Both sides look set to have full squads available, excepting the Germany midfielder Nathalie Bock who was injured last week and ruled out of the tournament, though she has remained in Berne. While the French goalscoring has been dominated by Marie Laure Delie, who has struck in every game and is only two short of catching Russia's Elena Danilova at the top of the table, Germany have seen nine different players hit the target, with Ann-Christian Angel twice coming off the bench to score at crucial times.

Home support
Meanwhile, the players of both teams have been boosted by support from back home. Meinert said: "The association see we are doing very well, we get faxes and that is good for the players. They are on TV for the first time, it is exciting for them." Pilard added: "There are a lot of congratulatory messages [on the French Football Federation website] and it is very important because we are the only French youth team to have qualified this summer. They know we are able to do something."

Match officials
Also getting her reward in the final is Spanish referee Paloma Quintero Siles, who has been selected to take charge of the match. Her assistants will be Norway's Vibeke Larsen and Scotland's Morag Pirie, with Kateryna Monzul from Ukraine as fourth official.