Góralczyk lauds Poland progress

Poland coach Robert Góralczyk was celebrating a case of third time lucky after guiding his team to this summer's UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship for the first time after a shock triumph against 2005 winners Russia on Sunday.

Stiff test
"We are absolutely delighted," said Góralczyk. "It was my third European U19 championship qualification campaign and we finally managed to reach the finals." That eight-team tournament will take place in Iceland from 19-29 July, but Poland's participation had hung in the balance going into their final second qualifying round fixture against Russia. Four points from matches with mini-tournament hosts Wales and Finland was good enough for a share of the Group 5 lead, yet Russia were massive favourites going into the conclusion.

Czernielewska strike
Poland upset the form book, with Natalia Czernielewska scoring the only goal of the game in Flintshire to leave Góralczyk on cloud nine. "Almost everything in these qualifications happened the way we wanted it to happen, starting with the draw," he said. "Russia were the strongest in the group but we carefully scrutinised their previous games and they did not surprise us."