Final five complete lineup
Monday, April 16, 2007
Article summary
England, Denmark, Poland - for the first time - and Spain advanced to Iceland as group winners on Sunday, while there was also belated joy for Norway.
Article body
The final day of qualifying for the 2007 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship produced its fair share of thrills and spills as England, Denmark, Poland - for the first time - and Spain advanced to Iceland as group winners. Their was also joy for Norway, who narrowly edged out Italy to claim the final spot in the July finals as the runner-up with the best record against the teams finishing first and third in their mini-tournament. uefa.com rounds up Sunday's action.
Group 1
England are back in the finals after a two-year break as goals from Rebecca Hall (11) and Natasha Dowie (57) earned them the win they needed against the Czech Republic to clinch the section. Ukraine's 1-0 success against Austria left them two points adrift of England, but three ahead of the Czechs who lost only one of their three fixtures. Mini-tournament hosts Austria prop up the pool with a solitary point.
Group 2
Last season's runners-up France won the group on Saturday with victory against the Republic of Ireland.
Group 3
Scotland's chances of qualifying for the finals as the best runner-up were dashed when they were beaten 3-0 by group winners Germany in Lubeck. Lisa Schwab struck after four minutes but the Germans had to wait until late on to make it three wins from three with Stephanie Goddard's penalty and an Isabel Kershowski free-kick completing the scoring. Hungary completed their campaign with a 3-1 defeat of Sweden, maximum points giving them second place in the group but no berth in Iceland.
Group 4
As expected, this group went to the wire as Scandinavian rivals Denmark and Norway vied for supremacy. The sides went into their decisive final fixture locked together on four points and ended it on five each as an 88th-minute goal from Norway's Elise Thorsnes cancelled out Nanna Christiansen's 24th-minute opener. The equaliser was not enough to win Norway the pool, an honour which went to the Danes, but it did secure their place in Iceland as the best runner-up. Romania beat Belgium 1-0 in the other match to leave the Red Devils winless at the foot of the section.
Group 5
Poland pulled off one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition by defeating 2005 winners Russia to qualify for the finals for the first time. Russia had scored just once in their previous two mini-tournament matches and their lack of punch up front cost them dearly in Flintshire as Poland edged their decider 1-0 to move on to seven points atop the group. Russia therefore miss out on the finals for the first time since 2003, while Wales completed their campaign with a 2-1 victory against a Finland team who were left propping up a competitive group.
Group 6
A rousing 6-0 victory against Serbia in their final match was hardly a consolation for Italy as they missed out on a return to the finals following Spain's 3-1 triumph against Switzerland. Spain, the 2004 winners, advance by virtue of their superior goal difference (13 to Italy's seven), while the Azzurrini also missed out on the best runner-up slot on one goal to Norway.