No guarantees for French favourites

France may be favourites to win Group B but going into Wednesday's first round of matches at the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship, there is no limit to the ambition of the four contenders.

Heavyweights
France won the tournament in 2003 and have since lost the last two finals, while their opening opponents Spain claimed the title in 2004. The Franco-Spanish match at the Kópavogsvöllur Stadium promises a heavyweight meeting although England and Poland also intend to land decisive blows before the group concludes next Monday.

Priorities
If the consensus says France, their coach Stéphane Pilard believes the competition will be tough. He told the pre-championship press conference: "We are hoping for better than the last two times, but all the coaches have the same objective. We are aware that we have lost the last two finals yet the first priority is the match on Wednesday and getting off to the right start. All the teams will be dangerous. Although we scored a lot in qualifying [eleven unanswered goals in three games], we also stayed focused defensively so we will keep the girls thinking it is 0-0."

Old rivals
Les Bleuettes will do well to avoid complacency against Spain, whose coach Ignacio Quereda is asking his players to "do everything they can to make a strong start". Spain's surprise triumph three summers ago came at the expense of Germany, and having edged past Italy in qualification, they plan to cause France problems. "We have come here to try and get the right start," Quereda said. "We know France very well, having played them a lot, and they seem to get better every year. But we want to do well."

Development
England can also be encouraged by previous performances in these finals, having reached two semi-finals. Yet their coach, Mo Marley, says that success at this stage of her players' careers is as much about gaining experience as it is about medals. There are lessons to learn, beginning against Poland at the Fylkisvöllur Stadium. "English women's football is progressing all the time. It is pleasing that half the senior women's team have come through the U19 structure," Marley said. "We have a good idea what we want to achieve here, but the message is that the grassroots work throughout our country is achieving goals. Intermittently our U19s qualify for these finals and when we come we try to make a statement. We have seven U17s with us, because seven of our U19s are not available, and the chance for them getting U19 tournament practice is massive."

Debutantes
Tournament debutantes Poland enter the fray at a rather different stage in their development. Coach Robert Góralczyk said: "We have about 3,500 female players in Poland with maybe 500 in the U19 category so it's not like in Germany. Women's football isn't big in Poland, unlike men's football which is the biggest sport. But after our qualification for this tournament there could be better times ahead." They have already shown that a little can go a long way. "Our qualifying was a big surprise for everyone because Russia, Finland and Wales were very strong teams," the coach continued. "Our main aim now is to show our promotion to the tournament wasn't an accident."