Experience counts for Denmark

Semi-finalists 12 months ago, Denmark coach Henrik Lehm believes experience will stand his charges in good stead as the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship kick-off on Monday draws ever nearer.

Denied
A young Denmark squad marched through the group stages in Switzerland last year, edging out Sweden to secure a meeting with France in the last four. Marie-Laure Delie's second-half strike proved their undoing in Solothurn as it was Les Bleuettes who progressed to the final but Lehm is confident that 12 months on his team will provide an even stronger force. "Coming from a small county like ours, it was a great achievement to claim bronze last year though we were unfortunate to lose the semi-final in the end," the 46-year-old told uefa.com. "However, this year most of the players have experienced a major tournament like this before, and I expect that experience will be an advantage."

'Tough starter'
Perennial frontrunners France and Germany also contain a number of seasoned campaigners, with the likes of Delie preparing for their third tournament. Holders Germany, who Denmark drew 0-0 with in March, will be their first opponents on 18 July and Lehm believes the champions go into Group A in Iceland as firm favourites. "Germany will be a tough starter though we ought to beat Iceland and Norway, the other teams in our group," he said. "Neither will be easy, though, and it is far from guaranteed that we will progress. We drew 1-1 against a strong Norwegian team in qualification this spring and from what I have seen Iceland have quite good team too. I am definitely optimistic about our chances though."

'Optimistic'
Should Denmark repeat their performance of last year and reach the semi-finals then they will secure a place in the FIFA Women's U-20 World Cup – and Lehm is setting that as the pre-tournament goal. "We are aiming to finish in the top four and qualify for the World Cup in Chile next year," Lehm continued. "Germany and France have got to be the biggest favourites, probably with France being the strongest team. Those two have so many talented players to choose from and the rest of us can only dream of having the same conditions. Still, I am definitely optimistic about our chances."