Quereda calls for show of strength

At the helm when Spain shocked Germany to claim the title in 2004, Ignacio Quereda admits to feeling "nostalgia" about that triumph and having failed to qualify for the finals in each of the past two years he insists now is the time to show it was no fluke.

'Happy memories'
Quereda is the godfather of women's football in Spain. In 19 years with the Spanish Football Federation he has nurtured the game since its infancy, overseeing the first international matches and controlling its development before receiving an impressive reward in 2004 when Spain claimed the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship. "I have happy memories of that but it is nostalgia as it's in the past and we're in a different situation now, with a chance to reaffirm our status. That was a historic milestone which marked the development of women's football in Spain and now we're working to repeat it."

'Winning mentality'
That has looked unlikely in the past two seasons as France and then Sweden progressed at their expense, yet a 14-0 victory against Latvia this time around spelt a new dawn. Quereda's team then held Italy in the second qualifying round and that proved decisive as they booked a place in Iceland at the Azzurre's expense following wins against Serbia and Switzerland. "We drew against Italy but we were lucky," the coach admitted. "It is only because of goal difference that we finished top of the group. We don't have great individuals; we have good players. What we do have is a good team, a cohesive group who are organised, ambitious, have a winning mentality and don't drop their heads in tough circumstances."

Open group
Quereda's 57th birthday falls the day after the group stage ends in Iceland and he is determined to celebrate it in style by getting through a section that includes France, Poland and England. "France are one of those teams that have always been up there and logically they're a team to look out for," said the former Real Madrid CF amateur. "We can't forget about Poland though as they've done a commendable job to reach the finals and then there's England - they have improved a lot. All the teams are going to fight hard to get to the top of the group and I think it's wide open."