Surprises galore in Elite round
Wednesday, 1 June 2005
By Andrew Haslam

There will be a new name on the UEFA European Under-19
Championship trophy after this year’s final at
Belfast’s Windsor Park on 29 July following a dramatic
conclusion to the Elite round on Tuesday evening.

Armenian celebrations

With holders Spain already eliminated, 2003 winners
Italy went into their final round of fixtures in Group
4 knowing that victory against Belgium would all but
guarantee a place in the eight-team final tournament,
which will be played in Northern Ireland from 18 to 29
July. However, Paolo Berrettini’s team slumped to a
2-0 defeat, allowing Armenia – who had never before
reached a UEFA finals tournament at any level – to
qualify in style, with a 5-1 win against
mini-tournament hosts Hungary.

New names

The tournament will have an unfamiliar look about it,
with Northern Ireland having never reached a finals
tournament at U19 or U18 level while only Germany of
the sides who were present in Switzerland a year ago
qualified this time round. The Germans clinched their
finals berth with something to spare, emerging
victorious all three Group 2 games to ensure a
six-point winning margin in the section.

English exuberance

The first side to join the hosts this summer were
England, who claimed first place in Group 1 thanks to
three wins on home soil at the end of March. Martin
Hunter’s side were next joined by France – four-time
winners of the old UEFA European-18 Championship, the
last in 2000 – who travelled to Spain for Group 3, and
held firm to end the holders’ reign.

Serbo-Montenegrin success

Group 7 was the next to be decided, and again the
first-placed side won all three games to progress in
style – this time it was Serbia and Montenegro who
made the most of home advantage to claim a finals
berth. Group 6 proved a different story, however, as
mini-tournament hosts Russia were joined by
near-neighbours Ukraine and Lithuania – but it was
Norway who held sway, winning two games and drawing
one to hold off the Ukrainians by a point.

Final-day drama

With the Germans then winning Group 2, that left two
places in Northern Ireland still to be decided. Both
sections went down to the last round of fixtures, with
Armenia prevailing in Group 4 while Greece claimed
their third successive Group 5 victory to secure the
eighth and last place in the finals.

Finals draw

The eight successful teams will discover their final
opponents on Friday when the draw takes place in
Belfast at 14.30CET.

2004/05 UEFA European Under-19 Championship

Elite round final standings

Group 1
1 England*
2 Sweden
3 Denmark
4 Moldova

Group 2
1 Germany
2 Czech Republic*
3 Netherlands
4 Croatia

Group 3
1 France
2 Spain*
3 Israel
4 Portugal

Group 4
1 Armenia
2 Belgium
3 Italy
4 Hungary*

Group 5
1 Greece
2 Scotland
3 Slovakia
4 Austria*

Group 6
1 Norway
2 Ukraine
3 Russia*
4 Lithuania

Group 7
1 Serbia and Montenegro*
2 Poland
3 Republic of Ireland
4 Albania

* – Elite round mini-tournament hosts. Qualifiers in