Dansk Boldspil-Union, Denmark
July 26 2005
Semi-final foes flying high
Serbia and Montenegro and England are both in buoyant mood as they
prepare to meet in Lurgan on Tuesday.
By Andrew Haslam in Belfast
Serbia and Montenegro and England are both in buoyant mood as they
prepare to meet in the first semi-final of the 2004/05 UEFA European
Under-19 Championship, at Mourneview Park in Lurgan on Tuesday
afternoon.
Saturday successes
Serbia and Montenegro reached the last four in style, winning all
three Group A games to clinch the section by three points from
Germany and enjoying a 3-0 success against Greece last time out.
England, meanwhile, scored twice in the last ten minutes against
Norway on Saturday to edge above the Norwegians and claim the
runners-up berth in Group B. These results leave both coaches full of
optimism.
‘Huge achievement’
“Reaching the semi-finals of this competition for the first time is a
huge achievement for our team,” said Serbia and Montenegro coach
Zvonko Zivkovic. “Of course, I hope that this is only the start for
our team, and that we can go on and reach the final. We will see next
Tuesday.
‘Test against the best’
“We want to play the best team possible. I want to test my players
against the best and see how they perform against the top sides,”
Zivkovic went on. “But a semi-final is nothing special, you only have
to win that and reach the final. We will have no problem getting
motivated to play England. Now I think it will be much easier for us
– I hope we will play better in the knockout stages than we did in
the group games.”
Competitive instinct
Zivkovic has tinkered with his side throughout the tournament and may
opt to do so again, saying: “I might look to freshen up the side –
some of the players are tired and I always try to make changes when I
see that happening. I’m a sportsman and I’m here because I think we
can win the tournament. If I didn’t believe that, I’d go and play a
nice relaxing game of golf.”
Footballing contest
For his part, England coach Martin Hunter is relishing the
opportunity the semi-final offers his players, saying: “Serbia and
Montenegro will be a different game, more of a football game than the
match with Norway, which was a real battle. I went out to watch
Serbia and Montenegro in the Elite round and they are a very talented
team, so it’s going to be a very good game, a very tight game I would
have thought, and we’re looking forward to it.”
‘Heart and passion’
Grant Leadbitter has been a key presence at the heart of the England
midfield and believes his side can get better and better. “We’ve got
the heart and passion, we know we haven’t been at our best, but the
best is yet to come from England,” he told uefa.com. “All three sides
we’ve played so far have been very different, very different styles
of play – the French were very technical, Scandinavians make it hard
for you, and Armenia were a counterattacking side – so it’s three
different challenges and I’m really glad we’ve come out of it.
‘Physical battle’
“Serbia and Montenegro will be a very tough game,” the Sunderland AFC
player continued. “I imagine it will be similar to the game with
Norway in terms of a physical battle, but if we can match them at
that, we have the players to go on and win the game and get to
final.” England are without one of Saturday’s goalscorers, striker
Dexter Blackstock, through suspension.