Germany aim for further triumphs

Germany stage UEFA European Under-17 Championship Elite round Group 1 against Greece, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland from Wednesday fresh from victory at the prestigious Algarve Cup last month.

Algarve triumph
Paul Schomann's team had already shown their ability in October's qualifying round as they defeated F.Y.R. Macedonia 7-1, Georgia 1-0 and holders Russia 3-1, some revenge for last season's semi-final which Germany lost 1-0. At the Algarve Cup, Germany beat France 2-0, held hosts Portugal 1-1 and then overturned a half-time deficit to defeat England 3-1. "We deservedly won the tournament as well as the match against England", said Schomann. Hertha BSC Berlin midfielder Sascha Bigalke scored both goals against France and the clincher versus England to take his tally to five in nine U17 appearances.

Bigalke talent
"Sascha is a clever and skilful guy and is always trying something creative," Schomann said. Bigalke is paired in midfield with a familiar face from last season's finals squad, FC Bayern München's Toni Kroos, who has played 20 times at this level and has seven goals. Schomann explained: "Toni will take a leading role, has matured a lot due to last season's experience and is capable of dictating the pace of a match." Other key men are Bayer 04 Leverkusen winger Henning Sauerbier, who scored twice in Poland, and FC Schalke 04 defender Marvin Pachan, an "absolute leader" according to Schomann.

Greek relief
The task of opening against a Germam team unbeaten in eight games goes to Greece, who topped qualifying Group 7 as they defeated Liechtenstein 4-1, lost 2-0 to Sweden but then crucially beat Austria 2-1 thanks to a winner deep in added time from Eleftherios Kanatas after a last-minute Dimitrios Anastasopoulos own goal had left them facing elimination. Despite a fine record of reaching the second stage of qualifying, Greece have not made the finals of this competition since the U16 event of 2000, when they progressed to the last four.

Irish hope
Ireland have also missed out on all five U17 final tournaments, but were agonisingly close last year when on home soil they needed only to draw with Serbia and Montenegro but lost 3-0 and ended with eight men. A goalless draw with Denmark and 2-0 defeat of Azerbaijan and Latvia took them through the qualifying round and in January they played Italy twice, winning 1-0 and losing 2-0. Manager Sean McCaffrey said: "Germany will be favourites to go through but the other group opponents, Scotland and Greece, will fancy their chances too. Therefore, it's vital we travel to Germany with our strongest squad available. We have some match-winners in our squad, as they have shown already this season, but this is a big challenge to overcome."

Scottish selection
Scotland complete a tough-looking group and coach Ross Mathie has picked a team rich in attacking talent, including Norwich City FC striker Kris Renton, who - ironically considering their opening opponents - began the season in the Ireland squad but was injured and has now opted to represent the country of his birth. The star could be left-sided midfielder Gary Mackay Steven who made his debut in a 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland in February and last week signed for Liverpool FC from Ross County FC. For the most part, though, this is the squad that came through the qualifying round unbeaten, beating Bulgaria 1-0 and drawing with Armenia and Hungary. Subsequently they have beaten Malta 3-0 and 5-0 and defeated Northern Ireland 2-0 before the goalless result in Belfast.