Bojan stars again for Spain

Bojan Krkić, the revelation of the 2005/06 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, looks like being a key player again this season after he helped Spain to victory in the annual warm-up tournament for the three top seeds and the finals hosts.

Bojan in form again
Spain, third last summer in Luxembourg when FC Barcelona striker Bojan - then just 15 - finished joint-top scorer despite only starting in one of their five games, took part in this week's competition along with the two other teams given byes to the U17 Championship Elite round, England and Portugal, plus Belgium, staging this friendly event in three of the venues for next May's finals. And from Matchday 1 onwards Spain were in total control in the Walloonia region.

England denied
It took only 22 minutes for Bojan to open the scoring on Matchday 1 in Eupen against England, who finished top of the table a year ago against France and Luxembourg. Two minutes after Bojan's solo effort, Arsenal FC's Francisco Merida made it 2-0, and although Seth Nana Ofori-Twumasi pulled one back before the break, Bojan scored again early in the second half. England substitute Henri Lansbury struck in added time, but Spain prevailed 3-2 while in Vise, Portugal and Belgium played out a 0-0 draw.

First place sealed
Two days later Portugal were held again by England in Vise, Wilson Eduardo's 46th-minute opener quickly cancelled out by Jonathan Franks, whose team ended 1-1 against a side they beat 4-0 last month. That allowed Spain to confirm themselves as tournament winners with a match to spare as they defeated Belgium 6-1 in Verviers, fighting back from conceding an early Raffaele Chiarelli goal as Ismael López claimed a hat-trick, Ander Vitoria scored twice and Bojan added his third of the competition.

Spain 'set benchmark'
To underline their superiority, Spain then completed a perfect week by overcoming neighbours Portugal 3-1 in Verviers. Although Jordi Pablo's early goal was equalised by Eduardo, Fran Mérida and Ismael put the result beyond doubt. That allowed England to secure second place as Danny Welbeck and Ashley Chambers ensured a 2-0 win against Belgium in Eupen to boost their hopes as they, Spain and Portugal look forward to the Elite round draw on 5 December. And England coach John Peacock is in no doubt who are current favourites to become European champions. "We have some good players but Spain are slightly in advance of us at the moment," he told TheFA.com. "They have set the benchmark. We want to be the best in Europe - we are not far off."