Croatia and Belgium advance
Monday, September 28, 2009
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Coaches Ivan Gudelj and Bob Browaeys, who led Croatia and Belgium to the Under-17 semi-finals in 2005 and 2007 respectively, can dream of repeats after their sides won through qualifying round Group 3.
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Coaches Ivan Gudelj and Bob Browaeys, who led Croatia and Belgium to the UEFA European Under-17 Championship semi-finals in 2005 and 2007 respectively, can dream of repeats after their sides won through 2009/10 qualifying round Group 3.
Pair through
Both were on four points after two matches, two ahead of hosts Montenegro, and the leading duo booked their Elite round places after Croatia's concluding 1-0 win against Belgium as the home nation lost 8-1 to Denmark, who had been beaten in their opening fixtures. Croatia and Belgiumn will be joined in the 9 December draw by the two third-placed sides with the best record against the leading pair in their group; only one of the other 12 pools has been completed and Denmark are ahead of Belarus in that reckoning.
Belgium on top
Montenegro drew 1-1 with Croatia in the opening set of games, Miloš Nikolić's 28th-minute opener for the hosts cancelled out just after half-time by Bojan Ćorić's own goal. Belgium fell behind on 23 minutes against Denmark to a Christopher Geertsen goal but Dino Arslanagic and Hannes van der Bruggen turned the game in quick succession just before the break and Michael Lallem and confirmed a 3-1 victory following the hour mark.
Denmark defeated
Denmark's hopes of a top-two finish disappeared after they suffered another loss to Croatia. Kruno Ivančić and Karlo Težak made it 2-0 at the interval and Denmark could only reply with an effort from substitute Kenneth Zohore ten minutes from time. Belgium maintained the group lead with a 1-1 draw against Montenegro. Thorgan Hazard, whose brother Eden was in the 2007 Belgium squad on home soil, scored on 24 minutes but Sava Gardasević equalised after half-time.
Montenegro ousted
However, Montenegro's hopes were destroyed by that concluding defeat by Denmark, with a Zohore hat-trick added to by goals from Geertsen, Frederik Gytkjaer and an Andreas Jensen double prior to substitute Viktor Fischer's added-time clincher. Filip Raicević had pulled the score back to 3-1 just before the break. Marko Livaja's 56th-minute striker gave Croatia victory against Belgium but the other result had ensured both teams' progress.