England and Spain face U17 final

Spain historically have been the dominant nation in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship but in Sunday's final in Vaduz meet an England team who have won all ten games in their campaign.

Both Spain and England have four victories from four matches at the Rheinpark Stadium in Liechtenstein's capital over the last fortnight but only John Peacock's side did not drop a point in qualifying, indeed they are yet to lose the lead whenever they have gone ahead. However, England have won no men's UEFA titles since the 1993 U18 event and only once reached the most junior European final three years ago, losing 1-0 to a Bojan Krkić goal for Spain. That was the first of their unmatched two U17 titles to add to six victories in the former U16 event.

"I'm absolutely delighted to be in another final," said England manager John Peacock. "We played Spain three years ago in the final in Belgium, it was a good game then. I'm sure it will be exactly the same again. We have great respect for Spain in terms of what they have achieved in youth football in the last few years. They have been the benchmark for youth football and it should be a good spectacle in terms of two good footballing teams."

His opposite number Ginés Meléndez, able to call on striker Paco who has scored a finals-leading six goals – or an U17 record 14 including qualification – was assistant to Juan Santisteban three years ago but knows how good this England squad are. "I congratulate my friend John Peacock for his great campaign, he has a very good team," he said. "The Spanish team has great respect for the English team and we will try to win for sure, but it is possible England will win."

As well as his experience assisting Santisteban in several European finals as well as the 2007 FIFA U17 World Cup decider, Meléndez has two UEFA U19 titles from his time in charge of the elder Spain team. "I can't remember how many finals we have played but it's a lot," he said. "What is important for us is to help the players to be calm before the game. Their hard work is done, they are in the final – one of the two best teams in Europe – and our main objective is not to win but to produce good players for the senior team. "

Peacock, meanwhile, makes no secret that Spain has been a model for his own work as U17 manager and the Football Association's head of coaching. "What we are ultimately trying to do is produce young players in this age group who can go on and try to be senior international players, the same for Ginés," Peacock said. "The yardstick has been the Spanish team. We've been there or thereabouts in finals and semi-finals on many occasions. One thing that's eluded us is this trophy, hopefully we will try to make it successful this time."