Captains show mutual respect

To lift an international trophy would be the highlight of any career and either Conor Coady or Paco will experience that in their teenage years on Sunday when England and Spain meet in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final.

England captain Coady, should his side win the title for the first time at Vaduz's Rheinpark Stadium, would end his nation's long wait for a men's European crowd since a team including Nicky Butt, Sol Campbell, Robbie Fowler, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes won the U18 crown in 1993. That was the year of Coady's birth, while since then Spain have won the U16 and successor U17 title five times alone, not to mention U19, U21 and of course senior European honours.

Nonetheless, Liverpool FC midfielder Coady insisted: "It doesn't put pressure on any of the boys. It's a great achievement if we can win it. But we've got to get past Spain first. We watched them the other night, they are a quality side with technical players, we've got to be on top of our game to beat them."

Certainly England have their work cut out stopping Valencia CF striker Paco, one of three Spain squad captains, who has scored six goals in the finals – three more than anyone else – and a record 14 including qualifying. "I am very proud to have scored six goals in such an important championship and it is very important to thank all my team-mates, without them I wouldn't have scored those goals," Paco said. "Right now I feel very happy."

Paco is able to follow in the footsteps of Spain's previous winners of this event, including Fernando Torres and Bojan Krkić – scorer of the only goal when his side beat England 1-0 in the 2007 final. "Of course I am aware of Spain's history in this championship – all the players in the senior team went to the U17 and U19 Championships," Paco said. "Hopefully we will have the same result."

While Paco's side lost one game in qualifying, England have ten victories from as many matches in their campaign. "We've got a great team spirit and as individuals we have quality players who can play all over the pitch," Coady said. "As a team we play well together, that might be the secret."

The Spain striker has certainly been impressed by his opponents. "I want to congratulate England on reaching the final," Paco said. "It will be a very difficult match for us – but also for them. Spain have worked hard to reach the final and we will see how it goes."