Serbia seeking show of strength

SERBIA
Serbia changed their head coach in April, Aleksandar Stanojević taking over at FK Partizan after two years in charge with Tomislav Sivić succeeding him at the Under-19 national side, who have played Russia (2-1), Turkey (2-3), Ukraine (0-2) and Greece (1-1) this year. The new man's only serious fitness worry is PFC CSKA Moskva defender Uroš Ćosić, who has muscle problem, Serbia beating FK Vojvodina's youth team 4-1 in their only match since Sivić took over. "Our target is to qualify," said the coach. "We're very good in all positions. I don't have any problems and I'm very satisfied. Our players have so much experience and that means a lot for us."

Qualifying round: Belarus 5-0, Faroe Islands 2-0, Greece 1-0 (Group 5 winners)

Key players: Adem Ljajić (midfielder, ACF Fiorentina), Danijel Aleksić (forward, Genoa CFC), Filip Djuričić (midfielder, SC Hereenveen), Milan Milanović (defender, FC Lokomotiv Moskva)

SWITZERLAND
Switzerland played Greece (3-1), Poland (1-1) and France (2-2) in a mini-tournament in Limoges in November before friendlies in 2010 against Poland (1-1) and Italy (0-1) extended their winless run to four matches. In their last two outings the Swiss camp bemoaned the lack of effectiveness in front of goal, coach Martin Trümpler saying: "If you don't score, the other team will punish you. We are lacking some fine-tuning. The players are getting different playing time at their clubs, so it's our task to get them all to the same level."

Qualifying: Lithuania 5-0, Estonia 5-0, Croatia 0-1 (Group 4 runners-up)

Key players: René Borkovic (goalkeeper, BSC Young Boys), Fabio Daprelà (defender, West Ham United FC), Michael Lang (defender, FC St. Gallen), Alexandre Pasche (midfielder, BSC Young Boys), Admir Mehmedi (striker, FC Zürich)

DENMARK
Per Andersen has prepared his team with a two-day training camp in February, two away friendlies against Belgium in early March (a 3-1 win and a 2-0 defeat) and a 2-0 friendly loss in France at the end that month, before a three-day training camp that began on 10 May. "This is a very strong and versatile group," said the head coach. "We can see an obvious and positive effect from the fact that several of these players are already playing in the first division and even in the Superliga."

Qualifying round: Poland 1-2, Israel 1-0, Azerbaijan 3-0 (Group 13 winners)

Key players: Jens Stryger Larsen (attacking midfielder, Brøndby IF) Thomas Delaney (attacking midfielder, FC København), Nikola Sarić (forward, Liverpool FC)

AUSTRIA
Having squeezed into the elite round as one of the two best third-placed sides, mini-tournament hosts Austria may be considered outsiders but a 2-1 defeat of Greece in their most recent friendly on 2 March has given cause for confidence. Furthermore they have home advantage on their side and coach Andreas Heraf has a clear vision as to the strategy his side will adopt, saying: "We have to keep a clean sheet as long as possible and focus on dead-ball situations and counterattacks."

Qualifying round: Armenia 5-1, Romania 0-4, Scotland 1-0 (third in Group 6)

Key players: Stefan Hierländer (midfielder, SK Austria Kärnten), Christian Klem (mdifielder, SK Sturm Graz), Robert Gucher (striker, Genoa CFC)