Czech Republic and Serbia out to take final step

Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Hřebík and his Serbia counterpart Dejan Govedarica are anticipating a tight encounter when their sides meet in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-finals.

The Czechs go into the contest in Mogosoaia as the competition's form team having won all three of their games im Romania – the last two, against the Republic of Ireland and Greece, at the Football Centre FRF, the semi-final venue – yet the experienced Hřebík is taking nothing for granted.

"Obviously our overall aim now is to get to the final, but the semi-final is our first objective," said the 62-year-old, who left the stadium promptly after the 1-0 win against Greece on Tuesday in order to attend Serbia's 1-1 draw against Belgium in nearby Buftea."Every match is very tough and you can see there's not much difference between the teams, but we'll see what we can do."

Hřebík's charges lost their first competitive game of the season, to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia last October, but their subsequent eight-match unbeaten run – and current five-game winning streak – prompts optimism that this might be the Czechs' year after semi-final defeats in 2003, 2006 and 2008.

"Three wins here give us momentum but we're glad we've been able to play our own way," Hřebík explained. "We have tried to find a better way to play in the Czech Republic, football is changing and it's up to us to do the same. Knockout football is a different situation but we'll stick to the same style. That's our way."

Both teams welcome back key midfielders after Matchday 3 suspensions, Martin Sladký returning for the Czechs while Miloš Jojić is available again for Serbia, whose coach is doing his best to ensure his side are fully briefed. "We've got DVDs of all three of the Czechs' games out here and we'll make full use of them," Govedarica said. "The players were pretty tired after the Belgium game but it's up to us to help them recover and make sure we're ready.

Govedarica's team were beaten in the last four in 2005 – as Serbia & Montenegro – and 2009 and their coach believes their feats in Romania deserve recognition. "Our aim is always to qualify for the final tournament," he said. "We came here to give a good representation of Serbian football and being in the last four in Europe is a great success for us. After beating Turkey in the first game we saw our chance; we've got to the semi-finals and now we'll do our best there."

Serbia's success has aroused considerable interest in their own country and hopes are high that the best might be yet to come. "This is a tremendous success; immediately after we got through the general secretary of the Football Association [of Serbia] phoned me to congratulate us, the media is following closely and that's good news for our team," Govedarica added. "Getting to the finals is a big achievement, the last four is even better and now we'll look to reach the last two."