Records reward hosts' hard work

Belarus Football Federation president Gennadi Nevyglas heralded a widespread effort after the first round of matches at the 2009 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship drew 12,500 spectators – only 2,273 shy of the record total for the whole tournament set in 2006.

Big effort
"We made a concerted organisational effort," Nevyglas told uefa.com. "There are adverts throughout the city and on TV. We also invited children from summer camps – they told me they were fed up of going to the forests and wanted to see some football." Their efforts were rewarded. The 3,850 supporters that turned out for the goalless draw between Iceland and Norway was a new high for a match at this tournament, surpassing the 3,500 that watched last year's final in Tours.

Last record standing
An hour later the record was broken again as 5,000 were in Borisov to see the hosts defeated 4-1 by Switzerland. "I know the supporters really enjoyed it," Nevyglas added. "Belarus lost but they were cheering the team on right until the end." The aggregate tournament attendance record is likely to be smashed on Thursday, and the only mark still standing is the record attendance in the UEFA European Women's U19 Championship, qualifying or finals. A crowd of 6,002 in Ludwigshafen saw Germany beat Finland 3-0 in the third round of the 1999/00 edition, when the competition was U18.

* After just one Matchday