Champions could face U17 final rivals
Wednesday 3 December 2008
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Spain beat France in last season's final in Turkey (©sportsfile)
UEFA European Under-17 Championship holders Spain could face rematches with the nations they beat in the last two finals, France and England, when the 2008/09 Elite round draw is made at 09.30CET on 4 December in Nyon.
Seedings
Spain were among 28 teams to progress from the qualifying round this autumn and as one of the seven sides with the best records at that stage they are in the top seeding Pot A. France, runners-up last season, are in Pot B along with 2008 semi-finalists Turkey and the Netherlands plus two more teams that competed in Antalya, Serbia and Scotland. Pot C contains the team defeated by Spain in the 2007 final, England, as well as Luxembourg, who made progress through the qualifying round of a UEFA youth competition on the pitch for the first time. Among the seven teams in Pot D are the two best third-placed sides from the 13 qualifying round groups, Georgia and Kazakhstan.
Draw
There will be seven groups of four teams in the Elite round, with one side from each pot, and only the first-placed nations in the single-venue mini-tournament will join hosts Germany in the finals from 6-18 May. The draw will be conducted by UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee first vice-chairman Jim Boyce and Danijel Aleksić, representing the Fair Play winners at the 2007/08 finals, Serbia. As far as possible, no team will be drawn to face a side they met in the qualifying round.
Seeding groups
Pot A: Austria, Denmark, Portugal, Finland, Croatia, Poland, Spain (holders).
Pot B: Netherlands, Greece, France, Turkey, Czech Republic, Serbia, Scotland.
Pot C: Romania, Belgium, Slovenia, Italy, England, Norway, Luxembourg.
Pot D: Hungary, Switzerland, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Wales, Kazakhstan.
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