Confidence the key to success in Group B
Wednesday 3 December 2008
e-mail
Print
Digg
Save
Photos/Wallpapers »
Spain coach Juan Ramón López Caro feels confidence will be a crucial factor in a testing Group B as his side come up against Germany, England and Finland. Hans-Dieter Flick, assistant to senior Germany coach Joachim Löw, anticipates two classics aganst Spain and England, whose coach Stuart Pearce expects the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship to be "even stronger" than two years ago when his side reached the semi-finals. Finland have qualified for the finals for the first time, but coach Markku Kanerva insists his side will travel to Sweden for "more than just experience" as uefa.com rounds up the reaction from Group B.
Juan Ramón López Caro, Spain coach
We know we had to work hard in qualifying so this competition will be really tough, but if we come into the tournament with confidence we can do something. We know our opponents' potential because they showed in qualifying how tough they will be to beat. I would like to know myself [which players I will have available], because the finals coincide with an important competition [the FIFA Confederations Cup] for the senior team so it depends on what decision is taken. I hope we can count on as many players as possible.
Hans-Dieter Flick, assistant to senior Germany coach Joachim Löw
We are happy to have qualified for this tournament. It is a very interesting and strong group but I'm sure we will be well prepared. For our young players it will be a great experience and we are looking forward to the tournament, and hopefully to good results. It was to be expected that we would get a tough group. Now we can look ahead to two classics against Spain and England. It could also be an advantage to play such strong teams in the early stages of the competition.
Stuart Pearce, England coach
This tournament will be even stronger than two years ago. No matter who we got, and I've looked at the eight teams, there's not a team here who will come away saying: 'We haven't got a difficult draw.' It's exciting for the players who will have an opportunity to play next summer, and one thing that's for sure is whoever lifts the trophy will have had to work for it. Normally in the group stage you have no opportunity to slip up in any game so whichever order they come in they're difficult. Finland [who England play first] will be very excited, they've not qualified by luck. Serbia weren't fancied last time and they made the final, and the same can happen here. We haven't won it for a long time so it's important that we do well in this tournament. We'll do as much homework as we can, and will be very thorough in our preparations. I'm really looking forward to it. There are only three or four friendlies for my players to show they're in good form, and for us there's five or six months to look at our opponents' strengths and weaknesses.
Markku Kanerva, Finland coach
It's going to be very challenging. England and Spain have some very familiar players for us but we come to Sweden for more than just experience. I see it as a big challenge and a chance for our players to get to the next step and compete individually with these top-class players. It has been a challenge to get this far, and now we want to keep on dreaming and hope we can surprise one of these tough teams.
©uefa.com 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
