Spain on trial in Armenia tournament
Tuesday 20 May 2008
Armenia will host UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Group 7, with Ukraine and Turkey both looking to end
holders Spain’s run in the Elite round.
Match schedule
Armenia, making their second appearance in the Elite
round, meet 2004’s beaten finalists Turkey in their
opening game in Abovyan on 22 May, while four-time
winners Spain meet Ukraine in a replay of the 2004
semi-final, which Spain won on penalties after a 2-2
draw. Ukraine play Armenia on the 24th as Spain meet
Turkey with the mini tournament ending on 27 May with
Turkey playing Ukraine and Spain facing the hosts.
SPAIN
Coach Ginés Meléndez has made seven changes to the
Spain squad that advanced through the qualifying
round. Ignacio Camacho has been brought in following a
fine stint in Club Atlético de Madrid’s first team
while Real Racing Club Santander striker Iván Bolado –
who scored twice in the Primera División this season –
is also included. There are call-ups for José Maria
Antón, Tomas Mejías, Jordi Alba Ramos and César Ortiz
while two of the stars of last year’s U17 championship
winning team – Fran Mérida and forward Daniel `El
Torito’ Aquino – will be looking to add to their
growing reputations.
Qualifying round: Albania 2-0, Liechtenstein 0-0,
Serbia 1-1 (Group 5 winners)
Key players: Francisco Mérida (midfielder, Arsenal
FC), Ignacio Camacho (midfielder, Club Atlético de
Madrid), Daniel Aquino (striker, Real Murcia CF)
UKRAINE
Roman Zozulya and Andriy Yarmolenko have been added to
the squad since the qualifying round after making
their senior debuts for FC Dynamo Kyiv, while striker
Dmytro Korkyshko misses out. The newcomers, and Dynamo
team-mate Artyom Kravets, should pose a serious
attacking threat. Coach Olexandr Lysenko said: "We
have an even group because Turkey and Armenia,
regardless of Spain, have very strong teams. Every
team is capable of taking points from the others. We
definitely want to get to the finals, but chances are
even."
Qualifying round: Azerbaijan 3-0, Moldova 2-1,
Scotland 1-0 (Group 11 winners)
Key players: Taras Stepanenko (midfielder, FC Metalurh
Zaporizhya), Maxym Belyi (defender, FK Kharkiv),
Artyom Kravets (forward, FC Dynamo Kyiv)
ARMENIA
Star players Henrikh Mkhitaryn and Sergis Karapetyan
will be banned for the first two games of the
tournament while Edgar Malakyan will sit out the first
game through suspension, and serious injuries to Gagik
Dagbashyan and Albert Tadevosyan in recent domestic
games may force coach Armen Gyulbudaghyants to make
further changes. "We have strong opposition but this
does not mean that Armenia won’t be fighting for a
place in the finals," said the coach. "You get 90
minutes to win each match, and we are looking to
surprise everyone and finish first."
Qualifying round: Lithuania 2-2, San Marino 1-0,
Poland 0-0 (Group 7 runners up)
Key players: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (midfielder, FC
Pyunik), Sargis Karapetyan (midfielder, FC Banants),
Edgar Malakyan (midfielder, FC Pyunik)
TURKEY
With plenty of players now seeing action with their
senior teams, Turkey have reason for optimism, with
18-year-old attacking midfielder Barýþ Memiþ – who has
scored twice in 15 league games – the pick of the
crop. Coach Ahmet Ceyhan said: "The players have faced
harder opponents as they have an experience from the
league. Spain are in our group and I expect that game
to be very competitive and entertaining. It’s not
important who you play against because all the teams
are ambitious."
Qualifying round: Faroe Islands 3-1, Bulgaria 2-0,
Denmark 0-0 (Group 9 winners)
Key players: Sercan Yýldýrým (forward, Bursaspor),
Barýþ Memiþ (midfielder, Trabzonspor)
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