U-19 Championships

Pogue Mahone said:
Merida looked amazing a few years back. I remember him almost single-handedly tearing our youth team apart in a cup game before he was subbed off and we got back on top (apparently he had played another game the day before).

By all accounts he's gone of the boil for a while but I thought he was Spain's best player when I watched their U-19 game against Serbia (Spain were much the better side too, very unlucky to lose IMO)
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Spain dominated possession, they weren't necessarily the better side. Serbia did a lot more when they had the ball than Spain.
 
Spain were quite lucky against Turkey who were by far the better side for most of the game. Their much vaunted youth system doesn't seem quite as strong as it was, given their poor performance in the u21s also.
 
If it's the tournament I'm thinking of, I think they drew all three games 0-0 (definitely scored no goals, might have lost one of the games).
 
Semi Finals today - The coverage of the England game is from 2.30pm on Eurosport, with Serbia after. Apparently Matty James has gone back to England and Drinkwater had a harmstring strain so that's why he wasn't involved in the Slovakia game.

A couple of articles (including a good interview with Welbeck) from the Uefa site:

Old rivals ready to duel in Donetsk

England and France will continue one of football's oldest rivalries when they meet in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-finals in Donetsk with little between the countries at this level.

Evenly matched
The pair have met in nine competitive U19 and U18 matches, each winning three. Les Bleus came out on top in the teams' most significant fixture, Jean Gallice guiding a side including current senior internationals Hugo Lloris, Abou Diaby and Yoann Gourcuff to a 3-1 win in the 2005 U19 final, but perhaps of more relevance is the 2007 European U17 Championship semi-final between the teams. Seven members of this England squad were involved, with three members of the France team appearing as an early Victor Moses goal earned England victory despite injury to Henri Lansbury, keeper Jason Steele keeping an excellent clean sheet

'Half a job done'
This time round England qualified for a first U19 semi-final since 2005 with a record-breaking 7-1 win against Slovenia, although coach Brian Eastick is not satisfied yet. "Our objective is to try to win it," he told uefa.com. "We're delighted to be in the semi-finals; it's half a job done. We have improved, we looked very rusty in the first game against Switzerland. The players' fitness and understanding is improving but the bar's gone up. We're looking forward to it but we're under no illusions. We'll have to continue to improve to have a chance of going through."

Fitness cloud
Andros Townsend is suspended and fellow midfielder Matthew James has returned to England while Joe Mattock and Danny Drinkwater sat out the Slovenia game with hamstring problems. "If they're not 100 per cent fit I shan't risk them," explained Eastick, who expects a stern test at the RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium. "France have some very good players. I saw them play Scotland earlier this year and I was very impressed. They look a very good team. Some of our passing was very good against Slovenia; the tempo of the game was probably quicker against Ukraine and I suspect the tempo against France will be similar to that, which may suit us."

'Great pleasure'
France midfielders Saïd Mehamha and Yann M'Vila missed that U17 semi-final for personal reasons and suspension respectively and the latter – now U19 captain – is banned again for this game. Gallice's side ousted Spain to reach a second semi-final in three seasons and the coach is thankful for that confidence boost, telling uefa.com: "We're confident but very tired after the game against Spain; that was a tough match. Spain are our bête noir so to win against them is always a great pleasure."

Offensive outlook
This season is Gallice's first in charge of the U19s since that 2005 triumph and over the past year he has become familiar with the strengths of this squad, adding: "We've achieved the first objective; now let's see if we can get to the final. We're getting better and better with each game and are trying to play offensive football and score goals. We'll have two or three tactical plans to deal with England. I know my players and I'm not surprised with what they've achieved. We have played nine games in qualifying and the finals and lost once so I'm pleased with that."

Welbeck wants more from England

Brian Eastick's England were in rampant mood in their final UEFA European Under-19 Championship Group A game against Slovenia, reaching the last four with a 7-1 victory in Donetsk; a finals record. That represented a considerable step forward from draws with Switzerland and Ukraine in their first two games, but striker Danny Welbeck - who scored twice against Slovenia - believes more is still required if England are to progress.

'Edgy start'
"It's been a bit of an edgy start but in the last game we came on and pushed for the semi-finals, and we're all happy to have done that," the forward told uefa.com. "It's pre-season for us; we've only been in training for two or three weeks so it was always going to happen, but we're coming along well now. This is the top eight teams in Europe so every game was always going to be hard. It's tough mentally and physically but we've improved as each game has gone on and hopefully we can improve in the next as well and go one step further."

'You never settle'
Welbeck, however, admitted that he could find fault with even a six-goal margin of victory, adding: "You never settle for how you've played; you always want to play better. All strikers want to score goals, and Slovenia was a great game for us all to get a run-out and score a couple of goals. We'll be looking to get as many as possible in the next game as well. I've got two goals now and that's not bad, although I wish I'd scored more in the previous games. Maybe I've not had full one-on-one chances, but there's been a couple of half-chances where I could have grabbed a goal had I been a bit more alert. That'll come with more games under my belt."

Second chance
The Manchester United FC starlet had to withdraw from England's squad for last month's U21 championship with what he describes as "a minor knee injury" and is yet to complete 90 minutes in Ukraine, although he explained: "I'm feeling fine. The pitches are quite hard out here so it's a precaution at the moment. As the games have gone on my fitness has built up and I feel a lot sharper in and around the box. It was very disappointing to miss the U21s but I'm glad I got the second chance coming here. It definitely made me more eager to be here; to miss the U21s was a big blow but to come with the U19s was a step up."

France reunion
Next up are Group B winners France, with Welbeck one of seven England players who were in the squad that defeated the same opponents at the same stage of the U17 championship two years ago, a game he remembers well. "We've seen little snips of France; they'll be a good team, fast, strong. We played them in the U17s and won 1-0. Henri Lansbury came off with a bad injury and they pegged us back for the last five or ten minutes, but I remember what going through was like. That's pushing us on to go further again. That experience is a massive factor when it comes to tournaments like these." Asked what he will take back to United from these finals, Welbeck replied: "Hopefully a medal, and hopefully it'll be gold."
 
Welbeck and Drinkwater start according to Uefa.
 
Disappointing game. England have had a lot of possession since the goal but not really threatened apart from set pieces. A lot of of niggly fouls and a pedantic ref has made it pretty scrappy. Welbeck seems to be suffering with a shoulder injury and has not had very good service. Drinkwater struggling to impose himself in a very competitive midfield.

Gosling has been a real disappointment playing a more defensive midfield role, he's looked well off the pace and his distribution has been erratic and careless.

I have a feeling the 2nd half could kick off a bit if it continues in the same vain.
 
Annoying. We were improving as well.
 
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