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Schomann banks on German support

Germany could barely have wished for a better UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying campaign. In fact, in the Elite round their record of winning all three fixtures by three-goal margins was a competition best, and they attracted sell-out home crowds totalling more than 18,000. Unsurprisingly, coach Paul Schomann is upbeat going into the finals, with all three group stage games being played in Eupen, next to the German-Belgian border.

'Tremendous atmosphere'
"It was a tremendous atmosphere at the Elite round," Schomann told uefa.com. "There were a lot of spectators and it was a big event for our players - they have never had so many fans, they felt a wave that comes from the crowd. I know a lot of spectators will come across the border and see our matches because it is very near. We will expect a lot of German fans."

Confidence high
However, Schomann is well aware that their superb Elite round performances against Greece, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, not to mention winning February's Algarve Tournament against France, Portugal and England, will count for nothing when the European finals begin. "We have a lot of confidence from recent tournaments, have won a lot of important matches," he said. "And that has given us confidence. But that is yesterday - now we are looking forward and have to take each game as it comes. But we still have confidence and are looking forward to this strong tournament."

Kroos talent
Last season's German U17 squad reached the semi-finals in Luxembourg, and were unfortunate not to go even further. But one of the stars of that squad, playmaker Toni Kroos, is young enough to be back again this season, something that pleases Schomann. "Kroos is one of the most talented players," the coach said. "He is a big talent. But the whole team is a community and very strong throughout; they showed in qualifying just how good they all are. They are very athletic and we have a good goalkeeper, defence, midfield and attack; our advantage is we have a very good and close team. Toni Kroos has a lot experience from last year and he can bring that into the new team."

Tough schedule
Schomann's side begin their campaign against Ukraine on 2 May, before taking on France and Spain in Group A, among the toughest schedule in any recent U17 finals. "France we know from the Algarve," Schomann said. "They are at a similar level, we beat them 1-0 but it was a good match. I have been told that Spain have a very good team and are very confident, our aim should be not to allow them to play as they have good individuals and I want to disturb their team play. I have also heard that Ukraine are very athletic, a strong, powerful team and our aim is to outplay them with our confidence that we have a better technical team."