FRANCE
Key players
Unlike the previous generations, there are no clear stars or Ligue 1 regulars. "
William Vainqueur is alone in that case," said coach Guy Ferrier. "Or should I say was, as his team [FC Nantes Atlantique] have been relegated." Ferrier has built a squad "where every player can be changed in case of injury - football is a team sport, isn't it?" Apart from midfielder Vainqueur, the most experienced is RC Lens striker
Kevin Monnet-Paquet who appeared in four
UEFA Cup games this season. He vies with AS Monaco FC's
Steve Pinau to be the best scorer with five U19 goals each so far this season. During the Elite round, SM Caen defender
Thomas Heurtaux commanded the back line in front of Montpellier Hérault SC goalkeeper
Johann Carrasso - the brother of Olympique de Marseille custodian Cedric.
GERMANY
Key players
Hertha BSC Berlin's powerful yet elegant defender
Jerome Boateng made nine Bundesliga appearances in 2006/07 as well as playing in a further 15 games in the third division for the club's reserve side. Werder Bremen forward
Kevin Schindler has only one top-flight game to his name but caught the eye with three
UEFA Cup appearances, setting up Hugo Almeida's goal in a victory at CA Osasuna. Germany's strength mainly lies in attack, particularly Bayer 04 Leverkusen's
Dennis Schmidt - scorer of four goals in five U19 appearances - and
Daniel Halfar of 1.FC Kaiserslautern, who became the club's youngest scorer in 2005/06 when he struck twice against MSV Duisburg aged 18 years and 28 days.</B>
SERBIA
Key players
Serbia's side is based around players who have plenty of Superliga experience already, particularly midfield pair
Nikola Gulan and
Miloš Bosančić, who are rising stars at FK Partizan. The more attacking
Ljubomir Fejsa is a key figure at FK Kula while much of FK Vojvodina's offensive threat rests on left-winger
Dušan Tadić, although both players are on the verge of moves away, to ACF Fiorentina and Boavista FC respectively. The undoubted star of the team, however, is forward
Miralem Sulejmani, who joined Eredivisie side SC Heerenveen from Partizan in January and scored four goals in qualifying. Widely considered the most promising player in Serbia, much will depend on his dribbling and invention.
RUSSIA<!--googleon: index-->
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Key players
The majority of the squad play their club football in the second and third divisions, with the only foreign-based player FC Levadia Tallinn striker
Nikita Andreev, who scored one of the goals that earned
UEFA Cup victory against FC Twente. Coach Ravil Sabitov - who will take charge of FC Torpedo Moskva after the finals - plays with two strikers and has won a reputation as an innovative tactician. Perhaps the biggest star is FC Spartak Moskva's
Artem Dzyuba, a powerful, technically gifted striker who can drop into midfield. Dzyuba and Andreev both scored three goals in qualifying, while on-loan PFC CSKA Moskva forward
Aleksandr Salugin provides another option.
Sergei Borodin plays for third division FC Krylya Sovetov SOK Dimitrovgrad but is considered Russia's best young goalkeeper, while defenders
Andrei Ivanov and
Sergei Golyatkin and midfield pair
Pavel Mamayev and
Igor Smolnikov are also central figures.
All this informations and more you can find on
uefa.com - UEFA European U-19 C'ship
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EURO U19 16-27/07/07
AUT
GRE
POR
ESP
FRA
GER
SRB
RUS
