the U17 EC starts today in Belgium. Anyone planning to go? Coaches set for U17 derby day Wednesday, 2 May 2007 by Paul Safferfrom Brussels Gruop B of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship opens with a dream derby between hosts Belgium and the Netherlands and before that England meet surprise qualifiers Iceland, who look set to be without their key player. Waiting over The Low Countries encounter takes place in Tubize and Belgium coach Bob Browaeys, his side fresh from a morale-boosting 1-0 friendly win in Germany at the weekend, is excited. "We have worked towards this for two years," Browaeys told uefa.com. "We have tried a lot of things and we hope we are ready. There is always pressure in the first game, we are playing against our Dutch friends. I'm looking forward to it and hope it will be an attractive game. Every time we play the Netherlands it is a special game as we took our philosophy of youth development from them ten years ago and they gave us a lot of ideas." Nelom out Two of the Dutch squad, PSV Eindhoven forward Genero Zeefuik and AFC Ajax striker Jarchinio Antonia, have already made their first-team debuts, but left-back Miguel Nelom has damaged his knee and been replaced by Ridny Cairo. "These things happen," said Netherlands coach Albert Stuivenberg, who also is without suspended midfielder Daley - son of Danny - Blind against Belgium. "It is a real pity if you are 16 or 17 and a regular team player and you are out before the championship." As for the game, he added: "It will be a very nice atmosphere. A lot of pressure, maybe, but two teams that like to play attacking football." Sigthórsson blow Like the Dutch, Iceland have suffered a late blow as the top scorer in the Elite round - and four-goal hero in the decisive 6-5 win against Russia - Kolbeinn Sigthórsson hurt his hip on Sunday and may not play any part in the tournament. "At the moment, probably not," coach Lúkas Kostic admitted, though it cannot take away from the thrill of Iceland's first final tournament at any level for a decade, a qualification that surprised him as much as anyone. "It is a great honour, they are very exited and looking forward to the games. They are well up for it. Icelanders are big fans of English football, you can see it daily in Iceland. There is no better game to start than England. I know almost all the parents will be here. All my friends are calling daily. There is big interest in Iceland, but no pressure on our team." Respect for Iceland England manager John Peacock has replaced injured defender Tommy Smith with Gavin Hoyte, younger brother of Arsenal FC colleague Justin, and has forward Rhys Murphy suspended in Ronse. He knows not to underestimate Iceland, saying: "They won't be easy, we don't take any game lightly. With me the players will understand they do need to take it seriously, they know from this year no game is easy. Our expectations are higher but we have to fulfil them and the attitude has to be correct." ©uefa.com 1998-2007. All rights reserved. Date Group Match Location Kick-off Wed 2 May A FRA v ESP Verviers 16.00 Wed 2 May B ISL v ENG Ronse 16.00 Wed 2 May A GER v UKR Eupen 18.00 Wed 2 May B NED v BEL Tubize 18.00 Fri 4 May B BEL v ENG Tournai 16.00 Fri 4 May A ESP v UKR Vise 16.00 Fri 4 May A FRA v GER Eupen 18.30 Fri 4 May B NED v ISL Ronse 20.15 Mon 7 May A ESP v GER Eupen 15.30 Mon 7 May A UKR v FRA Verviers 15.30 Mon 7 May B ENG v NED Tubize 17.30 Mon 7 May B BEL v ISL Tournai 17.30 Thu 10 May 5/6 play-off A3 v B3 Vise 18.00 Thu 10 May semi-final tbc Tournai 17.30 Thu 10 May semi-final tbc Tubize 20.15 Sun 13 May final tbc Tournai 17.45 All kick-off times CET ©uefa.com 1998-2007. All rights reserved. Unfortunately Eurosport doesn't show the match against Holland. Anyone knows where I can watch this?
england - belgium 1-1 holland - belgium 2-2 iceland - belgium 1-5 belgium through to the semi's and they qualified for the WC in Korea, in september. Very cool for those guys, wether they make it to become pro's or not. As 17-year-olds, going to south-korea with the national youth team, must be a nice experience
Great news. Apparently Kevin Kis is an exciting left winger/center striker. The young KRC Genk player didn't make the team in the first match but he came on against England and has done very well since. Spain will be difficult in the semis (with players like Fran Merida and Bojan) but we still have three players that can become top scorers of the tournament (Ringoot, De Pauw and Kis all have two goals, together with five other players). Let's hope these guys turn into great players...
Apparently, half of the team came out of Genk's youth development. If they can hold onto most of them, they have a bright future.
In SM/VM Filip De Wilde and Bob Browaeys are boasting Eden Hazard, saying he will be a future star and that he will become better than Defour. Too bad he doesn't play for a Belgian team...
Blatter: A U-17 pre-World Cup Invitational To Kick off Later This Month in Korea Republic In preparation for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup which kicks off next month in Korea Republic, FIFA President Joseph Blatter has helped setup a U-17 Inter-Confederation invitational tournament which will also be held in Korea Republic later this month. Invited to this tournament are the champions and best squads from every confederation, the 8 teams that will take part in this competition are Brazil, Nigeria, Ghana, Spain, Haiti, Japan, New Zealand, and the hosts, Korea Republic. For most fans this competition is like a "U-17 Confederations Cup" since it will kick off 1 month before the FIFA U-17 World Cup takes place next month. Interestingly enough it will be good preparation for Nigeria, Haiti, and Japan which will all meet each other again in group D next month while New Zealand will get a preview of the young samba kings.