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  • Soccer: Semi-final foes flying high

    Dansk Boldspil-Union, Denmark
    July 26 2005

    Semi-final foes flying high


    Serbia and Montenegro and England are both in buoyant mood as they
    prepare to meet in Lurgan on Tuesday.


    By Andrew Haslam in Belfast

    Serbia and Montenegro and England are both in buoyant mood as they
    prepare to meet in the first semi-final of the 2004/05 UEFA European
    Under-19 Championship, at Mourneview Park in Lurgan on Tuesday
    afternoon.

    Saturday successes
    Serbia and Montenegro reached the last four in style, winning all
    three Group A games to clinch the section by three points from
    Germany and enjoying a 3-0 success against Greece last time out.
    England, meanwhile, scored twice in the last ten minutes against
    Norway on Saturday to edge above the Norwegians and claim the
    runners-up berth in Group B. These results leave both coaches full of
    optimism.

    'Huge achievement'
    "Reaching the semi-finals of this competition for the first time is a
    huge achievement for our team," said Serbia and Montenegro coach
    Zvonko Zivkovic. "Of course, I hope that this is only the start for
    our team, and that we can go on and reach the final. We will see next
    Tuesday.

    'Test against the best'
    "We want to play the best team possible. I want to test my players
    against the best and see how they perform against the top sides,"
    Zivkovic went on. "But a semi-final is nothing special, you only have
    to win that and reach the final. We will have no problem getting
    motivated to play England. Now I think it will be much easier for us
    - I hope we will play better in the knockout stages than we did in
    the group games."

    Competitive instinct
    Zivkovic has tinkered with his side throughout the tournament and may
    opt to do so again, saying: "I might look to freshen up the side -
    some of the players are tired and I always try to make changes when I
    see that happening. I'm a sportsman and I'm here because I think we
    can win the tournament. If I didn't believe that, I'd go and play a
    nice relaxing game of golf."

    Footballing contest
    For his part, England coach Martin Hunter is relishing the
    opportunity the semi-final offers his players, saying: "Serbia and
    Montenegro will be a different game, more of a football game than the
    match with Norway, which was a real battle. I went out to watch
    Serbia and Montenegro in the Elite round and they are a very talented
    team, so it's going to be a very good game, a very tight game I would
    have thought, and we're looking forward to it."

    'Heart and passion'
    Grant Leadbitter has been a key presence at the heart of the England
    midfield and believes his side can get better and better. "We've got
    the heart and passion, we know we haven't been at our best, but the
    best is yet to come from England," he told uefa.com. "All three sides
    we've played so far have been very different, very different styles
    of play - the French were very technical, Scandinavians make it hard
    for you, and Armenia were a counterattacking side - so it's three
    different challenges and I'm really glad we've come out of it.

    'Physical battle'
    "Serbia and Montenegro will be a very tough game," the Sunderland AFC
    player continued. "I imagine it will be similar to the game with
    Norway in terms of a physical battle, but if we can match them at
    that, we have the players to go on and win the game and get to
    final." England are without one of Saturday's goalscorers, striker
    Dexter Blackstock, through suspension.
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