England set to face Portugal in Elite Qualifying Round campaign.

England v Portugal
UEFA European U17 Championship
Elite Qualifying Round
2.30pm, Wednesday 25 March 2009
Varosi Stadium, Szombathely, Hungary

England’s bid to qualify for the UEFA European U17 Championship Finals gets underway on Wednesday, when they take on Portugal in Hungary.

This will be the first of three matches that England have to play in five days and U17 Head Coach, John Peacock, believes this exposure to tournament football will be extremely beneficial to his players.

The Young Lions face Serbia on 27 March before concluding procedures against the hosts three days later, but having lost out to Portugal twice already this season, Peacock refuses to look beyond the opening game.

"We know it will be tough," he admitted. "Of all the games I’ve been a part of during my time with England, I’d say I’ve had more difficulty and more games against Portugal than any other nation."

Indeed, England were beaten 2-1 in August’s Nationwide Tournament, which was followed up with a 2-0 loss in the Algarve Tournament in February and Peacock is hoping his players have learned from those two defeats.

"So far this year they’ve got the better of us," he reflected. "I don’t think we deserved to lose the [Nationwide Tournament] game at Rushden, we were very unlucky. A couple of defensive errors perhaps cost us over the two games, but we have to learn from that. We need to become difficult to beat first and foremost.

"If we can get off to a good start against Portugal and get a good result, that sets things up for us to a have positive tournament from then on in."

And it is the experience of tournament football that Peacock believes will be invaluable to his players should they qualify for the Finals, which will be held in Germany in May.

"We’re taking them from an environment where they’re used to just playing matches on a Saturday and maybe one midweek," he said. "But now we’re asking them to play three games in five days. It’ll be a great experience for them.

"The more tournament football these boys play from 16, 17 and upwards, the better. They have to learn how to manage tournament situations, because that’s ultimately what they have to overcome if and when they reach the Finals.

"It is a tough group, but if we want to get to the European Finals you’ve got to overcome the top teams. We’ll try and get a good result against Portugal and then take it from there."

The Squad