Against all the odds, the Spanish women's U-19 side was crowned European Champions Sunday after upsetting the hugely fancied Germans in the final. The result was all the more astounding as the German side had crushed the Iberians 7-0 in an earlier group game. However, there was some consolation for Germany, as the losing finalists will join Italy, Russia and of course champions Spain at the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand between 10 and 27 November 2004.

After the ignominious defeat in their previous encounter, Ignacio Quereda's side were hungry for revenge against the Germans. Having left six of his first team on the bench during the 7-0 defeat, the coach recalled his strongest XI and orchestrated an almost perfect game plan to disrupt the seemingly unstoppable German attack. Half an hour into the game, after being frustrated on numerous occasions by the previously impregnable German defence, the Spanish striker Jade gave her side the lead when she deftly lobbed Rinkes. The Germans refused to lie down after going behind and equalized in first-half stoppage time when their captain Krahn scored from close range after a poorly cleared corner.

Quereda's young charges came out for the second half determined not to let the historic opportunity slip through their fingers. Sure enough, it took just eight minutes for Spain to score the second and decisive goal. The hero of the hour was Iraia, whose exquisite free kick was enough to hand the Spanish women their first major title.  The women's triumph showed that the talented crop of Spanish youngsters coming through at underage level is not only confined to the men's game. The Iberian girls matched the achievements of their male counterparts who won their own European U-19 Championship in Switzerland just weeks ago.

German coach Silvia Neid came close to achieving her stated goal of putting her country back on the summit of European football, but came up short despite some magnificent performances from her players throughout the tournament. They followed a 4-0 win against Finland with the aforementioned 7-0 win over Spain, before beating Russia by an incredible 8-0 scoreline in the semi-final. In fact the only goals Germany conceded in the entire tournament were the two in the final.

Despite being unable to win back their title, Germany finished the tournament as top scorers and had five of their players in the leading goal scorer's chart. The outright award went to Anja Mittag, who chalked up six strikes in just five games.


Italy and Russian complete European delegation for Thailand

Another of the shocks of the championship was the early exit of the fancied Norwegian and French sides. As finalists at the previous championship, they were expected to dominate what turned out to be a fiercely competitive Group B. All four teams finished on 4 points though, and it was goal difference that saw Italy and Russia through to the semi-finals and qualified for Thailand.

Italy then had one foot in the final when they led Spain until the 88th minute of their semi-final, but a strike by the Spanish striker Miriam frustrated their hopes. The Azzurre came into the last four with their confidence sky-high after their earlier group success. Despite the bitter disappointment of their semi-final defeat, coach Elisabetta Bavagnoli was still smiling at the end: "We showed people in this tournament the strengths of Italian football and our ability to get results when it mattered. We'll be leaving with our heads held high as we not only made the semi-finals, but more importantly we earned a place at the World Championship - something we scarcely imagined beforehand."

In only their second appearance in the latter stages of the tournament (the first was 1997/8), Russia were without doubt the surprise package of the championship. Despite losing 5-1 in their opening game, Valentin Grishin's youngsters bounced straight back to grind out an impressive 1-1 draw with the reigning champions France. They followed that with a shock 3-0 win over the fancied Norwegians to reach the semi-finals where Germany stopped them in their tracks.

The hosts Finland left empty-handed with just 1 goal scored and 10 against. Their lone strike came in their 2-1 defeat against Switzerland who themselves lost to Spain (3-1) and to Germany.

Russia, Italy, Spain will be playing in their first FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand, while Germany will be hoping to improve on their third-place finish in the last edition at Canada 2002.