U19 Women among top seeds for UEFA 2nd Round draw
Credit:
The Republic of Ireland U19 Women’s team will be among the six top seeds when the draw for the second qualifying round of the UEFA European Women’s U19 Championship takes place on November 20 at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Last month, Ireland topped Group 1 with wins over hosts Serbia, Cyprus and Latvia and their 100 per cent record, coupled with a goal difference of plus 15, was enough to ensure that they will be in Pot A along with Germany, France, England, Finland and Denmark.
The second qualifying round will take place from April 4 to 9, 2013, and the six group winners plus the best runner-up will qualify for the final round which will take place in Wales from August 19 to 31.
The seedings for the U19 draw are as follows:
Pot A: Germany, France, England, Finland, Denmark, Republic of Ireland
Pot B: Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Ukraine
Pot C: Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Scotland
Pot D: Iceland, Hungary, Austria, Netherlands, Russia, Greece.
The Republic of Ireland U17 Women’s team qualified for the second round of the UEFA European U17 Women’s Championship and they will be second seeds when the draw for the second qualifying round takes place on November 20.
They qualified for the Second Qualifying Round by winning all three matches in a group that contained Finland, Belarus and Georgia but they missed on being a top seed on goal difference.
The second qualifying round in the U17 competition must be played by mid-April 2013 and the four group winners will qualify for the final round which will take place in Nyon from June 25 to 28.
The seedings for the U17 draw are as follows:
Pot A: Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Norway.
Pot B: Spain, Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Czech Republic.
Pot C: Sweden, Austria, Germany, Northern Ireland.
Pot D: Belgium, Finland, Italy, Poland.
In both competitions the teams drawn in each group must meet immediately after the draw to determine who will host the group and, in the case of the U17 tournament, the dates the games will be played. As the U19s have already played Serbia and the U17s have met Finland, they cannot be drawn against those teams in the next round.
Both the U19 and U17 Women’s teams are managed by Dave Connell and he admitted that he was very happy with the seedings.
“It’s nice to be among the top seeds in the U19 competition and avoid the likes Germany, France, and England but there are still some very good teams in the other pots so a lot will depend on the luck of the draw,” said Connell.
“The same applies to the U17s who are second seeds. The best thing about it is that both our teams have come out of the first round with 100 per cent records and when you consider the resources and finance at the disposal of some of the other countries it shows that we are holding our own.”
The Men’s U17 and U19 teams have also qualified for the Elite Round of their respective competitions but as other groups are still to be completed their seedings have not yet been announced. The men’s draws will take place on December 5 in Nyon.
