© EuroFootball.com
On Friday, fifteen matches of the 2006 European Youth (up to 21 years old) Championship qualifiers were played - victories were celebrated and the group leaders remained the teams of Romania, Denmark, Italy, and Croatia, while the decisive English and German meeting ended in a draw.
Romania remained the leader in Group 1 after a tough victory against their Dutch peers, with the Czech Republic staying in second place just one point behind, easily defeating Finland at home. The Danish team, leading in Group 2, had no major difficulties, crushing the underdog Kazakhstan 5-1. Albania moved to the second position by defeating Turkey, while the youth teams of Georgia and Greece played to a draw.
In the only match of Group 3, Slovakia reduced the gap with leading Portugal to three points by defeating Estonia away. France still leads Group 4, playing a draw with Switzerland and allowing Israel to catch up by defeating Ireland.
The Italian youth team achieved their fifth victory in five possible games, winning against the underdog Scotland in Group 5. The leaders of Group 6 ended in a draw - Germany snatched a point against England in the last minute. Poland in third place defeated Azerbaijan, and Wales clinched the fourth position with a narrow win over Austria.
Group 7, where the Lithuanian youth team plays, was led by Belgium with 10 points, winning at home against future rivals Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Group 8, Croatia claimed the first place in a tough match against Iceland, securing their fourth consecutive victory, while Sweden defeated Bulgaria away and settled in second place.
The 18 youth championship qualifiers will continue on Tuesday, with Lithuania's match against Bosnia and Herzegovina starting at 16:00 local time, followed by two more matches on Wednesday.
