Women's U-17 Championships: starting the 28th.

The Senior-level sides of the Women's game have competed, and we have a new Champion, from Asia! Well, we also have the U-17 competition of Europe which has been taking place between September and April when the qualifying rounds were completed. And now, we have reached the Semi-finals! The 28th of this month, we will see Iceland take on Spain, while Germany and France face-off in the other match. Iceland have defeated all competition up to this point beginning with a 14-0 slaughter of Lithuania. Then came a 10-0 destruction of Bulgaria followed by a 5-1 victory over Italy. With such a breathtaking 1st round, the people of Iceland had reason to be confident as their team went into the 2nd round. They were not disappointed. First came a 2-0 victory over England, then the same result over Poland. All that was left was a match against hapless Sweden and they would be in with an undefeated record. The Icelandic women performed yet again: winning 1-4. But what about the team they face in the Semi-final match, Spain? Well, the Spaniards started off just as powerfully, crushing Georgia 13-0 before fighting for a 2-0 result against Belarus. Then came the Netherlands who bested Spain's results by a goal against each of their respective opponents. Clearly, it did not bode well for the Spanish ladies. Well, somehow they managed it, edging their rivals from the Netherlands 0-1. So, on to the 2nd round for Spain! Things continued along similar lines for the women of Spain with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Belgium first on the list. Then came Italy who the Spaniards absolutely shined against, putting in 6 while allowing only 1 to go into their own net. Last but not least was the Czech Republic who actually managed to upset the boat in a 3-1 display of gritty fighting. And so to the other Semi-final leg and the performances of the 2 teams up to this point: Germany's journey began in the 2nd round. First came Finland who the Germans thrashed 5-0 before moving on to a 9-0 victory over Russia. The Danes were the last opposition for Germany and they were dealt with 0-3. And then France? Well their account opened in the 1st round, where they hit Israel with a 9-0 defeat before moving on to Croatia who were beaten 0-4. However, in the last match of the round came Sweden. Despite being in France, the French women were left disappointed having been edged 2-3. No matter, it was on to the 2nd round! So, to the 2nd qualifying round where France first met Scotland. It ended 1-4 to the French. Then against Switzerland, the scoreline was 0-2 for the French when time was called. Last but not least came Wales, who had fought their way to 2 draws up to this point. The French played the heart-breakers though, winning 2-0 and booking their match with Germany. Let it be said, that Germany have only lost 1 game in the history of the Women's European U-17 Championship, and that was last year in the Semi-final stage after winning the 2 previous titles. Fun fact: Spain were the team to win the title last year. All the best to the 4 remaining teams and look for the matches on Eurosport if you can't make it to the matches themselves!