MALTA DRAWN WITH RUSSIA, UKRAINE AND ESTONIA

The draws for the 2013/14 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying round were made today in Nyon, Switzerland, with 52 of the 54 entrants in the different pots. Malta were drawn in Group 13 with Russia, Ukraine and Estonia.  The draw was made by UEFA Youth and Amateur Committee chairman Jim Boyce and the captain of last season's England squad, Tom Thorpe, who received the Fair Play prize on his side's behalf. There were 13 qualifying round groups each containing two teams from each of the seeding pots, The host nations were chosen later. As for progress in the competition, the top two teams in every group, along with the third-placed side with the best record against the leading pair, will follow top seeds Spain into the elite round to be played in Spring 2014. Seven teams will emerge from this round to join Hungary in the finals in summer of that year. The final will also act as the qualifying competition for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. Commenting on the draws Jesmond Abela said that Malta was pitted in a tough group and after some long-drawn negotiations to determine which country will host the group matches  it was decided that Russia will be the hosts in October, after both Ukraine and Estonia had shown an interest in organising the mini-tournament.  In the meantime it was announced that Malta will host one of the qualifying round groups of the Euro 2014 U-17 Championship. The following is the qualifying round draw of the U-19 Championship:Group 1: Croatia, Czech Republic, Gibraltar*, CyprusGroup 2: Romania, Poland, Armenia, LithuaniaGroup 3: Republic of Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, SwedenGroup 4: Belgium, France, Northern Ireland, IcelandGroup 5: Germany, Scotland, Belarus, LatviaGroup 6: Greece, Slovakia, Albania, BulgariaGroup 7: Serbia, Austria, Kazakhstan, FinlandGroup 8: Portugal, Norway, Luxembourg, San MarinoGroup 9: Switzerland, England, Andorra, SloveniaGroup 10: Italy, Denmark, Israel, LiechtensteinGroup 11: Netherlands, Georgia, Moldova, WalesGroup 12: Turkey, Montenegro, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Faroe IslandsGroup 13: Russia, Ukraine, Malta, Estonia