TODAY.AZ / Sports

2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship kicks off in Azerbaijan

06 May 2016 [14:58] - TODAY.AZ

/By Azernews/

By Amina Nazarli

Thousands of football fans have gathered in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, since the city is hosting 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals from May 5 to 21.

The tournament is the first UEFA youth finals staged by Azerbaijan. Earlier, Baku was the venue for the 2014 UEFA Futsal Cup finals and has also been selected to hold four UEFA EURO 2020 fixtures, including a quarter-final.

The solemn opening of the Under-17 Championship was held on Thursday with colorful show and participation of popular singers

The event featured performance of national dancers and masterpieces of the famous "Natig rhythm” group. Then, pop singer Roya and popular rapper Miri Yusif performed the official anthem of UEFA.

The final round in Baku opened with the matches in Groups A and B.

The championship started with the match in Group B -- Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovin, which ended with the score of 2:0. The second march of the day was between Ukraine and Germany, which ended in a draw, 2:2.

Standings after the 1st round in Group B: 1. Austria - 3 points; 2. Ukraine -1 point, 3. Germany - 1 point; 4. Bosnia and Herzegovina - 0.

In Group A, Belgium and Scotland showed their strength. In an exciting match Belgium scored 2 goals in Scotland’s gate.

The last play was held between Azerbaijani and Portuguese teams, where the latter won with the score of 5:0.

Head Coach of the Portuguese Helio Sousa, commenting on the victory over the Azerbaijani team, said that the match was not so easy. “We are well prepared. We are lucky to have scored at the start. This has helped us in the remaining time of the match. We respect our opponent,” he said.

Head coach of the Azerbaijani national team Tabriz Hasanov, in turn, noted that he did not expect such a result. “We feared to miss an early goal, what has happened. The guys were on their toes. Everybody noticed that the opponent surpassed us in all components,” he said.

Standings after the 1st round in Group A: 1. Portugal - 3 points; 2. Belgium - 3; 3. Scotland - 0; 4. Azerbaijan - 0.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/sports/150455.html

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