Considering the teams’ performances in the group stage, Portugal and England were the early favourites for winning the tournament but the first semi-final puts the two teams against each other and therefore one will therefore bow out on Sunday evening.
Photos: Copyright © Paul Zammit Cutajar
Portugal, who won the UEFA Under-17 Championship in 2003 and the Under-16 Championship in 1989, 1995, 1996 and 2000, claimed maximum points from the Qualifying Round mini-tournament after defeating Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia and then maximum points from the Elite Round mini-tournament, defeating Latvia, Ukraine and Iceland. In Malta, they beat Scotland 2-0, Switzerland 1-0 and Germany 1-0. Interesting to note that in nine matches, they suffered just one goal.
In the second semi-final, Group A winners Netherlands take on Group B runners-up Scotland.
Scotland, on the other hand, may be considered as the surprise of this tournament after eliminating Germany and Switzerland beating them 1-0 and 3-1 respectively after a 0-2 defeat to Portugal in the opening match. In the Qualifying Round, they beat Slovenia and Hungary and were held in a draw by Wales while in the Elite Round, they registered three wins over Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium and Romania.
In these semi-finals, if the result is still draw at the end of the 80 minutes, there will be no extra-time and penalty-kicks will determine the winner.
The final will be played on Wednesday at the National Stadium, kick-off at 19:00.