The team led by João Santos ended up not having luck on their side and a complicated mission is expected, as they will face teams that have won the competition on several occasions: France and Spain have lifted the trophy three times each, while England won two editions.
This is the fifth consecutive appearance for the ‘quinas’ team in the final stage of the category, which they won twice, in 2003 and 2016, after having ‘fallen’ in the group stage in the last edition, last year.
“It’s a difficult group, as we expected. There are no easy teams here, there are some that have a better CV than others. The draw is what it is, there’s no point in hiding it. This group fell to us, it’s this group that we have to face. We have already had success with some of these teams this season, namely Spain and England. We haven’t played against France yet. If we are worried, we believe that the other teams will also be with us”, expressed coach João Santos, quoted on the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) website.
In Group A, hosts Cyprus will face Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Serbia, while pool B will be made up of Wales, Croatia, Austria and Denmark.
In Group C, the teams from Poland, Slovakia, Sweden and Italy were included.
Only the top two teams from each group advance to the quarter-finals.
The final phase takes place between May 20th and June 5th, with the final scheduled for the Limassol Arena, in Limassol.
