Euro chance for Capital teens

Published on Wednesday 9 December 2009 09:24

RISING Hearts star Craig Thomson and Callum Booth, one of the many exciting young players at Hibs, will be aiming to finish off the current season with a trip to Croatia with Scotland's Under-19 team.

The Scots have drawn Croatia, Belgium and Montenegro in their group for the Elite Round of the UEFA European Championship, the matches being hosted by the Croats in May.

Thomson and Booth both started Scotland Under-19s' most recent match, a friendly against Germany last month, while the Hibs player has been a regular in the team over the past year or so.

Billy Stark, the SFA's National Youth Teams Coach, attended the draw in Nyon. He said: "It would be easy to say that it's a favourable draw as we haven't been put with an England, Spain, Germany or Portugal. But, as is often the case, when a group is more evenly balanced it can be more tricky to get out of."

In the qualifying phase for the 2010/2011 tournaments, the U-19s will be up against Norway, Liechtenstein and Estonia, while the U-17s face Switzerland, Luxembourg and Macedonia.