Under 17 European qualifiers

Spain qualified for the finals of the European championship after finishing top of their elite round group in Cyprus. The youngsters got off to a shaky start with a 1-1 draw against the hosts, and everything depended on the last day as Spain beat Wales 2-0 and Cyprus beat Moldova by the same score in their second games. But a hat-trick by Valencia's Aarón gave Juan Santiesteban's side a 3-0 win over Moldova, and with Cyprus falling to a 0-2 defeat against Wales, Spain will be in Luxembourg for the finals in May. (27.03.06)

Cyprus 1 - Spain 1

Spain: Sergio; Lillo, Rober, Soria, Yuri; Emilio, César, Camacho, Marcos Gullón (Vergara 47'); Aaron (Rubén 56'), Hermosa (Yepes 44').

Goals: 0-1. 16. Camacho; 1-1. 19. Konstantinidis.

A disappointing start for Spain in their European qualifying group, a 1-1 draw with hosts Cyprus leaving them with it all to do in the next two games. Camacho gave Juan Santiesteban's side a good start when he headed home Hermosa's free kick, but only three minutes later Konstantinidis equalised, beating Sergio with an angled shot. In the other group game, Wales and Moldova drew 3-3.

Spain 2 - Wales 0

Spain: Sergio; Lillo, Rober, Rubén, Soria; Emilio, César (Hermosa 79'), Camacho, Pedro; Yepes (Vergara 47'), Ximo (Marcos Gullón 76').

Goals: 1-0. 14. Emilio; 2-0. 51. Rubén.

A first victory for Spain in their second match, a 2-0 win over Wales setting them up for a place in the finals. Mallorca's Emilio Nsue started things off before the break, and Rubén Ramos added a second after the restart. Cyprus beat Moldova by the same result though, and everything is now down to the last day.

Spain 3 - Moldova 0

Spain: Sergio (Coca 67'); Lillo, Rober, Rubén, Soria; Emilio (Marcos Gullón 65'), César (Hermosa 78'), Camacho, Vergara; Omar, Aaron.

Goals: 1-0. 01. Aarón; 2-0. 35. Aarón; 3-0. 38. Aarón.

Spain are through to the finals in Luxembourg after beating Moldova 3-0 in their last match. Valencia's Aarón Ñiguez was to be the star of the game, opening the scoring in the first minute after Lillo set him up, and adding two more before the break to complete his hat-trick with assists from Vergara and Emilio. Rubén hit the bar in the second half, but by then Cyprus were losing 0-2 against Wales and Spain were back in the finals after missing out last year.

Spanish squad:

Keepers: Coca (Atlético Madrid), Sergio (Valladolid);
Defenders: Yuri (Athletic Bilbao), Rober (Atlético Madrid), Rubén (Atlético Madrileño), César (Osasuna), Lillo (Valencia), Soria (Villarreal);
Midfielders: Omar (Albacete), Camacho (Atlético Madrid), Vergara (Barcelona), Emilio Nsue (Mallorca), Pedro (Ranero), Marcos Gullón (Villarreal);
Forwards: Yepes (Barcelona), Aaron and Ximo (Valencia), Hermosa (Villarreal).

Note: Barcelona's Jordi Masip and Espanyol's Víctor Ruíz were both called up, but couldn't attend and were replaced by Coca and Soria.