Arsenal youngsters set for under-19 challenge

Arsenal youngsters Fran Merida, Nacer Barazite, Armand Traore and Kieran Gibbs could all be in action for their countries in the Elite qualifying round for the 2008 UEFA u-19 European Championships. The tournament itself will take place in July, with the qualifiers taking place throughout the course of this month. Fran Merida’s Spain, who are the current holders of the competition, are in action on Thursday when they take on Ukraine, with further fixtures against Turkey and Armenia. Armand Traore could feature for France next week when they face Greece, Luxembourg and Slovenia. Nacer Barazite’s Netherlands side are up against Russia, Greece and Moldova, whilst Kieran Gibbs has been named in the England squad for the matches against Poland, Serbia and Belarus.

There will of course be regular updates on the blog about how each of the Arsenal representatives get on. Havard Nordtveit’s Norway have already completed their qualifying campaign, and won’t be heading to the final tournament having finished third in their group behind Bulgaria and Iceland.