Hosts acclaim successful debut

Football Association of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FFM) general secretary Igor Klimper has hailed the success of the 2010 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship, new ground in more ways than one.

FYROM's maiden UEFA final tournament kicked off in style on 24 May when a tournament record crowd of 8,000 watched Spain beat the hosts 6-0 in the official opener. Since then it has been the second best attended finals of all time at this level, behind only Belarus last year. "The success of the tournament can be seen by the records that have been broken," said Klimper. "Aside from the 8,000 spectators at the National Arena, in Kumanovo we have had an average of 2,500 at each game."

On Saturday the finals came to a conclusion as France beat holders England to claim the trophy but Klimper is confident the impact of hosting the competition will extend far beyond that. "Organising this event has already had a big influence on football development in our country, as well as promoting the country itself," he said. "The whole of Macedonia has shown an interest in this event – it has been a big experience for us."