Israel's under-21 team reached next week's European championship finals by defeating France, and Belgium's coach is thankful his team does not have to face the blue-and-white in its opening match.

"It is an advantage not to have to open against Israel," said Jean-Francois De Sart, "because now we can see them against Holland [in the tournament opener on June 10] yesterday.

"Israel's qualification is the surprise of the championship. Nobody expected it to be there. It is a strong squad, and the fact is that it defeated France in the last round," De Sart added.

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As he makes final preparations prior to next Sunday's opener against Group A opponent Portugal, which included a victory over Luxembourg in the final warmup match yesterday, De Sart has been involved in a dispute with the national team regarding the use of U-21 players. Rene Vandereycken, the coach of the older squad, called up two U-21 players, goalkeeper Logan Bailly and defender Nicolas Lombaerts, for Belgium's 2-1 loss to Portugal in their Euro 2008 qualifying match last weekend.

"Don't ruin the under-21's celebrations," the media pleaded.

In the end, Bailly sat on the bench for the full 90 minutes, while Lombaerts was not included in the 18-man squad.

Israel faces Belgium on June 13, and will conclude its group matches against Portugal three days later.