Austria celebrate their win over the Netherlands…and 3rd place in Group A.
Fans hoping to see a rematch of the Netherlands-Spain World Cup final played out on a younger stage will be disappointed to learn that they will have to wait at least another two years for the senior European Championships in 2012 after the Netherlands were elimated today. Because only the top three teams in each group qualify for the U20 FIFA World Cup next year, the Dutch team’s elimination in last place in their group also rules out their participation along with Italy. Each group’s third place participant – Austria and Portugal – will have to hope to avenge their losses next summer as their failure to qualify for the tournament’s semifinals ends their run in this competition. As those teams head home, the teams remaining – Spain, France, Croatia and England – are preparing to meet each other in two semifinals on Tuesday (July 27).
GROUP A
ENGLAND 1 – 1 FRANCE
France took advantage of their lead in Group A after beating both the Netherlands (4-1) and Austria (5-0) in the first two group games by resting several key players from XI that started in the two previous games. France’s captain, Gueida Fofana (defense, Le Havre) as well as Chris Mavinga (defense, Liverpool) and Francis Coquelin (midfield, Arsenal) were rested the entire game. Meanwhile, Alexandre Lacazette (forward, Lyon) as well as Antoine Griezmann (midfielder, Real Sociedad) and Timothee Kolodziejczak (defense, Lyon) were not summoned for action until well into the second half. Many of the players rested for France had played a majority of minutes in the two previous games and had picked up a yellow card (Fofana, Mavinga, Lacazette, Kolodziejczak) in the tournament. By using these players sparingly, France’s coach, Smerecki, ensured they would be available in the semifinal against Croatia.
Meanwhile, England only made three changes to the XI that started against the Netherlands- leaving out Nathan Baker (defense,Villa), Reece Brown (defense, Manchester United) and Matthew Phillips (midfield, Wycombe Wanderers). Of those rested for England, only Reece Brown had picked up a yellow card in the two opening matches.
Despite the numerous changes in the lineup, France maintained the attacking prowess they exhibited in the first two matches- forcing England’s keeper (Declan Rudd, Norwich) into several important saves. England appeared sluggish in the opening half, only managing to get two attempts on goal. After the break, England did not initially appear to fare much better- and France continued to apply pressure. Shortly after, France were rewarded with the opening goal in the 56′ as Tafer (forward, Lyon) scored for Les Bleus in his first appearance in the tournament. In the closing third of the match, England became increasingly dangerous and were unlucky not to equalize when Matthew Phillips scored in the 3rd minute of overtime after coming on as a substitute.
In the end, neither France nor England needed a win to progress and they qualified as first and second in the group respectively.
NETHERLANDS 0 – 1 AUSTRIA
After seemingly bouncing back from their opening loss to France in game 1 by beating England on Day 2, the Netherlands were unable to challenge England and France for a spot in the semifinals. Coming into the match, Austria seemed to have little chance of progressing thanks to consecutive losses in the first two matches and a staggering goal difference after being slaughtered 5-0 by France.
The Netherlands started this match with only one change from their starting XI vs England. Imad Najah (defender, PSV) was replaced by Tim Eekman (defender, Feyendoor) after picking up two yellows in the first two games. Austria made 4 changes to the lineup that succumbed to France in the second game of the group – leaving out Mahmud Imamoglu (defense, First Vienna), David Alaba (midfield, Bayern), George Tiegl (midfield, Red Bull Salzburg) and Marco Meilinger (forward, Red Bull Salzburg).
Both teams approached the match cautiously in the first half, not wanting to ruin their chance of qualifying for the semifinals, qualification for the U20 FIFA World Cup, exposure on a bigger stage or risk their pride. Given the pressure both teams were under, it took a while for the match to build up to a shot on goal- almost twenty minutes. The first shot, produced from a free kick, was the first of only five attempts Austria made the entire match. Both teams had opportunities (though few and far in-between) to take the lead in the second half- but key saves from the keepers on both ends kept the score 0-0.
The start of the second half saw Austria push back more, but the turning point of the match occurred 10 minutes from time when Bacuna, a Dutch defender, was shown a red card for a hard foul. A few minutes later, as both teams became increasingly desperate to end the game on top, the Dutch committed a foul in the box. Through a penalty taken by Djuricin (forward, Hertha), Austria took the lead 3 minutes from time.
For a short period of time, Austria were set to progress to the semifinals as England had failed to equalize in their game against France. However, despite the dissapointing news received a few minutes later (that England had equalized) – Austria’s 3rd place finish, qualification for the 2010 U20 FIFA World Cup and Dutch scalp will allow them to return home with their pride intact.
The same cannot be said of the Dutch team – whose performance can only be summarized as a disappointment.
GROUP A FINAL STANDINGS
___________________________________________________________________
GROUP B
SPAIN 3 – 0 ITALY
With a third consecutive win and with France only managing a draw with England, Spain are the only team left in the tournament able to boast a 100% winning record. Spain’s first two wins against Portugal and Croatia coupled with results of the other group matches allowed them to secure qualification before game 3. With that security, Spain made six changes to their starting XI. But despite Spain having already secured their progress to the semifinals in the previous game and lineup changes, they continued to play with the flair and energy they demonstrated in the competition previously.
Unsurprisingly, Spain dominated possession from the start of the game and Italy, at times, seemed unable to keep up with Spain’s quick passing style. Italy were put on warning from the 3rd minute after Spain almost took an early lead which ended up going wide (barely). It should be said that despite going scoreless, Italy did manage to get in a few good shots-and according to UEFA stats, Italy barely out-shot Spain in goal attempts (8-6). However, Italy’s downfall was a collective poor defensive performance. The Italian team appeared sluggish in comparison to the pace of the Spanish. Worse, Italy’s inability to gain possession led to them to commit fouls both out of frustration and simply because they were outclassed (and thus unable to get the ball cleanly even if they wanted).
After conceding two goals in the first half, Italy tried to rally for a comeback- but their movements forward left them exposed at the back. Spain took advantage of the space and continued to get themselves into dangerous positions. In the 57th minute, Italian defender Crescenzi committed a hard foul on Spain’s Calvente in the box- and a penalty was granted to help Spain solidify their win and dash Italy’s hopes.
As Spain moves forward to face England in the semifinals, they may find comfort in the fact that the last time they qualified for the semifinals, they won the tournament (2007). Thus far, they’ve managed to thrive under enormous pressure- but it remains to be seen if they can continue performing in the same manner or if they’ve peaked too soon.
Meanwhile, Italy leave this tournament having only secured a single point in their draw against Croatia and having failed to score a single goal. Their performance at this tournament, coupled with the performance of their senior team at the World Cup, will have made for a disappointing summer for Italy fans.
PORTUGAL 0 – 5 CROATIA
Croatia have managed to progress to the semifinals of the this tournament in their first appearance- and they managed to do it with style.
In the opening minutes of the game, Portugal seemed to start off a bit brighter with some good opening attempts. But, by the 19th minute, Croatia managed to contain Portugal and take the lead through a Andrijasevic penalty after Ozobic was brought down in the area. After that, Portugal were unable to get ahold of the game and seemed unsure how to stem the tide of Croatian attacks. Six minutes after the penalty, Pamic doubled the Croatian lead with a quick header. At the 37th minute, Croatia found another goal through Pamic who scored from a 30m free kick to make it 3-0 at half-time.
Shortly after the break, Croatia appeared to run into a bump in the road when their captain, Kelic, was issued a straight red. But, Portugal failed to capitalize on their numbers advantage and a mere 13 minutes later they were down 4-0 as Ozobic scored for Croatia. After only pausing to allow a quick Portuguese substitute, Pamic completed his hat trick in the 69′ and made it 5-0 for Croatia.
GROUP B FINAL STANDINGS
Life as a player for the North Korean national team is probably pretty difficult as it stands what with living through that 7-0 to Portugal and a much improved 3-0 loss in their final two games. Their passion for the motherland combined with their pride as athletes surely took a belting hit as they headed back to the land of mystery. 
The World Cup is oh-ver, but international football continues. There’s the Asian Cup, Copa America, Africa Cup of Nations, Euros and then – before we know it – qualification for World Cup 2014 will begin. Maybe more importantly (at least for the purposes of this post) is that the immediate post-World Cup period is usually a time for change and rebirth.
Posts
