World Cup 2010 Blog: U19 European Championship: France beats Spain in Finals! |  |
| U19 European Championship: France beats Spain in Finals! Posted: 31 Jul 2010 05:33 PM PDT Spain and France, arguably the most dominant teams in the tournament, met on Friday to determine the winner of the U19 European Championship. Going into the final, the hosts (France) had been consistently impressive- beating the Netherlands (4-1) and Austria (5-0) in their first two matches and then Croatia 2-1 in the semifinals. Only a draw with England in the group stage blemished their winning record. Spain, who had failed to reach the knock-out stages of this tournament since winning it in 2007, were the only team left to have a 100% winning record. And at the start of the match, Spain looked likely to hold on to that record for the entire tournament after Rodrigo (forward, Real Madrid) scored in the 18th minute. Spain continued to dominate the first half – accumulating the best chances and the most possession. But despite a plethora of opportunities, Spain weren’t able to increase their lead and allowed France to go into the 2nd half with only a single goal deficit. And in the 2nd half, France made them pay…but only after surviving several close calls as Spain continued to dominate the opening minutes of the 2nd half. Then, after almost conceding, France was able to equalize through goalkeeper Diallo’s (GK, Rennes) long kick forward to subsitute Tafer (forward, Lyon) who lifted the ball over the Spanish keeper. The equalizer was arguably the turning point in the match- energizing the crowd and providing France with the momentum to in the final minutes of the match. France’s Lacazette (forward, Lyon) scored the winning goal at the 85th minute. Despite a series of impressive performances in the tournament, Lacazette had been largely invisible in the finals game and the goal seemed to come from nowhere. But, despite Lacazette’s impressive finishing- the hard work came from Gael Kakuta (midfield, Chelsea) whose run through the center of Spain’s defense was impossible for Alex (GK, Zaragoza) to defend. With only a few minutes left, Spain were unable to find a second goal which had eluded them since early in the first half- leaving France to lift the trophy in the end! The only question left is if these two countries can make it three in a row when they compete next year at the FIFA U20 World Cup. In addition to this U19 final, these two teams also played each other in the U17 European Championship two years ago (which Spain won). The two teams have consistently been comprised of the same players- 11 of the 22 starters in the finals match played in the U17 final two years ago. Any bets on those players making another final appearances in the U20 tournament?
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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.
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