The youth World Cup ended with the European confrontation, which is already a classic this year: the German team once again faced the French team. The teams met at the Under-17 European Championship in June and now the French were preparing for revenge, then lost on penalties 4-5.
Both teams came into the match with virtually no losses: only Germany’s key midfielder Assan Ouedraogo left the tournament and Almuguera Kabar, recovering from a long-term injury, was not in the best shape. The French team did not have any defeats and, in theory, the coach could announce a lineup completely identical to the one in the June final between these teams.
The match began with the expected pressure from the German team: even with two losses in the lineup, they were considered favorites. Already in the 4th minute, Paris Brunner scored, but the goal was disallowed for offside. In the first 15 minutes, France had at least three dangerous chances in front of the goal, including that disallowed goal.
France played with the usual 4-3-3, but in the final match, unlike the previous ones, they had obvious problems getting out of defense. Midfielder Mathis Amugu was almost the only one who managed to link defense with attack. With fake runs he shook his opponents and separated for a split second to receive the ball.
And yet, in addition to coming out of defense, France also showed itself weak in attacking actions: they created their first opportunity only in the 21st minute, when Simon Boisbre shot at the goal, moving towards the center of the area.
final of the under 17 world cup
Photo: Marcio Machado/Getty Images
But a few minutes after that moment, Germany continued to press and in the 29th minute Paris Brunner scored from a penalty. The VAR observed the episode for up to 4 minutes, since before contact it was suspected that the defender was offside.
After the goal, the situation on the field did not change: Germany continued to attack until the end of the half, and France could not establish connections in attack and solve the same problem by coming out of defense.
But in the second half the situation changed drastically: France came out to recover and were able to create a couple of good approaches. All the conditions were in place for a return goal, if it were not for the sudden second goal of the German team in the first counterattack. In the 51st minute, Moreira developed an attack on the right wing and, after crossing, Darvich found himself alone at the far post. He scored from a tight angle.
Darvich
Photo: Marcio Machado/Getty Images
Before Germany had time to relax, Simon Boisbre scored a goal on the counterattack. Just two minutes later. In the first half, he often opened up behind the defenders along the entire left edge, but now he managed to complete the attack to the end: move to the corner of the penalty area and shoot low into the far corner.
The psychological factor was now playing in favor of France, which was already dictating the tone of the game. From 51 to 61 minutes, the German team spent an average of 13 seconds returning the ball, while France only spent 8. The most visual metric.
The moments followed one after another and in the end the pressure not only turned into dangerous shots, but also into a sending off: in the 70th minute, defensive midfielder Winners Osawe received a second yellow card. He didn’t even argue and left the field in a matter of seconds; The game continued.
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France for a long time could not realize its numerical advantage and for some time the game even calmed down. But towards the end, in the last ten minutes, in the 83rd and 84th, France created two dangerous chances, and in the 85th the team recovered: a magnificent wall on the right flank, a cross… and on the other side. It was Matis Amugu, the defensive midfielder, who connected from deep. He marked empty, without resistance.
The referee added 10 minutes and Germany had every chance to concede or even score on a collision course. And yet, 2-2, penalty shootout.
The June series ended with a score of 4-5, but this time the French team was the first to win. And yet this did not help: even winning 0:2 during the series, France did not score two shots in a row. Paris Brunner approached the ball to score the decisive goal, but was stopped by goalkeeper Paul Arnier. And yet this did not help: in the sixth, the first extra shot, France did not score. The second chance was taken by Almuguera Kabar, who came on as a substitute at the end of the second half. And he won the German national team’s second trophy in a year: the U-17 World Cup!
