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?

Tags: beats, Championship, Chelsea, Close Calls, Diallo, Dominant Teams, Equalizer, European, Finals, France, Gael Kakuta, Gk, Group Stage, Impressive Performances, Knock Out, Lyon, Match France, Midfield, Momentum, Plethora, Possession, Real Madrid, Rodrigo, Spain, Turning Point, U19 European Championship

In one of his pre-World Cup posts, Chris provided the average ages of all the teams and listed them youngest to oldest.  In hindsight- the list is even more fascinating to me.  After revisiting this list, I think its fair to say some of the most exciting teams to watch at the World Cup were some of the youngest- Ghana (24.1), North Korea (24.8), Germany (25), Cameroon (25.2), Spain (25.9) and Chile (25.9) were the six youngest teams at this tournament.

And not only were these teams exciting- but they were also some of the best success stories of the tournament.

• Four out of six of these teams qualified for the knock-out stages (Ghana, Germany, Spain and Chile)
• Half of them were in the quarters (Ghana, Germany, Spain)
• A quarter of them were in the semis (Germany and Spain)
• One of them won the whole thing (Spain..I hope this was obvious)!

These facts- coupled with discovering a country’s next “[insert each country's international legacy here]” make the under-19 European Championship an even more exciting prospect.  If you aren’t convinced then I suggest revisiting Chris’s post to check out the top six oldest teams who played (and largely failed) at the World Cup…

For those already convinced, here is a primer on what you can expect from the tournament which kicks off tomorrow (Sunday, July 18th) in Northern France…

When and Where is this? The competition kicks off tomorrow (Sunday, July 18th) and is being held in Northern France.

Competition Format: The competition has three stages- a qualification round, an “elite” round and then a final round.  The qualification stage which kicked off in September was made of groups of four where teams played “round robin” style both home and away and the top two teams in each group advanced to the “elite level.”  A number of 3rd placed teams also advance (depending on number of teams competing) based on their records versus the top two teams that automatically advanced.

The elite level took place last Spring where seven teams won the opportunity to join France in the finals tournament.

The final tournament consists of two groups of four teams where the top two teams in the group advanced to the semi finals and then the winners of those matches play in the finals.

Which teams are in the finals? Honestly? Most of the countries you’d expect with only a few surprises- Austria, Croatia, England, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.  It seems Germany used up all its youth at the World Cup finals…

And what are the Groups and Match Schedules? Good question – Screen captures courtesy of UEFA.com…

So, no chance of an ESP-NED rematch unless both teams make it out of their groups?  Is this likely and who are the favorites?

Well, historically, Spain have qualified the most times since the U-19 championship replaced the U-18 tournament in 2001.  Including this years tournament, they’ve qualified seven times beating England who have qualified six times and German and France who have made it to this point five times.

Of the seven times Spain have qualified they’ve won it four times (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007).  France, who historically dominated the U-18 competition, have only won this tournament once (2005) along with Italy (2003), Germany (2008) and Ukraine (2009).

But, take all those historical indications of success with a grain of salt as Spain have failed to make it out of the group stage since their win 2007.  And even their coach has recently admitted that the youth teams in Spain are under more pressure than ever to succeed since the success of their senior team both in 2008 and this summer.

France are also considered favorites no only because they are hosts but also because most of the team was present at the U-17 finals two years ago where they lost to Spain.  France have a tough first game against the Netherlands who beat France last October 4-2- but the coach is optimistic that the thrill of having their families watch them will help France overcome the Dutch who are suffering from player suspensions.

The current titleholders, Ukraine, did not qualify.

And you really think future stars of the game will be there? Yes- at least the future stars of European teams.  When France won the U-18 edition (which later became the U-19 tournament), their team included William Gallas, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet- Henry and Trezeguet won the World Cup with the France senior team two years later.  Other players who dominated this tournament that may seem familiar to you include Gianluigi Buffon, Francesco Totti, Andrea Pirlo, Robbie Keane, Fernando Torres, David Silva and Sergio Ramos…and they are just the top top of a long list.

Tags: Championship, Chile, Competition Format, Elite Level, European, Exciting Teams, FUTURE, Germany, Ghana, Hindsight, International Legacy, July 18th, Knock Out, North Korea, Northern France, Quarters, Semis, Spain, Starts, Success Stories, World Cup