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

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

Tags: Arsenal, Championship, Croatia, Dutch Team, European, Fofana, France France, Group Games, Liverpool, Losses, Lyon, Midfield, Midfielder, Netherlands, Participant, Participation, Previous Games, Real Sociedad, Second Half, U20 Fifa World Cup, World Cup Final, Wrapup, Yellow Card

The World Cup final happens this Sunday, July 11th. Hopefully you already knew that. If not, read our World Cup final preview and get yourself up to speed.

Everyone else, I have two simple questions for you:

1. Netherlands or Spain: Who do you think will win the World Cup?
2. Why?

So we’re not accused of precition cowardice, Chris and myself pick our winners below:

1. Chris: 2-1 Spain.
2. Why: There’s something in the ability of the Dutch midfield to break up play, but there’s something even more in the ability of the Spanish attack – the one that derives from Catalonia and presses immediately in that 3 second window – which can get it right back. The Dutch still haven’t looked impressive yet outside of short bursts and Spain seem to be getting better by the game. It just seems the natural progression of their play throughout the tournament – plus you don’t pick against Paul.

1. Daryl: 2-1 Netherlands
2. Why: I think the Dutch possess the key attribute needed to win a World Cup, and that attribute is luck. I’m thinking Felip Melo’s own goal in the Brazil game, Wesley Sneijder’s shot taking a deflection (and no one noticing Robin van Persie being offside) in the Uruguay game, and Mark van Bommel’s slide tackles being impervious to yellow cards. After losing two finals in 1974 and 1978, I’m predicting third time lucky for the Netherlands.

Here’s what the bookies have to say, though they only give numbers, not reasons:

Now your turn: Who do you see winning the World Cup final? And why?

Tags: Attribute, Bookies, Brazil, Catalonia, Cowardice, Deflection, final, Mark Van Bommel, Midfield, Natural Progression, Netherlands, Offside, Predictions, Robin Van Persie, Simple Questions, Spain, Spanish Attack, Third Time Lucky, Uruguay, Wesley Sneijder, World, World Cup, Yellow Cards

Outside the U.S., the game of football as the most popular sport in the world. Many of the top teams and best players attract huge admiration from millions of fans and have huge multi-million dollar salary.

The Rules of the Game: Football is easy to understand. Each team can field eleven players at one time and they can make substitutions at any point in a game. The number of changes depends on the competition, but in the current era three substitutions is the accepted norm across the leagues.

A football match lasts two separate periods of forty five minutes. The time between the periods is called half-time and lasted about ten minutes.

Each team defends one half of the field in order to prevent the opponent from scoring a goal in the net at the end of the field. Soccer coaches have developed various methods to ways of offensive and defensive tactics to improve the game creation.

Generally modern teams will defend the goal using four defenders and a player who protects the goal, better known as the keeper. Offensively, the coach selects four players in midfield and two strikers to create and goals.

With the exception of the goalkeeper, players can not handle the ball. Instead, good play developed by passing the ball in different ways trying to get the opponent defense. Goal is low scoring game in professional football with most matches decided by just one or two goals.

There is a lot of terminology used during a game of football, which is very specific. For the average viewer this may seem confusing. The most important factor to consider is discipline. The game is mediated by a referee on the field and two other officials known as linesman on either side of the field.

If a player tries to tackle the ball from an opponent but misses and instead makes contact with the player, the referee will regard this as an error and stops the game and awarding a free kick to the pollution team. Depending on the severity of the error, the referee may issue the player with either a yellow or red card.

A yellow card indicates the player they are likely to be issued with a red card later in the game. The red card indicates that the player must immediately leave the game. In these circumstances they are not allowed to return for the rest of the game.

On each side of the field the defense protects the goal. Immediately before the object is a rectangular area marked. If the umpire considers that an error has occurred in this area by a member of the defense, a penalty is awarded. When this happens, a member of the offense the chance to score a goal against the opposition goalkeeper without the defense able to help.

Finally, perhaps the most confusing law is the offside rule. In its simplest interpretation, an offensive player before the defense as the game develops. This is considered an attempt to gain an unfair advantage and if seen by one of the referees will result in a free kick for the defense.

This rule is responsible for many of the debates and controversies that surround the game of football. The referee interpretation ultimately can decide who wins a game. At present, despite calls for video technology to help introduce the officials nothing has not been forthcoming.

Tags: Admiration, Defensive Tactics, Different Ways, Dollar Salary, Five Minutes, Football Match, Free Kick, Game, Game Creation, Game Football, Game Of Football, Linesman, Midfield, Opponent, Popular Sport, Professional Football, Referee, Rules Of The Game, Severity, Soccer, Soccer Coaches, Strikers, Understanding

Team of the Day: Iberian peninsula? Sort of a mixed bag here. Both teams have arguments for and against. Spain played brilliantly but once again couldn’t find that “goal” thing they’re always yapping about, save for David Villa. And Portugal hit 7 against….nobody. North Korea just didn’t show in the second half. It was astonishing and unwatchable, like fish in a barrel an automatic weapon. They simply quit.

Push.

Player of the Day: It’s probably Tiago, who was exemplary and effective (!) in replacing Deco in the Portuguese midfield – even before North Korea torpedoed itself. Which officially makes this the strangest World Cup in history.

Quote of the Day: From French camp – no kidding!

Apparently the unrest in the French camp is down to one man – bullied midfielder Yoann Gourcuff. When chief tormentor Franck Ribery arranged a night out at a ‘gentleman’s club’ for the French players, Gourcuff opted to stay at home. Ribery allegedly confronted him and said: “Does your mother not allow you to go, you homosexual slut?”

Apparently cavorting with strippers is more acceptable than spending a night at home. Is Ribery becoming the face of disgust with the modern footballer?

Don’t answer that.

Goal of the Day: Or try goal of the World Cup – who cares if it’s in the Swedish second division?

More Proof We Need Sweden At The World Cup:

Best Office Sprucer-Upper: I’m fairly sure Chrome is the browser of choice around WCB Global Headquarters. Show some spirit.

Footballers Should Not Rap Award: The Year of the Umlaut does not include the music charts.

Worst Sign: Torres is married, which means this should read: Torres Let Me Be Your Dirty Tiger Woods Mistress – You Can Even Call Me Rafa!

Speaking of…

Fan of the Day: As always, we keep it classy.

Matchup of the Day: Spain takes on Chile. [Something vaguely dirty sounding in Spanish here.]

v.

Tags: 2010, 21st, apparently the unrest in the french camp is down to one man – bullied midfielder yoann gourcuff. when chief tormentor franck ribery arranged a night out at a ‘gentleman’s club’ for the french players,, Automatic Weapon, Awards, Chief Tormentor, Cup Awards, Disgust, Footballer, Franck Ribery, French Camp, French Players, Global Headquarters, Gourcuff, Iberian Peninsula, June, Matchup, Midfield, Music Charts, North Korea, Quote Of The Day, Tiger Woods, Umlaut, Unrest, World, World Cup

Outside the U.S., the game of football as the most popular sport in the world. Many of the best teams and players pulling up enormous admiration of millions of fans and have huge multi-million dollar salary.

The rules of the game: football is very easy to understand. Each team can field eleven players at one point and they can substitutions at any time in a match. The number changes depending on the competition, but in the current era three substitutions is the accepted norm in the league.

A game of football for a period of two periods of forty five minutes. The time between periods, half-time and lasted about ten minutes.

Each team defends one half of the arrivals to the other team to score a goal in preventing the net at the end of the arrivals. football coaches have developed various methods to ways of offensive and defensive tactics to improve the game creation.

typical modern teams defend the goal in using four defenders and a player who protects the goal, better known as the goalkeeper. Offensive Apartment, the coach selects four players in midfield and two strikers to create and score.

With the exception of the goalkeeper, players can not handle the ball. Instead, a good game, developed by passing the ball in different ways trying to get the opponent ‘s violation defense. But a low score in the game of professional football with most games decided by only one or two goals.

There are a lot of the terminology used during a game of football and that is very specific. For the casual viewer this confusion. The most important factor to consider is the discipline. The game is mediated by a referee on the ground and two other officials known as the linesman on each side of the field.

If a player tries to tackle the ball from an opponent but misses the point and makes contact with the player, the referee sees this as an error and stops the game and awarding a blocked kick of the team. By order of the seriousness of the misconduct, the referee may issue the player with either a yellow or red card.

A yellow card indicates the player a red card may be issued later in the game. The red card means that the player must immediately leave the game. In these circumstances, they are not allowed to return for the rest of the game.

On each side of the defensive zone protects the lens. Immediately before the object is a rectangular area. If the referee finds that error occurred in this area by a member of the defense, a penalty is given. If that happens, a member of the offense is given the opportunity to score a goal against the opposition goalkeeper without the defense in a position to help.

Finally, perhaps the most confusing law is the offside rule. In its simplest interpretation, an attacker can not advance the defense that the game develops. This is seen as an attempt to gain an unfair advantage and if seen by one of the referees will result in a free kick for the defense.

This rule is responsible for many of the debates and controversies surrounding the game of football. The arbitrator ‘interpretation could ultimately decide who wins a match. At present, despite calls for video technology to help introduce officials did nothing next summer.

Tags: Admiration, Defensive Tactics, Different Ways, Dollar Salary, Five Minutes, Football Coaches, Game Creation, Game Football, Game Of Football, Good Game, Introduction, Linesman, Midfield, Number Changes, Opponent, Popular Sport, Professional Football, Referee, Rules Of The Game, Seriousness, Soccer, Strikers

at Camp Nou, FC Barcelona was a last eight position with a stunning 5-2 defeat of Lyon. Audience were amazed to see their incredible presentation in this season’s Champion League. Barcelona would be able to lead within two minutes, the two first half goals were the Henry, a stunning goal from Messi to get, this was not enough Eto gave another. Due to their early lead was unable Lyon the lead with goals at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half. When Barcelona was really a period of almost dying faces, they held back their leads, plus a hit of Keita. Again after the midfield for FC Barcelona, handled the game, they easily achieved a great victory. The only Spanish side Villareal, made in the quarter finals and the four squads was an English cut. Guardiola, at position 11, Valdes on purpose, four major players were waiting for Alves, Pique, Marquez and Sylvinho. Toure, Xavi and Iniesta in the midfield. Henry, Eto, Messi was the aggressive trio. FC Barcelona in the first place the control of the match, but was able to penetrate the defense of Lyon. It was matter of 15 minutes that turned the game very well. After intercepting a poor pass from Lyon, Iniesta palyed a good ball to Eto who was demolished by Lyon supporters as an effect, he shot too high. This was just one example of what was to happen. Within the next 25 minutes, Marquez played the ball to Benzema who in turn kicked a ball through the tough defense was ahead of Henry. Without a mistake, Henry took the lead 1-0 to 2-1 and in total. Two minutes later, Henry gave a hard blow for the score at 2-0 to improve. From left to right, Eto brilliantly played the ball in midfield Xavi. Xavi hit the ball to his left unharmed Henry in the box, without a mistake the ball low into the goalkeeper. Messi was ready for its ability to exhibit in the 40th minute. Messi on the right was a long ball from Pique, who took the ball and with all his intellect, beaten about three defenders before he kicked the ball to Eto. Eto Messi played it on, the ball crossed low for a goalkeeper. It was the 43rd minute when Eto been lucky to 4-0 when Henry triumphantly passed by Boumsong, who missed the critical interception. In the next minute, Lyon withdrew from Makoun header high over everyone in the defense and got Barca’s proved untenable. Lyon made another goal in the second half and in the 48th minute, Juninho gave a strong hope of survival by making 4-2. Delgado reached a free right off of Iniesta and Juninho Benzma actually dodged a goal. Lyons tried hard to beat Barca to disturb, but it proved futile as Barca came back into their minds and started again. The keeper denied Henry Lyons of earning hat-trick in the 59th minute. Following up with Bojan Xavi, Bojan was refuted by the goalkeeper in the 90th minute. Juninho was sent for a second booking, Xavi played a good ball Keita in the 94th minute that goalkeeper surpassed with a high triumph, the ball towards the net into Barca’s 5-2 count. The first half was surprisingly well played with some flaws in the defense. Iniesta and Xavi played an imperial race and took the stress of challenging the defense. Henry gave a specialized approach the game and did Eto gear up on the score sheet. Now this was a perfect match where Barca’s game 5-2.

Tags: 15 Minutes, Barcelona, Barcelona Soccer, Camp Nou, Champion League, Fc Barcelona, Fresh, Guardiola, Iniesta, Intellect, Keita, Lyon, Messi, Midfield, News, Quarter Finals, Soccer, soccer news, Spanish Side, Sylvinho, Toure, Two Minutes, Valdes, Xavi