U19 European Championships: Day 1 Wrap-up

July 18th, 2010 | by: Sarah | View Comments

U19 Tournament hosts France celebrate after demolishing the Netherlands 4-1

CROATIA 1 – 2 SPAIN

Debutants Croatia were unable to overcome 4-time Champions, Spain, in the their first game of the of the competition despite taking the lead before half-time (42′).  The Croatian goal came as a bit of a surprise since the Spanish side had been dominating possession (shocking!)- but the Croatian were abel to break through with a long range effort from Andrijašević.  However, thats all Spain needed to rally and come from behind to score twice in the second half.  Thiago Alcántara brought Spain level in the 53′ and Rodri, the second best goal-scorer in qualification that is playing in this tournament scored the second goal in the 64′ to collect all three points.  Spanish fans will be relieved to see that Spain were able to battle back after being down a goal since the team has failed to qualify out of the group stage since they won the tournament in 2007.  It will be interesting to see how Croatia fare in their second group game against Italy, especially how the defeat affects the team morale.  Croatia have yet to prove in qualification that they can bounce back from a loss due to their 100% qualification record.  

ITALY 0 – 2 PORTUGAL

The match, which was a a repeat of the 2003 finals of this tournament, resulted in a win for the opposite team as Portugal took a 2-0 league within 12 minutes in the second half.  Portugal’s goal scorers, Nélson Oliveira and Sérgio Oliveira, were both the result of clinical finishing from open play and a free-kick.  The top goal scorer in the tournament, Italy’s Destro, came close several times – including several times in the opening minutes of the match.  But despite Italy’s bright start, they were unable to capitalize on their opportunities and now sit at the bottom of the group with Croatia who were beaten by Spain.  Despite the loss, Italy’s perserverance in the last moments of the match were admirable as they were reduced to NINE men after right back Alessandro Crescenzi was carried off and Marco D’Alessandro was shown a red card.

AUSTRIA 2 – 3 ENGLAND

After going two goals ahead, England appeared to be on their way to an easy victory.  In the end, England kept their poise and managed to keep their lead against a determined Austrian side.  England first pulled ahead by a double from Frank Nouble who was able to take advantage of successive defensive errors by Austria inside the first 30 minutes.  Austria tried to rally back in the second half, and came close in the second half after twice reducing the deficit to the single goal.  But ultimately, England were able to hold on to their lead and will hope to make it 2-0 when they meet the Netherlands later this week.  Austria will have to beat hosts, France, to have a chance of progressing to the semi-finals.

FRANCE 4 -1 NETHERLANDS

While the France national team definitely kept the world entertained with their off-field antics this summer, the youth squad managed to restrict their entertaining performances to the field with an emphatic 4-1 victory over the Netherlands in front of a home crowd.  The squad of Bleuets have a history of success- with the bulk of this team having made it to the finals of the U17 championship two years ago.  Gael Kakuta, the player whose transfer was responsible for Chelsea being heavily fined and suspended for transfers, struck first with Cédric Bakambu scoring two in front of the new manager of the senior Bleus team, Laurent Blanc.  The Netherlands managed to score one when they were only down two goals to make it 2-1…but they were unable to capitalize on the momentum and succumbed to an own-goal to help solidify France’s win.