Spain won the UEFA Men’s Under-19 European Championship title after defeating 10-man France in the final in Belfast.
Goals from player of the match Iker Bravo and Assane Diao gave the Spanish a deserved victory by two goals to nil in the U19 Euros decider.
Spain got their tactics spot on in front of 8,358 fans at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park tonight.
Influential France captain Valentin Atangana was nullified by the Spanish midfield, while Spain’s defensive line held firm against France’s lively attackers. The centre back pairing of Simo and Yarek Gasiorowski were steady as a rock.
The teams drew 2-2 in a group game in Larne last Monday. It was an even affair, but this time Jose Lana’s Spanish side always had the edge.
Spain attacked from the start and could have opened the scoring in the first minute. Captain Gerard Hernandez fired in a corner which was met by striker Bravo and his flicked header was goal-bound before France full-back Sael Kumbedi intervened to chest it out of play at the near post.
Spanish winger Dani Rodriguez had a shot blocked before French winger Saimon Bouabre directed a header over the bar.
Bravo threatened for Spain, and then Bouabre whipped a dangerous cross into Spain’s six-yard box which evaded everyone.
On the half-hour mark France midfielder Mayssam Benema was adjudged to have been fouled by Hernandez on the edge of the area, however Bouabre fired the free-kick straight at the Spanish wall.
Then Benema was teed up by France captain Atangana but he curled his shot over the top.
The best move of the half forced an excellent save from Spain keeper Raul Jimenez. Kumbedi fired in a cross from the right flank towards Jean-Matteo Bahoya who cleverly stepped over the ball, allowing the onrushing Aboubaka Soumahoro to smash the ball goalwards from the edge of the area. However, Jimenez dived full length to push the shot away.
Spain opened the scoring on 41 minutes. Bravo exchanged passes with fellow striker David Mella before letting fly from 12 yards – and Bravo’s snapshot slipped under Bengui-Joao’s outstretched arm and eventually trundled over the line.
Right at the start of the second half the increasingly confident Bravo produced a lovely bit of footwork before unleashing a low drive which the French keeper tipped around the post.
Down the other end French forward Eli Junior Kroupi pounced on a loose ball and was unlucky to see his shot on the turn spiral just over the top.
Mella ran at the heart of the French defence but was stopped in his tracks by centre back Jeremy Jacquet.
Dehmaine Assoumani blasted the ball wide from a tight angle as Bernard Diomede’s team began to apply pressure.
France substitute Senny Mayulu slipped the ball to Benema just outside the area but the midfielder’s shot was always rising, while Soumahoro’s powerful strike deflected past the post and Jacquet scooped a shot over the top.
Diao replaced Dani Rodriguez on 68 minutes and he made quite an impact. A minute after coming on he played a one-two with Cristian Perea and ran towards goal. His pull-back on the edge of the area hit covering French defender Jacquet and spun over the keeper into the back of the net to make it 2-0 to Spain.
In another rapid counter-attack Bravo produced a lovely chip from 12 yards which drifted just wide of the post.
On 77 minutes France were reduced to 10 men. The always-alert Mella sped goalwards from close to the halfway line and was hauled down by centre back Yoni Gomis, who was shown a straight red by Greek referee Vassilis Fotias.
In added time Jimenez handled well once again as he comfortably collected a cross from France substitute Steve Ngoura.
The victory marked a double for Spain this weekend. Yesterday Spain also won the Women’s U19 Euros title by defeating Netherlands 2-1 in the final staged in Lithuania. And, of course, the senior men’s team were crowned European champions at UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany earlier this month.
UEFA U19 Euro 2024 ambassador Stuart Dallas handed over the trophy for presentation to the winners.
Spain: Raul Jimenez, Cristian Perea, Julio Diaz, Wassim Keddari (Simo), Yarek Gasiorowski, Gerard Hernandez (captain), Rayane Belid, Chema Andres, Iker Bravo, David Mella, Dani Rodriguez.
Substitutes: (used) Assane Diao, Yanis Senhadji, Jesus Rodriguez ; Fran Gonzalez (GK), Miguel Carvalho, Pol Fortuny, Dani Diaz, Jacobo Ramon, Daniel Munoz.
France: Justin Bengui-Joao, Sael Kumbedi, Aboubaka Soumahoro, Yoni Gomis, Jeremy Jacquet, Mayssam Benama, Valentin Atangana (captain), Dehmaine Assoumani, Eli Junior Kroupi, Saimon Bouabre, Jean-Matteo Bahoya.
Substitutes: (used) Steve Ngoura, Senny Mayulu, Lucas Michal, Mathis Amougou, Mamadou Sarr; (unused) Alexis Mirbach (GK), Ayman Aiki, Elyaz Zidane, Tidiam Goumis.
The Irish Football Association hosted U19 Euro 2024 along with UEFA. For highlights of all the action go to the UEFA Under-19 section on uefa.com.
Image: Spain captain Gerard Hernandez celebrates with his team-mates after Spain defeated France in the final in Belfast tonight.
