The beautiful story of Les Bleuets ended in apotheosis this Wednesday. In Netanya, Israel, where the competition had been taking place for two weeks, the young players of José Alcocer emerged victorious (2-1) from the final which opposed them to the Netherlands, one of the favorites of the competition, which remained on two consecutive successes in 2018 and 2019.
After the 2004 generations (Benzema, Nasri, Ben Arfa, among others) and 2015, that of Luca Zidane, Dayot Upamecano, Jeff Reine-Adélaïde and Odsonne Edouard, this is the third time that France has entered its name on the list of winners of this test. This is perhaps the beginning of promise for a whole group of players who have quickly evolved together, and some elements of whom are already knocking on the door of their respective clubs.
Defeated (1-3) by this same opponent in the group stage, France was logically not favored in the forecasts. The Dutch, who remained on eight matches without defeat, have among the best young people in this age group. However, it was the Bleuets who first came to the fore, with a first strike on the opposing post, on a magnificent free kick from their captain, Rennais Mathys Tel (4th). A few minutes later, Tom Saettel, the Strasbourgeois, does the pressing and recovers the ball before touching again the amount of Kuijsten. France wins all its duels and gets new chances (Kumbedi, 9th, Tel, 16th, Doué, 27th) without success. In his cages, Lisandru Olmeta only touches his first ball very late (37th). At the break, nothing is yet played.
To dominate is not to win and the Batavians know it well. On an error of appreciation by Jeanüel Belocian, the brother of Wilhem (champion of 110m hurdles), Slory cleverly lobbed a flick Olmeta (0-1, 48th). Far from being knocked out, the teammates of Warren Zaire-Emery, one of PSG’s best hopes, continue to move forward and are rewarded for their efforts thanks to Saël Kumbedi. The Le Havrais first grilled the politeness of his defender before unleashing a long shot (58th), and was then well placed after a shot from his captain (60th). He, the side who never scores, becomes the hero of his team, like a certain Lilian Thuram 24 years ago against Croatia in the semi-finals of the World Cup…
Stunned, the Oranje react but fall on an attentive goalkeeper. The son of Pascal, the former goalkeeper of the France team and OM, wants at all costs to avoid the penalty shootout, an exercise from which he nevertheless came out twice victorious in the quarter-finals against Marseille. Germany, the other big favorite in the competition (1-1, 4-3 on pens), then against Portugal (2-2, 6-5). The Monegasque bowed to a diving header from Huijsen, the defender of Juventus … signaled offside (84th). Elyaz Zidane comes to make his contribution to the fantastic epic of the France team. After his illustrious father in 2000, and his brother Luca in 2015, the Zidane family therefore won a new continental trophy.
“It’s the big party, jubilant José Alcocer at the microphone of L’Équipe. All credit goes to the players. They adhered to what was offered to them in terms of intensity and work. It’s a collective victory, it’s never just one person. The players did an incredible job. The boys have always capitalized on their experience. We offered a quality game, the goal of the game is to play football. It’s exceptional what Saël (Kumbedi) did tonight, but he deserves it. It’s fantastic for him and for the team of course. »
