Cédric Bakambu netted two goals as Les Bleuets dominate Holland.
While the senior French National Team were acting like a bunch of kids during the World Cup, the kids on the pitch for the U-19 European Championships where acting like a group of adults.
France went into this U-19 Euro Championship as one of the favorites, as they are the host nation, and they didn’t disappoint. They dominated Holland by a score of 4-1 in front of 11,000 fans at the Stade Michel-d’Ornano, home of recently promoted Ligue 1 side SM Caen to take three-point to start in the competition. In attendance was, of course, new Bleus coach Laurent Blanc.
France dominated the first half of the match, never really giving Holland any chance to organize. Even the Dutch coach, Wim van Zwam, said that his side played “sloppy” football.
“It was not the Dutch team I’m used to seeing,” said van Zwam “especially in the first half. We weren’t at the level we can play; we were sloppy in offence and sloppy in defence. We gave some big chances to France and I congratulate them and their coach, because they deserved the win and we didn’t.”
The scoring started when Chelsea sensation (and reason they had the transfer ban slapped on them) Gael Kakuta scored to give France the 1-0 lead. Kakuta intercepted a Dutch clearing pass in the Dutch 3rd, and rocketed past Holland’s defense, finishing with a strong strike to the lower right side of the goal.
Eight minutes later, France could have gone up 2-0, as Dutch defender Imad Najah tripped up Arsenal prospect Francis Coquelin. But the following free-kick, taken by Lyon’s Clément Grenier was saved by Dutch keeper Jeroen Zoek. A few minutes later, Dutch midfielder Rick van Haaren hit one off the post, giving the French side a bit of a scare.
Still, France was able to get the second goal in the first half from Sochaux product Cédric Bakambu, giving the Bleus a 2-0 lead going into the half. A French defensive long ball to Bakambu was poorly defended by the Dutch defense, and Bakambu broke in on the Dutch keeper, putting the goal away in, again, the lower right side.
While the second half saw France increase their lead, the Dutch were easily a better side than the were the first half, controlling the ball more and being a bit more aggressive.
Holland scored their only goal in the match in the 55th minute, when a free kick Jerson Cabral deflected off the French wall, and took a downward-right curve toward the goal, leaving French keeper (and Rennes product) Abdoulaye Diallo totally helpless. Still, the Dutch were able to cut the lead in half, and totally halt the French momentum that was built in the first half.
The next few minutes of the match saw Holland with some decent attacking, with Diallo making a few sprawling saves.
France, though, were able to take a 3-1 lead on an own goal by Bruno Martins Indi. French midfielder, and captain of the French team, Gueïda Fofana, tried a centering pass to Bakambu, but was instead deflected off the foot of Indi into his own goal. This seems to be the nail in the coffin for the Dutch team.
The fourth and final goal for the French side came in the third minute of stoppage time. A long cross-pitch pass was kept in-bounds nicely by Lyon product Alexandre Lacazette on the left hand side of the pitch. With all of the Dutch defenders being pushed forward, Lacazette was able to push toward goal and deliver a cross to the head of Bakambu, giving him his second goal of the match. Maybe Bakambu needs to team up with Charlie Davies up front at Sochaux.
After the game, French coach Francis Smerecki was happy to start off the tournament on a positive note, but that it was just the beginning.
“It is always better to start with a victory,” said Smerecki after the match. “Especially against the Netherlands. Scoring several goals is a good omen yet I know that a single win is not enough.
“We saw tonight that with enthusiasm, desire, heart and generosity, we can reach our objectives in this tournament. It is a great satisfaction because you are always worried at the start of a tournament about the physical preparation.
“We had a fairly good first half where we might have deserved a bigger lead but we dropped off in the second period. The Netherlands were probably annoyed and tried to come back but we had enough resources in terms of moral, willingness and technique to contain their surge. We set the tone but now we have to reach our next objective. The first one, which was to have a good start, is reached but we have other high goals.”
Here is the French lineup and subs for their match against Holland:
Abdoulaye Diallo – Loïc Nego, Sébastien Faure, Chris Mavinga, Timothée Kolodziejczak – Gueida Fofana (C), Clément Grenier (Enzo Reale, 79th), Francis Coquelin, Antoine Griezmann (Alexandre Lacazette, 72nd) – Gaël Kakuta – Cédric Bakambu.
Filed under: France U-19 Team Tagged: | Abdoulaye Diallo, Alexandre Lacazette, Cédric Bakambu, Clément Grenier, Gael Kakuta, Gueïda Fofana, U-19 European Championship
Good write up. I think that Kakuta has a legitimate chance to be selected by Laurent Blanc for the Euro qualifiers. He has the pace and nose for goal that is desperately needed for the senior side. Had he not suffered an injury with the Chelsea youth side he might be already getting some time with the Stamford bridge side as well as Les Bleus.
I have always been big on Kakuta. Well not always, since he is so young lol. But,hell, since he was 16, I have been saying “watch this kid”. But I do want to know more about Cédric Bakambu. He would have easily had a hat-trick if the Holland defender didn’t have the own goal. Looks like some good talent there!
Good to hear. On a side note, I like these uniforms a lot more than the ones the senior squad wore in the World Cup. They should have stuck with them.
I am mixed on them. I like the darker blue in the new ones, but the pattern of the old ones.
Les Bleuets just followed up with a 5-0 thrashing of Austria. They’re all but assured of advancing.