L’The French under-17 football team qualified for the World Cup final in Indonesia thanks to its success (2-1) against Mali on Tuesday. The Blues, who will try to win a second title after 2001, will face Germany on Saturday, who defeated Argentina on penalties (3-3, 4 tab to 2) in the other semi-final.
In the humid heat of Surakarta, the young players of coach Jean-Luc Vannuchi conceded their first goal of the tournament and were trailing at halftime after a goal by Ibrahim Diarra (0-1, 45e +4). But they came back to score with a header from the Trojan Yvann Titi (1-1, 56e), who had to give up his place a few minutes later due to an injury.
France-Germany in the final
Valencienne’s Ismail Bouneb, the only scorer in the quarter-final against Uzbekistan (1-0), was decisive again by scoring the qualifying goal with a subtle free kick (2-1, 69e). The young Blues played in numerical superiority for much of the second half, following Souleymane Sanogo’s red card in the 55th.e minute, for a sole on defender Aymen Sadi.
Le Havre goalkeeper Paul Argney saved his team by diverting a free kick onto the crossbar in the 89the minute. France will meet Germany in the final on Saturday, which defeated Germany in the Euro final last June (0-0, 5 tab to 4). Finalist at the first edition in 1985, defeated by Nigeria, Germany never won the event. France, in turn, won only once against Nigeria in 2001 (3-0) with future Liverpool strikers Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Anthony Le Tallec in its ranks.
