France savour first triumph
Sunday 1 January 2006
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France celebrate with the European U19 Championship trophy (©uefa.com)
France's reputation as one of Europe's leading countries at youth level was further cemented at the 2004/05 UEFA European Under-19 Championship as they claimed the trophy for the first time with victory in Northern Ireland.
France draw
Jean Gallice's side had reached the final tournament in style by winning all six qualifying games, but opened their campaign in underwhelming fashion, playing out a 1-1 draw with England at The Oval in Belfast. Also in Group B, Norway defeated Armenia – playing in a final tournament for the first time at any level – 2-0, while in Group A hosts Northern Ireland were unfortunate to open their campaign with a narrow single-goal defeat against Greece. The most eventful Matchday 1 encounter came in Lurgan, where Germany roared into a two-goal lead against Serbia and Montenegro only to be overhauled by four goals in the final 33 minutes, Borko Veselinović scoring twice to help his team to a memorable victory. The Serbo-Montenegrin captain also scored in his side's next match, a 1-0 defeat of the hosts, while Germany got back on track with a 3-0 success against Greece.
English excitement
In Group B, France found their feet with a 3-1 victory against Norway at Windsor Park, Yohan Gourcuff scoring all three goals including two penalties, while Carl Lombe's 87th-minute equaliser earned Armenia a 1-1 draw against England that left the section hanging in the balance. English prospects looked even bleaker with ten minutes remaining of their concluding match against Norway with the Scandinavian side leading 2-1, but late goals from substitutes Dexter Blackstock and David Wheater took them into the last four and ended the Norwegian challenge. France clinched first place thanks to Cédric Cambon's first-half strike against Armenia. Group A was much more clear-cut, with Veselinović adding two more goals to his tally as Serbia and Montenegro made it three wins from three by overcoming Greece 3-0. Two goals in the final five minutes helped Germany defeat Northern Ireland 2-1 to claim second.
Semi-final wins
Both Group A qualifiers had their hopes ended in the semi-finals. Matthew Fryatt's hat-trick brought Serbia and Montenegro's winning run to a halt and took England into the final, while Abdoulaye Baldé's double helped France to a 3-2 victory against an injury-ravaged German side. France were back among the goals in the final at Windsor Park in Belfast where in torrential rain they defeated England 3-1. England struck first when Lee Holmes' deflected effort looped into the net four minutes before half-time, but France were not behind for long. Mohamed Chakouri levelled eleven minutes into the second period and Baldé put them in front with 15 minutes remaining. Yohan Gouffran crowned a fine fightback with a third goal in the closing stages. There was some consolation for Veselinović, who took the top scorers' trophy having scored five times in the final tournament and eleven goals over the course of the season.
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