France hold Ukraine to edge closer

France edged a step closer to the quarter-finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship after a hard-fought goalless draw against Ukraine in Valby today.

Failed to dominate
Having beaten much-fancied Portugal 2-0 in their opening fixture, France were in confident mood ahead of the kick off but failed to dominate against a resolute Ukraine side. Indeed, France were merely a shadow of the side that beat Portugal and, but for some poor finishing from their opponents, could have been three goals down at the interval.

Kotenko goes close
Ukraine, who lost 3-1 to Switzerland in their first match, were impressive throughout but failed to convert several gilt-edged chances in a frantic first half. They went close after two minutes when Ivan Kotenko shot just wide after good work down the left by Dmytro Vorobey.

Vorobey threat
Vorobey, blessed with stunning pace, was to prove a constant threat to the French rearguard and almost opened the scoring two minutes later. Kotenko turned provider, threading the ball beyond France captain Carl Medjani, but Vorobey was denied by the legs of goalkeeper Benoït Benvegnu as he raced into the penalty area.

Benvegnu save
Benvegnu, who was in fine form against Portugal, then nearly gifted Ukraine the opening goal when he sliced his kick following an under-hit back-pass. Vorobey pounced on the loose ball but Benvegnu somehow recovered his ground and managed to tip his shot behind when it seemed certain that Ukraine would score. France went close at the other end as Christophe Mandanne, one of his side's goalscorers on Sunday, headed Jimmy Briand's looping cross narrowly wide.

Briand injured
Stade Rennais FC striker Briand started the match in place of Saïd Khiter, but was carried off on a stretcher early in the second half following a heavy tackle from behind by Ukraine captain Andriy Proshyn. France coach Luc Rabat was then forced to bring on Khiter but revealed that Briand was not badly injured. "He has a calf injury after a bad tackle but I am sure that he will be okay," he said.

Mathematical chance
Neither side created any clear-cut chances in a disappointing second period, although Mandanne did bring a good save from Oleksiy Prokhorov with a powerful header from Cédric Kisamba's cross. The result means that France have four points, two behind Switzerland who top Group B after a surprise 1-0 victory over Portugal today. Ukraine have one point and still have a mathematical chance of qualification if they can beat already-eliminated Portugal and Switzerland overcome France on Wednesday.

'Better team'
Rabat was pleased with the result but is refusing to look forward to the quarter-finals until France's progress is confirmed. "We played well today against a physical Ukrainian side," he said. "It was a difficult match and we struggled in the first half, but we were the better team in the second half. However, we have to wait until after the Switzerland match to see if we will be in the last eight."