Modest Edouard champions France team effort
Friday, May 22, 2015
Article summary
Odsonne Edouard played down his final hat-trick, telling UEFA.com it was "down to the work of everyone", while Jean-Claude Giuntini said the win was his "best moment".
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• France win their second Under-17 title, defeating Germany 4-1 in the final
• Jean-Claude Giuntini says the victory is "my best moment as a coach"
• Tournament top scorer Odsonne Edouard is on target three times in the Burgas showpiece
• The forward attributes his individual honour to "the work of everyone in the team"
• Captain Timothé Cognat: "Tonight will stay with me for the rest of my life"
Jean-Claude Giuntini, France coach
This team wants to get results, but results aren't the most important thing – it's more important to play good football and to play well. It's very important that we instil confidence in the players, as they need confidence to play football, to develop attacks, to try things and to keep their emotions under control.
Odsonne has scored eight goals here. He has also been very important in developing attacks, finding space between the lines and helping out in defence and midfield, all the while behaving like a forward. It's very important for him, the progress he has made in this tournament, and he can afford to have very big ambitions. This is my best moment as a coach. I've been working with national teams for 12 to 15 years across all the age categories and it has been a real pleasure to coach this group and see how they've come on and developed.
Odsonne Edouard, France forward
There's a lot of emotion right now, it's a massive pleasure to be a European champion – it's incredible. It's very satisfying to be top scorer, but more so because we won the competition. The honour is down to the work of everyone in the team. We played very well against a strong Germany side. We were a little worried when Germany made it 2-1, but when we scored the third goal we knew it was finished. The first goal against Italy [a back-heeled finish] is my favourite among the eight I scored.
Timothé Cognat, France captain
I'm very proud of what we achieved throughout the competition; it's extremely satisfying. We were confident [as the game approached half-time 0-0] because the tempo of the team was good. We played as well as we possibly could and were in good shape to score the four goals. Odsonne was wonderful. He was in the game throughout and announced himself with his three goals. Tonight will stay with me for the rest of my life. It's a big competition and I'm very proud of the victory.