Swiss lift first European crown

A 4-2 penalty shoot-out triumph gave Switzerland their first ever win in an international-level UEFA competition following a 0-0 draw against France in the final of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Farum, Denmark today.

'Biggest moment of career'
"It's the biggest moment of my career and I can only to congratulate my players," said Swiss coach Markus Frei after the match. "After five tough matches they were very tired going into the game and that showed straight from the start of the match.

'Time to celebrate'
"France were struggling physically and so the game turned into a spectacle that could not live up to our previous performances," Frei continued. "It was not difficult to pick out the players for the penalty shoot-out because we had already practised this during training. Now we have to celebrate. My players have done me proud."

Nervous opening
Frei's assessment that both sides were suffering from tiredness was borne out by a nervous opening phase where plenty of individual mistakes prevented either from establishing any kind of rhythm in midfield. Consequently chances were few and far between and tight man-marking tactics left both sides with very little space in which to operate in midfield.

Schneuwly comes close
Switzerland generally looked below the form they have displayed throughout the tournament but they still nearly managed to seize the early initiative through Marco Schneuwly. The lone striker in Markus Frei's 4-3-2-1 formation, Schneuwly shook off three defenders in the box but his weak shot left French keeper Benoît Benvegnu plenty of time to turn the ball away for a corner.

Lejeune threat
The first half was generally a contest between Swiss organisation and creative French short passing and while the Swiss looked largely comfortable in defence, danger threatened whenever Kévin Lejeune was in possession. Lejeune was at the heart of the action when France nearly stole the lead on 20 minutes, bursting into the box to deliver the ball for Guillaume Plessis whose shot was easily caught by Swen König.

Schneuwly shoots wide
At the other end, Schneuwly posed the only Swiss threat and he should have done better when Christian Schlauri's perfectly weighted pass put him clear in front of goal but, with just Benvegnu to beat, he pulled his effort wide.

Half-chances missed
Into the second half and the match remained tight. Milosavac, Schneuwly and Boban Maksimovic had half-chances to give the game the goal it so desperately needed but all failed to keep their cool at the crucial moment and France escaped. Late on, both sides seemed more intent on keeping a clean sheet than going for the goal that could have opened up a match where the final pass was largely lacking from both countries.

Dramatic end
The match moved into extra time, with the "golden goal" rule in effect, and Switzerland almost snatched a winner straight away when captain Philippe Senderos headed narrowly over from Reto Ziegler's free-kick. Lejeune also squandered the chance to settle the matter, when Christophe Mandanne put him through but König saved well to send the match into a shoot-out.

Clinical Swiss
Switzerland were clinical from the spot, while Plssis and Sami Houry squandered France's first two efforts, leaving Frei's side to pick up the inaugural European U-17 Championship crown.