France get better of Georgia in Nantes

UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round Group 6 hosts France struck either side of half-time to make a winning start against Georgia.

France have qualified for the last four final tournaments and goals from Sébastien Haller and Abdallah Yaisien ensured Patrick Gonfalone's charges got off on the right foot in Nantes. On Sunday they take on Norway, who defeated Georgia's next opponents Belarus 5-1 today.

The home side looked the better side in the opening stages and gained their reward after 31 minutes. A fine one-touch move involving Adam N'Kusu and Yaisien left Haller with the ball on the penalty spot and it was a simple right-footed tap-in for the AJ Auxerre player. Ten minutes into the second half Yaisien kept up his record of scoring in every competitive game for France, turning in Gaëtan Laborde's pass from the left.

Yaisien said: "We watched videos of Georgia, we knew what to expect. At the start, we tried to put them back on their heels but it wasn't easy. We knew that if we played on the ground and went fast forward, everything would be fine. We'll take one game after the other now, we want to recover for the Norway game on Sunday. If Norway attack, they'll leave space behind and we'll be able to take advantage of it."

Georgia coach Koba Zhorzhikashvili, who lost striker Bachana Arabuli on the eve of the tournament, said: "I would like to congratulate France who totally deserved their win. We knew how they played but we still were surprised by their physicality. Our players were below France, physically speaking. French players are well developed and very strong. They give the impression to be finished footballers already. We had problems offensively. We've played Spain, England, Sweden but France were physically stronger than all of them."