Germany take title with shoot-out win over France

Germany defeated France in a gripping penalty shoot-out in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final in Budapest to win the title for the second time.

Match in brief: Germany hold shoot-out nerve to claim trophy

Max Schmitt celebrates a save during the shoot-outUEFA via Getty Images

In a keenly contested first half, the closest either side came to the breakthrough was in the opening minute: a Mathis Lambourde cross ricocheted first off defender Maxim Dal and then goalkeeper Max Schmitt before looping over the crossbar.

Germany had scored 16 times in their five games in Hungary, but were not at their fluent best as Paris Brunner & Co. struggled to escape the attentions of the France back line. At the opposite end, Lambourde's pace and Saimon Bouabre's trickery caused problems.

Lambourde was desperately close to touching in a cross that the latter's mesmerising run had helped create with under 20 minutes to go; substitute Bence Dardai came closer still with a deftly delivered free-kick that struck the underside of the crossbar.

In added time, only a fabulous Schmitt reflex save that turned a wicked Lambourde volley over, and a last-ditch tackle from Fode Sylla to halt Noah Darvich en route to goal took the game to a shoot-out. Darvich saw the opening spot-kick saved, as did Sylla when he could have won it for France; instead, Bouabre hit a post giving Assan Ouedraogo a chance to claim the trophy that he did not pass up.

Reaction 

Christian Wück, Germany coach: "It was about time we won this title again. We're really happy about it. It was a really close game. I think we were perhaps slightly lucky winners tonight, but across the whole tournament, I think we deserved it."

Assan Ouedraogo, Germany forward: "I think everyone played really well, and we're delighted with the win. I was very nervous before my penalty, but the boys gave me a boost. I didn't really control my emotions. But when I shot, I saw the goalkeeper had gone the other way, and I was just so happy."

Jean-Luc Vannuchi, France coach: "I think we had chances to score the first goal, which would have made the difference. We even had a penalty to win it. It's tough for the boys. I think we deserved better than this defeat tonight, but that's the harsh reality of football."

Joachim Kayi Sanda, France captain: "It's tough for everyone, we've made a lot of sacrifices to get to this point. We worked on our penalties, but these things happen in football. We're proud of our run, and we'll come back stronger. We're not going to stop at this."

Key stats

• Germany win the U17 title for the second time, first since 2009.
• Final decided on penalties for the ninth time since current format adopted in 2002.

Line-ups

Germany: Schmitt; Moreira (Dardai 75'), Jeltsch, Dal (Bulut 84'), Kabar; Harchaoui (Osawe 75'), Ouedraogo; Herrmann, Darvich, Brunner; Moerstedt (Ramsak 56')

France: Argney; Titi, Kayi Sanda, Meupiyou, Sangui; Bouneb (Sylla 81'), Ferro, Bouabre; Bouchenna (Issoufou 62'), Lambourde, Gomis (Tincres 90+2)