Cambon clinches Group B for France

By David Farrelly at Mourneview Park

France booked their place in the semi-finals of the 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and a tie against Germany following their defeat of spirited Armenia.

Cambon winner
The French dominated proceedings throughout and scored from Cedric Cambon's header after 31 minutes to clinch first place in Group B. Armenia finished bottom with one point from three matches on their debut in a UEFA final tournament.

Five changes
France coach Jean Gallice, back on the sidelines after serving a two-match ban, tinkered with his team selection, with five changes compared to Wednesday's win against Norway. For Armenia, Samuel Petrosyan made one alteration to the lineup that started the 1-1 draw with England as Artak Hovhannisyan came in on the left of midfield.

Fast start
Needing only a point to guarantee qualification, France were quickly into their stride. Didier Digard found Moussa Sow with a raking 40-metre pass for a clear shot from 15 metres in the second minute, but the striker fired the ball into Edel Bete's arms. A neat interchange involving Digard and Franck Dja Djedje set up the latter, but he shot wide from 20 metres.

Manucharyan miss
Bete then flapped at Frederic Sammaritano's corner on the quarter-hour, but after the ball fell to Yohan Cabaye, he angled his shot narrowly over the target. Although the French had almost absolute dominance during the opening stages, Edgar Manucharyan had a chance when he was played clean through, but screwed a low shot wide of Hugo Lloris's right-hand post.

French lead
Digard again came close from 20 metres before Armenian resistance was finally broken as Cambon got the slightest of touches to deviate Sammaritano's corner into Bede's unguarded net. It was a satisfactory reward for French efforts, but Armenia could have levelled four minutes before the break when Manucharyan was first to react to Aleksandr Petrosyan's header, but was denied by the legs of Lloris.

Opportunities missed
The pace slowed during the second period and although Armenia remained competitive for the 90 minutes, it was France who created the best opportunities. Younes Kaboul's goalbound header was blocked on the line by substitute Artak Oseyan, then Dja Djedje crossed from the goalline for Sow, who planted his header wide from two metres with the net at his mercy.

Armenia denied
Bete denied Cabaye two minutes from time, but there was still time for Armenia to create their best chance of the half. Petrosyan found Manucharyan inside the box with an excellent cross from the right, but once more Lloris denied the AFC Ajax striker, parrying the ball into the ground before the danger was cleared by a retreating defender.