France meet Spain in clash of junior titans

Hosts France confront Spain in the final of the Under-19 European Championship in Caen, northern France on Friday, as the tournament’s most eye-catching sides bid to bow out in glory.

The two teams have illuminated and dominated the competition; France netting 12 goals in four matches and Spain producing performances reminiscent of the slick football that took the senior side to World Cup glory in South Africa.

“These two teams have demonstrated they are the best in the tournament,” said Spain coach Luis Milla.

“Both have a very similar way of playing. The small difference is that France look to take advantage of their speed while we like to use our passing combinations more; we like to be elaborate.”

Spain’s opponents are trying to restore some lustre to the image of football in France, after the country’s top players brought shame on the nation with their disastrous, ill-tempered World Cup campaign.

France coach Francis Smerecki is also seeking a measure of personal revenge, after his side were thrashed 4-0 by the Spanish in the final of the Under-17 tournament in 2008.

“The circumstances then were very different, we spent a lot of energy and could not repeat our performances,” he told the UEFA website.

“Now we’ve had a chance to use the squad. This will be an opportunity for us to measure our progress over the last two years; we already have some clues but now it’s time to confirm this and go for victory.”

Spain’s play has been consistently inventive, with Ezequiel Calvente’s ‘switch-hit’ penalty against Italy and Sergio Canales’s goal from a cunning free-kick routine in the semi-final against England two of the tournament’s stand-out moments.

Chelsea forward Gael Kakuta, France’s star player, says his team-mates will have to be at their most watchful.

“They take good care of the ball and are very patient. We will try to work on that,” he said. “It will be a good match. After what they did to us two years ago, everybody is looking forward to it.”