Youth Competitions

Ajacied

Stay strong Appie! ❤
Apr 6, 2002
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Netherlands
Oranje looked decent vs Belgium. Even though they dominated, they have another gear or two. Unuvar missed the game due to a groin injury and the captain, Taylor, got injured early in the second half. I think Brobbey looked outstanding, as did the entire backline. It's so weird how Oranje seems to produce these defensive talents all of a sudden after it was their kryptonite for so long since Jaap Stam retired. There's elite talent there in any age group. Not sure I can say the same about the other positions. Especially talented goalkeepers are lacking right now.
 

Ajacied

Stay strong Appie! ❤
Apr 6, 2002
25,136
911
Netherlands
It's too bad that France and Holland will have to meet before the final as I think they're pretty easily the two best teams.

Don't rule out Spain. They've been impressive. I think they are among the favorites.
Portugal and Germany have rather weak U17 generations this time. Both were very unimpressive.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
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Don't rule out Spain. They've been impressive. I think they are among the favorites.
Portugal and Germany have rather weak U17 generations this time. Both were very unimpressive.
They (Spain) looked pretty bad against Italy who were not that great either.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
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I guess the way they had the QFs written out was wrong, so the semifinal games are France vs. Italy and Netherlands vs. Spain. I would be pretty surprised if the final is not France vs. Netherlands as those were the two best teams by a fair margin so far in the competition. That game hopefully happens because there are quite a few bright prospects for the future on these teams and I think it would be a great game.
 

Evilo

Registered User
Mar 17, 2002
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France
Can't stand the media treatment of this tournament.
French headlines in the papers after the QF win :
"Zidane and the U17 NT in the semis"

French headlines this morning :
"Zidane's advice to his son Theo before the U17 semis".

Guys, Zidane is a backup. He started one half, the one where France sucked against England. His replacement was Aouchiche who went on to score NINE goals and an assist in 3 and a half games (out of the 13 goals scored by the whole team). :facepalm:
 
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Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
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Can't stand the media treatment of this tournament.
French headlines in the papers after the QF win :
"Zidane and the U17 NT in the semis"

French headlines this morning :
"Zidane's advice to his son Theo before the U17 semis".

Guys, Zidane is a backup. He started one half, the one where France sucked against England. His replacement was Aouchiche who went on to score NINE goals and an assist in 3 and a half games (out of the 13 goals scored by the whole team). :facepalm:

We have something similar with the American U17 squad.

One of the players on the team is the son of Claudio Reyna, one of the best American players ever. His son, Gio, is a good player and one of the best players in the team but he's treated like some prodigy, which he's not. It doesn't help that he signed with Borussia Dortmund and some are expecting him to be "the new Pulisic" because he signed with Dortmund.

The media treatment was even worse when Jurgen Klinsmann son was coming through the ranks. He was a very average player, yet they regarded him as some star goalkeeper. I also think he got a spot on some of these teams because his father was the youth technical director along with being the senior National Team coach, so the coaches of the youth teams were working for Jurgen Klinsmann. It would've made a lot of sense for them to elevate Jonathan Klinsmann to positions he didn't earn. His father was their boss.
 
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YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
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After being the better team most of the game the Netherlands I think just punched their ticket to the final with a beautifully worked goal finished off by Taabouni. Taylor did really well in the middle to keep the ball work it out to Maatsen who passed it across the top of the box just outside, Taabouni took a really nice touch to the outside and buried it far side.

Looking forward to the France/Italy game.
 
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Ajacied

Stay strong Appie! ❤
Apr 6, 2002
25,136
911
Netherlands
Ugly, hard fought game. Lots of fouls and stoppages. Neither team gave up much of anything, but Oranje got the better of their chances.

Unuvar came in late and changed the flow of the game a fair bit. Oranje instantly looked more dangerous. Hopefully he's fit enough to start in the final.

In the past decade they have won the tournament three times and finished runner up twice, excluding this years edition. It doesn't always translate to success for the real Oranje, but it's nice to see some little dominance at this respected youth level. It goes on to show that the final steps to the real time pro's is still a tough and uncertain road to take. We've seen plenty of massive talents falter.

The 2011 generation, which trashed Germany 5-2 in the final had might have been an exception. Funny enough, it were those who fell for the money and nice presentation pitches of the big spending teams who now have rather uneventful careers (Karim Rekik - Manchester City, Kyle Ebecillio - Arsenal). Nathan Aké went to Chelsea, but had to fight his way back with lesser sides. Other notable's in that squad: Tony Vilhena, Memphis Depay and Jetro Willems. In entirety 14 players made the big leagues, which is a very high number. I think this current squad might duplicate that when it's all said and done.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
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Between winning last year and getting to the final again on top of some other players making big strides now the next generation for the Netherlands looks extremely talent laden with no noticeable weaknesses ('99 - '03 specifically has so many elite talents for them). Hopefully there is a lot of strong decision making here and the NT will be stacked for a while.
 

Evilo

Registered User
Mar 17, 2002
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France
France a notch above Italy. 6-0 shots attempted after 30 minutes, but 0-0.
Which is exactly how Italy plans the game usually. They'll probably score on their one and only chance and win the game 1-0.

Caution.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
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Did they call offside against Italy there? He was definitely not offside.

France have had their chances. They need to finish though.
 

Evilo

Registered User
Mar 17, 2002
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France
Yeah weird call, I'm not sure if it was offside (the right player wasn't offside) or a foul before.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
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Deserved goal for France...mostly one way traffic. Italy don't look very good in build up at all.
 

Evilo

Registered User
Mar 17, 2002
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France
Of course.
First italian shot is a FK top corner. Nice shot, but so undeserved tying goal.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
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That was a pretty nice free kick. Score shouldn't be 1-1 probably but Italy know how to hang in games like this. They did it against Germany.
 

Evilo

Registered User
Mar 17, 2002
61,958
8,526
France
Italy still with one single shot in the game. 75 minutes gone.
I can smell the penalty shootout defeat.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
34,543
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France just got away with what looked like a clear peno vs. the Italian attacker.

Also Zidane has been dreadful.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
34,543
2,560
That was a nice goal by Italy...France's rightback caught sleeping too far up the field gave the winger all the time in the world to come in and make that cutback.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
34,543
2,560
U17 final today...Netherlands completely dominating Italy at the moment and just got their deserved 2nd to go 2-0 (could easily be worse for Italy too). Only have to be wary of desperate counters, but these teams don't look on the same level at all. Would have much rather seen Netherlands vs. France.
 

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