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Seite4b - Die U17 WM in Trinidad and Tobago

2-Okt-2001
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Das Wochenende/Die Woche in Buliskandal:

Die U17-WM in Trinidad und Tobago
Es gibt sie noch, die andere, positive Welt jenseits der Tagesschau.

Unbemerkt von der deutschen Fussballöffentlichkeit fand bis letzten Sonntag die hochkarätig  besetzte U17 Weltmeisterschaft in Trinidad/Tobago statt.

In toller und bemerkensert positiver Atmosphäre boten einige Mannschaften hier spektakulären Offensivfussball mit technisch beschlagenen Talenten, während andere schon auf dieser Ebene ihre mannschaftlichen Tugenden dagegenwarfen, wie zum Beispiel die Australier.
Das einheimische Publikum strömte in die fünf zum grössten Teil neuen Stadien mit gut bespielbarem Untergrund und feuerte begeistert alle guten Aktionen beider Mannschaften an. 
Wer auch immer die Idee hatte diese WM an dieses Land zu vergeben, es scheint eine der besten in der Geschichte des Jugendfussballs gewesen zu sein.

Immer im Blickpunkt in dieser Altersklasse sind die Afrikaner, hier vor allem die Westafrikaner, die auch die afrikanischen Wettbewerbe bei den Jugendlichen dominieren.
Neben Nigeria waren mit Burkina Faso und Mali zwei eigentlich weniger grosse Fussballkräfte am Start. Doch die beiden haben aufgrund ihrer Fussballschulen seit einigen Jahren auf dem Jugendsektor die Nase mit vorn, doch konnten sie bisher die Erfolge noch nicht durchschlagend in den Erwachsenenbereich übertragen.

Traditionell Favoriten waren natürlich die Brasilianer und die Argentinier und aus Europa die Spanier, sowie seit einiger Zeit auch die Franzosen.

Im ersten Highlight gleich zu Anfang besiegten die spektakulären Nigerianer eine kaum schlechtere französische Mannschaft mit 2:1 und qualifizierten sich mit einem 4:0 über Japan schnell fürs Viertelfinale..
Die Nigerianer überraschten damit, dass sie ihre Talente in sehr schnellem Spiel in eine gute Mannschaftsarbeit und Kombinationen einbrachten. Sie wirkten hierbei schon sehr reif.

Australien überzeugte als Mannschaft, schaltete Kroatien 4:0 aus, kassierte in den ersten drei Spielen nur ein Gegentor, um dann Nigeria 1:5 zu unterliegen.

Brasilien wirkte eher bieder und schied gegen die glänzenden Franzosen aus.
Argentinien stand im Mittelpunkt mehrerer fussballerischer Knüller. Die Argentinier, individuell bzw. körperlich vielleicht etwas unterlegen, drehten mit ihrem intelligenten und immer latent gefährlichem Spiel die Thriller gegen Burkina Faso, Spanien und Mali noch um, und erreichten das Halbfinale.

Herausragende Spieler gab es wie immer viele, auch bei den früh ausgeschiedenen Mannschaften. Wie z.B.Fernando Torres aus Spanien (Atletico Madrid), der seine Möglichkeiten eher nur andeutete, sogar beim Iran und Oman konnte jeweils mindestens ein Spieler auffallen.

Florent Simina Pongolle aus Frankreich, der 9 Tore schoss und Anthony Le Tallec, die bereits nach der Europameisterschaft von Le Havre nach Liverpool wechselten, waren aber die eindeutigen Stars des Turniers und stellten den zuvor hochgelobten Maximiliano Lopez aus Argentinien doch recht deutlich in den Schatten. Dieser flog dann auch im Halbfinale gegen Frankreich vom Platz. 
Auf den dritten Platz kam der Nigerianer Femi Opabunmi, der allerdings im Endspiel wirkungslos blieb.

Auch Abwehrspieler konnten trotz der vielen Tore mit individuellen Qualitäten beeindrucken. So erhielt beispielsweise der Argentinier Walter Garcia nach dem Viertelfinale den Man of the Match Award, obwohl Mali mindestens 10 Torchancen hatte. Auch im Endspiel wurde ein Abwehrspieler, Jaques Faty, zum Man of the Match gewählt. Es ist aber bezeichnend für dieses Altersniveau das grosse Talente wie die französischen Abwehrspieler auch noch grössere Fehler machen. 
So war das Endspiel das erste Spiel das die Franzosen ohne Gegentor beendeten. Sie dominierten hier die zuvor so spektakulären Nigerianer vor allem in der zweiten Halbzeit in beeindruckender Weise und siegten mit 3:0.
Tore? Natürlich Sinama Pongolle und Le Tallec. Das dritte erzielte auf Vorarbeit der beiden der Einwechselspieler Pietre.

Überragend übrigens auch etliche Torhüter des Turniers, so ebenfalls die Nigerias und Burkina Fasos.

Nach Kontinenten gesehen dominieren die Afrikaner und Südamerikaner diese Altersklasse, die Europäer können nur einigermassen mithalten. So qualifizierte sich 2001 nur Frankreich für das Viertelfinale.
1991-2001 Africa* Asia* Europe* South-America* Nth/Ctl/America* Oceania*
starters 18 17 18 18 18 7
qualified for quarter-finals 12 5 8 13 5 5
pct. 67% 29% 44% 72% 28% 71%
tendency solid solid or down?(too early to say) a little bit down solid solid or up? solid
(1991 the U17 World Championship replaced the former U16 World Championship)
*=each confederation hosted one tournament 

Die komplette Statistik, die bisherigen Ergebnisse, und Spielbeschreibungen unten, übernommen von 
The Shot That Passed Right Through The Net
 
The U17 World Cup - all on one long page:
(please be patient until it is fully loaded)
- the group matches
- the quarter-finals
- the semi-finals
- the final
- the continents successes compared - some statistics 1991-2001
- the outlook: what can be expected of these talents


Group1 (Sep 14, 16, 19):
Trinidad and Tobago - Croatia  1:2
Australia - Brazil  0:1
Brazil left a strong impression but needed 75 minutes to break the resilience of the Aussies
Trinidad and Tobago - Australia  0:1
Croatia - Brazil  1:3
Croatia left a very good 1st half impression but were outscored in the second half by the Brazilians.
Brazil are qualified for the quarterfinals while Australia and Croatia will batlle out the second place in the direct encounter on Wednesday. The hosts are already without any chance to reach the quarter finals.
It has to be hoped that this will do no damage to the very good atmosphere of the competition.
Brazil - Trinidad/Tobago  6:1
In a match without impact on who would advance Brazil entertained the 26,000 crowd with some showtime. #7 scored three goals in which all of the 7 substitutes of the last match were in the starting line-up. (The squads for this U17 World Cup consist of 18 players each)
Croatia - Australia  0:4
Another strong match by the Aussies and a surprisingly clear result. After a balanced midflield duel the match suddenly slanted in favour of the Australians in the final 8 minutes before halftime when Australia scored twice.

1. Brazil 10:2 goals, 9 pts.
2. Australia 5:1 goals, 6 pts.
3. Croatia 2:7 goals, 3 pts.
4. Trinidad/Tobago 1:8 goals, 0 pts.

Group2  (Sep 14, 16, 19):
Nigeria - France 2:1
Impressing attacking football helped Nigeria to a 2:1 success over France in their first match of the U17 World Cup which has kicked of at Trinidad Tobago. Karimu Shaibu in first half and Victor Okechukwu Brown in second half scored the goals for the Africans before Pongolle scored the French goals 4 minutes from time.
Japan - USA 1:0
Nigeria - Japan 4:0
Nigeria qualified for quarter-finals and are now among the tournament favorites.
France - USA 5:3
Three goals scored by France #9 Pongolle. USA, who took a first half lead, but with the match drawn 2:2 at halftime, fell behind in the second half against aflamboyant French side. The Americans are already without any possibility left to advance. France and Japan will determine the second qualificant for the quarter-finals in the direct encounter on Sept 19th.
France - Japan 5:1
After 15 minutes the match was virtually over. France took a 3:0 lead and qualified easily against a Japanese side who tried to attack themselves but did not convert their chances. Florent Sinama Pongolle scored three goals in the second consecutive match.
Nigeria - USA 2:0
Nigeria already qualified and USA already out of it before the match. In contrary to Brazil Nigeria fielded the same line up as in the second match. Karimu Shaibu scored the first half goal. Moses Ayuba added a second half score and Nigeria had numerous further attempts.

1. Nigeria,  8:1 goals, 9 pts.
2. France, 11:6 goals, 6 pts.
3. Japan, 2:9 goals, 3 pts.
4. USA 3:8 goals, 0 pts.

Group3  (Sep 15, 17, 20):
Oman - Spain 1:2
An injury time goal helped the European favorites beat the outsiders late
Argentina - Burkina Faso 2:2
A controversial injury time penalty saved Argentina from a defeat against the strong West Africans
Burkina Faso - Spain 1:0
Burkina Faso will be one of the teams to beat in this U17 World Cup. After exploiting 4 points from matches against two of the tournament favorites they now face a critical match against Oman in which they have to avoid complacency. Quite often have African teams failed aginst Middle East outfits. 
Argentina - Oman 3:0
Oman had a good start but only for a few minutes. Argentina converted their first opportunity which seemed to throw the Arabians into some confusion even over who and how to execute corner and free kicks. Oman had more posession but Argentina was clearly more professional.
Burkina Faso - Oman 1:1
Burkina Faso were lucky to escape with a draw in a match in which Oman were growing stronger towards the end while Burkina Faso got more nervous. The West Africans game was too fragmented and bugged by inaccurate passing, considering the obvious indivdual skills. Oman had a better team coordination but still some conspicious players, especially goalscorer Al Hinai. For Burkina Faso left winger Madi was impressing. Something like a record number of attempts were made off target but considered that those are talents in a development process they were shooting in good moments and might hit more precisely in a few years.
Burkina Faso have qualified for quarter finals by this. It is already sure they finish as group second.
This result saves the group also from a possible 'agreement' match between Argentina and Spain.
(Because all teams stay at one venue the final group matches are not played simultaniously)
Argentina - Spain 4:2
After Burkina Faso has collected the necessary point to advance, Spain had to beat Argentina to advance in a direct encounter to determine the team to advance.
And in a brilliant first half, featuring a luminating Fernando Torres, a very far developed player for this age and a possible future star, Spain took a 2:1 lead and looked like they could shake off the Argentinians by their physical presence.
But after the prognosted future star on the other side Maximiliano Lopez had equalized, a Spanish player was sent off for his second yellow card and others had to hold back, already being booked. Argentina added two more in a huge game which saw a possible title candidate going home.

1. Argentina  9:4 goals, 7 pts.
2. Burkina Faso  4:3 goals, 5 pts.
3. Spain  4:6 goals, 3 pts.
4. Oman  2:6 goals, 3 pts.

Group 4  (Sep 15, 17, 20):
Mali - Paraguay  1:2
Paraguay won the match thanks to a penalty 4 minutes to the end
Iran - Costa Rica  0:2
Costa Rica is reported to have secured a comfortable win
Paraguay - Costa Rica  0:3
3 second half goals confirmed the excellent form that Costa Rican national teams have displayed on various levels this year. Costa Rica because of the good goal difference is quite close to the quarter finals but not safe yet: it is still possible three teams end up with 6 points. If they win, draw, or lose by less than three goals they will be through.
Mali - Iran  1:0
Pressing forced the decisive error which set up the first half goal that decided the encounter. In theory scenarios for both to advance are still possible (three teams could end upwith 6 points or three teams could end up with three points). Iran need to beat Paraguay in the last match and hope for Costa Rica to beat Mali. On the other hand Mali has to beat Costa Rica by three goals to be absolutely sur - or,  if scoring less, they will have to hope for a little help by Iran. 
Mali - Costa Rica  2:0
Mali, who needed to beat Costa Rica by three goals to pass by the Central Americans in the table were leading 2:0 already at halftime. But Costa Rica managed to contain the scoreline with the help of the crossbar and the goalpost and qualified for the quarter finals.
Mali now has to hope for some help by Iran who have been eliminated by this earlier result.
Paraguay - Iran   3:2
Paraguay needed to win by four goals to qualify for the quarter-finals and were on course after 66 minutes, leading 3:0. But after being saved by the goalpost, Iran scored their first goals of the tournament in the final 10 minutes through #11 Mansour Ahmadzadeh and frustrated the South Americans who now have to travel home despite having gained six points. #10 Andres Perez had scored twice for them. Like the Under20 outfit earlier this year, Iran has to return home without a point.

1. Costa Rica  5:2 goals, 6 pts.
2. Mali  4:2 goals 6 pts.
3. Paraguay  5:6 goals, 6 pts.
4. Iran 2:6 goals, 0 pts.


quarter finals:
Brazil - France  1:2
Despite the fact that France had conceded 6 goals in the group matchjes, Brazil stuck to their controlled and careful approach of unspectacular football of their fiirst two matches.
This proved to be no good idea because neither did Brazil threaten the French goal much nor could the Brazilian defence entirely contain the spectacular Le Havre and future Liverpool duo Le Tallec and Semina Pingolle. And it were those two, Florent Simana Pingolle with his 8th goal and Le Tallec, who provided for the 2:0 halftime lead within a few minutes late in the first half.
Before and after the intermission the frustrated Brazilians made some nasty looking late challenges. It took until the 57th minute before Brazils idea of long through ball counter-attacking exposed a first big hole in the French defence but Bruno missed the goal close. A similar situattion led to Alberonis 1:2 after 70 minutes. France became nervous but until the last minutes Brazil stuck to their gameplan and had only a big opportunity through Anderson after 86 minutes, again a counter situation.
The remaining time provided total excitement for the crowd. Now Brazil pressured and immediately chaos ruled the French defence. Huge opportunities on both sides as Brazil now had exposed their defence to the French counters.
But somehow no team scored and France advanced to the semis.
Nigeria - Australia 5:1
Outstanding Australian goalkeeper Nathan Coe had only conceded one goal in three matches and it was him who denied the flamboyant Nigerians a score in the first 25 minutes. The Australian compactness could not stop the Africans and eventually a penalty beat the Australian Number 1 for the Nigerian lead.
But after the goal the picture suddenly changed. The Australians proved great attacking skills and worked out one chance after the other what gave the Nigerian goalkeeper Akpan Bassey opportunities to prove his quality, too.
Towards the end of the half the momentum shifted back in favour of Nigeria who at times displayed an almost perfect combination of individual skills and cooperative approach when in ball possession. Remarkable the usage of the width of the field in the build up of their attempts.
The second half saw a loss of precision in the Nigerian game. Substitute Victor Brown entertained the Australian defence on some occasions but all in all Nigeria played more drawn back, preventing from successful Australian attacks. So for 25 minutes only half chances culd be seen on either side until Victor Brown drew several defenders by his solorun and side passed to the now unmarked #11 Femi Opabunmi who scored his second goal.
Australia had their first real second half chance then, following a defenders slip, but the shot rolled wide. 
A fine drawing board attack was finished through Femi Opabunmi by a header for his third goal in the 81st minute and decided the match before captain Suleiman Mohammed added a fourth spectacular goal by a solorun and a sharp shot into the corner.
The Australian resistance had broken and Nigeria added another in style in the 85th when #16 Temile shot a cross directly under the bar from 15 meters.
The Nigerian keeper missed a cross then to allow Australia a consolation goal by a header (88th).
Argentina - Mali  2:1 after golden goal extra-time
Excitement that you can get only (?) in such a tournament when great talents meet the weak spots in unperfect defences. 
Mali taking apart the Argentinian defence and Argentina expoiting the Malian offside trap - it could have been 3:3 early. But talents are no machines.
After 30 minutes Argentinian big hope Maximiliano Lopez cleverly crossed the path of a defender and got a foul on him for a penalty. He send the keeper into the wrong corner but only hit the goalpost. 
Mali enthusiastically answered with a handful of attacks and a fine goal when #17 Drissa Diarra was played free to score by a header after 34 minutes - 0:1.
Diarra is under contract at Lecce (Italy), the only notz homebased player of the Africans.
Mali, unconcentrated, allowed Argentina to equualize only 4 minutes later from a set play: a free kick cross from the right found the unmarked #4 Rodriguez to head into the goal easily. - 1:1
One of the most conspicious Malian players #7 Lassana Diallo was lucky to get away with yellow for what looked like a retaliation and Argentina had the better of the rest of the half.
Around the 60th minute Mali created several chances, featuring the already mentioned Diarra and Diallo. Despite that domination Argentina always seemed capable to become dangerous themselves again at some moment. And Mali started to look a little tired in the course of the second half, losing one to one challenges they had won before. #7 Diallo, obviously exhausted, committed a holding far away of the own goal and received a harsh second yellow card to leave the pitch in tears.
Now Argentina dictated the pace and worked out opportunities. Lopez was well contained by the Malian defence but the Argentinian pressure mounted as Mali played more and more drawn back.
Mali only with few counters had a good looking free kick opportunity in injury time which they executed terribly like many corners before.
In the extra-time necessary Argentina scored the golden goal when the Malian keeper had left his goal in bad timing and a cross from the wing where he had run out to was sent into a crowd before the empty goal. The ball bounced back to substitute #11 Fanari who fired it under the roof of the goal from about 10 meters distance - 2:1
Costa Rica - Burkina Faso  0:2
In front of an again very positive and enjoying crowd a match of much less quality than the encounter before.
(matches are played as doubleheaders - two games in succession in the same stadium) Disappointing Costa Ricans hardly came close to the Burkinabé penalty area. On the other side the relatively unsinspied Africans improved from their last match but despite two thirds possession did not work out any clearcut chances.
Nevertheless it was a success of the Costa Rican tactics, which allowed no spaces for the Africans to penetrate into on the expense of an abandoned own attacking approach. The Burkina Faso individuals like Madi who had impressed in the match(es) before had no impact.
But somebody had to have an opportunity sooner or later and it more or less could only be Burkina Faso who scored after 55 minutes. 
A rather bad clearance by the Costa Rican defence rolled to the feet of #17 Landry who was unmarked at the edge of the penalty area and slotted the ball home. - 0:1
It took until 15 minutes before the end until Costa Rica gave up their strategy and started to attack. The game now broke open. #11 Wilfried Sanou then scored the second Burkinabé goal in the 84th minute.
Only in the 89th minute Costa Rica came really close to scoring but was denied twice by the Burkinabé keeper.
A fair game without any yellow cards. 
Burkina Faso will now play heavy favorites Nigeria in the semis on Thursday.
(An opportunity to recall that of Burkina Faso and Mali only one team would have been here if Guinea had not been disqualified by FIFA from all competitions because of government inteference with FA affairs at the very time the African U17 Championship had taken place. Burkina Faso then had slipped into the African final as replacement for Guinea against whom the team just had lost in the semi-finals. In the final they clearly went down to that Nigerian team 0:3).


semi finals
France - Argentina  2:1
France who had not been to a semi-final at this level before went into the match as favorites after several sparkeling attacking displays during this tournament. But in the quarter-finals Argentina had already proved to be a team who are smart in finding ways to beat seemingly superior opponents. 
And the first minutes suggested that those skills would be needed here, too.
France pinned the South Americans back into their penalty area and several goal scenes were the result.
But Argentina defended desperately and almost took the lead themselves after 20 minutes at a set play - a free kick cross found Walter Garcia who volleyed the ball centimeters across the bar from close range.
In the following Argentina was more successful to keep the game in midfield and to become dangerous on some occasions, especially from set plays. Yet it was rather Teves than Lopez who had attempts on goal.
Le Tallec had the only big opportunity by header for France during this period ('37, across the bar).
halftime 0:0
- ('49) a through ball on Carlos Teves, the defender (#4) is already between him and the ball, but the energetic Teves surprises him, wins the ball and scores - 0:1
- ('56) a long cross on Le Tallec and the defender can not prevent him from heading the ball into the net - 1:1
- ('59) France immediately try to profit from the Argentinian shock and pressure - a corner finds #3 Berthod unmarked who scores by a diving header - 2:1
France, fired up,  continued to pressure, and had more chances. In the 73rd minute Florent Simina Pongolle fired the ball against the bar from where it bounced to the ground from where it bounced up to the bar again and back on the ground. The first time it seemed to have crossed the line but the shot was sharp and fast and neither referee nor assistant had seen a goal, so the match went on with only the one goal margin between the teams.
In the last 15 minutes Argentina played more open what lead to several good counter situations for France. On the other side Lopez worked out a good free kick situation but hit the ball into the wall ('85).
In the 90th minute some players lost their nerves and the referees had all work to seperate the players. Two French remained on the gound, treated for some minutes, one player seemed to have been hit severly into the eye.
The referee showed a red card to Maximilano Lopez.
Argentina had almost been successful in injury time when a header after a free kick cross hit the crossbar.
Nigeria - Burkina Faso 1:0 
Both defences with a shaky start, allowing header opportunity within the first two minutes.
In the third minute Burkinabé defender Amadou deflected a cross with his arm and a hand penalty was the consequence. #11 Opabunmi sent the keeper into the wrong corner - 1:0 
Goal scenes on both sides were following including a huge chance for Nigerian Opabunmi who blasted a bar over the bar, unmarked and with free way to the goal, from 10 meters distance ('9).
After 10 minutes the match calmed down as both teams achieved more defensive control.
Nigeria had a good opportunity after 32 minutes when a player could make a header unmarked after a free kick cross, it rolled wide.
Burkina Faso had more of the ball but could not get through to make real threatening goal attempts.
In the final minutes of the first half Nigeria tested the Burkinabé keeper twice with strong shots from about the edge of the penalty area.
halftime 1:0
-('49) Nigeria: Sambo 17 meters distance, fires wide by centimeters
-('52) Sambo has another opprtunity from inside the penalty area but does not hit the ball right, shoots far wide
-('53) a rare opportunity for Burkina Faso but the Nigerian keeper plucks the ball from Sanou's feet
-('54) Nigeria: some excitement after a long ball on Victor Brown. He can get past the keeper but has been drifting too far on the left hand side and defenders can build an effective shield preventing from a goal attempt
-('59) Nigeria: Victor Brown conquers the ball close to the goal but cannot get off a precise attempt. The Burkinabé counter is once more blocked by the Nigerian defence
-('63) A Nigerian counter has the Burkinabé defence outnumbered. They play it well into the back of the defenders but Sambo's shot is denied by a great save of the keeper
-('67) Nigeria: One of Eromoigbe's impressive long throw-ins is headed on by Brown to Temile who kicks it over the bar
-('70) Burkina Faso have a counter opportunity. But they lose the advantage in the chase towards the goal and the shot is eventually blocked.
-('73) Burkina Faso: impressive long range free kick by #14, perfectly saved by the good Nigerian keeper Bassey
-('84) Nigeria: Shaibu, who has come on as a substitute, is free with a chance but his shot is too weak. He had scored in all group matches but had not played in the quarter-final, probably due to an injury
-('87) Nigeria: Shaibu breaks through but the keeper wins the one-on-one situation
-('88) Shaibu tries again, the keeper solidly saves the low shot
-('90) Burkina Faso defender Kanoute tries a dangerous bycicle kick close to the head of a Nigerian and sees a yellow card for dangerous play - it is his second, he has to leave
-good defensive work by the Nigerians (including midfielders running back) denies Burkina Faso any more chances
The final will be a rematch of France-Nigeria, the first group match

3rd place playoff
Sep 30 1930 GMT   Argentina - Burkina Faso 0:2
Burkina Faso were leading 1:0 at half by a Landry goal but Argentina came out of the intermission playing attacking football. Then Wilfried Sanou was brought on as a substitute and to have a big impact on the game. An Argentinian player was sent off against him and minutes later he connected with Hanoch Conombo for the second goal on a fine counter attack. The rest of the match was dominated by the Africans who could have added further goals with more concentration.

final 
Sep 30 2200 GMT   Nigeria - France  0:3 (final)
Before the final:
Nigeria are a team who all play at home and who look surprisingly mature. A domination of their opponents has been remarkable, the Africans have only conceded two goals (one when already leading 5:0) and few clearcut chances. Good organisation, a committed teamwork, and an absence of weak spots and errors meet individual skills. Summerising: Nigeria as a team, and as a collection of individuals, looks far developed. 
France (and Argentina), in opposite, have rather been a blend of great talent and individual weaknesses, as one would expect at this level. Players whose talents are big enough to overcome the big mistakes (like the French defender who allowed the Argentine goal) promise a huge remaining development potential.
Now, those observations might be mislead as Nigeria have not been tested by South-Americans opponency and have not been as dominating in their first match against the Fench. Anyway, whether they will make an impact on adult level or not, this Nigerian team could function as a role model for a Nigerian team to develop a modernised Nigerian style of football: 
A perfect product of individual skills and team football. Applying their skills on a high tempo to attempt to dominate their opponents on all levels (physics, one-to-one, skills, combinations) rather than the slower game controlling approach of the recent Super Eagles.
They will have to be careful, France has become stronger throughout the tournament.

1st half
-France in blue shirts, white shorts and red socks, Nigeria in all wihite
-('2) France: a first spectacular attempt by Sinama Pongolle, the tournament top striker. He does not hit the ball perfectly and it is no problem for one of the tournaments brilliant keepers, the Nigerian Bassey.
-('8) France: good chance for Sinama Pongolle who fires wide from 10 meters half right.
-(13) Nigeria: Shaibu breaks through on the left flank but his backward pass into the penalty area runs into empty space
-('17) Nigeria: a defended cross falls to the feet of Nigerian #3 Ibrahim who makes an exciting slalom into the penalty area and fires wide
-Nigeria does not look as fired up as in the first match yet, with a sometimes static build up. But France seem to offer holes in their defensive organisation. On the other side it seems impossible for the Africans to entirely shut down Sinama Pongolle & Co so that a goal could likely break up the match
-('24) France: freekick cross by Simana Pongolle on Le Tallec whose header is parried by Bassey
-('25) Nigeria free kick by Temile across the bar
-('27) Nigeria: Temile is send through. A great save by Chaigneau, the French keeper, denies a goal against the 14 meter shot from half left
-('31)('32) some small holdings in both penalty areas seem to prevent Pongolle and Shaibu from possible chances but are adjusted as legal by the referee
-('34) through ball by Le Tallec on Sinama Pongolle who first loses his advantage on the defenders but then runs a hook and fires exactly from about 15 meters into the corner at the first goalpost, no chance for Bassey - 0:1
-('35) yellow card against Opabunmi (Nigeria) (for diving?)
-('41) Nigeria: 25 meter free kick by Ibrahim? becomes a rocket but goes wide
-('43) Nigeria: Bassey intercepts a through ball on Sinama Pongolle
halftime 0:1
Nigeria did not get into the game in the fashion of the matches played before. The approach in the beginning seemed more careful, and later there were some difficulties to combinate through the midfield, whether because of insufficient movement of the players off ball or the skillful French organisation which obstructed the midfield area. Nigeria tried with long balls and some individual runs but the majority of chances were on the side of the dangerous French attack.

2nd half
-Nigeria seems to come out of the intermission more agressive
-('51) goal kick to Le Tallec who heads on for Simana Pongolle who is through but his shot from the edge of the penalty area goes wide by one meter
-('52) Victor Brown comes in for Temile
-('53) France: Le Tallec unleasheds a surprise shot from 20 meter that has not too much of momentum but curves exaclty into the far corner - 0:2
-('56) France: Sinama Pongolle is sent through but Ibrahim can irritate him enough so that his shot goes wide
-('59) Nigeria: #3 Ibrahim has another conspicious scene in attack, eventually stopped by offside
-(''60) Nigeria: Sambo comes in for Nnamdi
-('61) France: Meghni gets a yellow card for diving and becomes substituted by #16 Pietre
-('65) France: long ball on Sinama Pongolle who sets up Jacmot by a header. Jacmot is one on one withthe keeper but Bassey wins the challenge
-('67) yellow card for Eromoigbe for a challenge on Sinama Pongolle
-France do very well in keepeing Nigeria far off their (the French) goal. Many midfield challenges, ball control, and, if necessary a disciplined and crowded defence provide the job against a Nigerian side who can't find a confident rhythm
-('71) Opabunmi gets away with a severe warning by the referee after a foul that yould have brought him his second yellow card
-('73) Bassey rescues against Sinama Pongolle after a French a counter attack
-('76) France: Sinama Pongole sees yellow for scoring an offside goal
-('77) France: #2 Debry replaces # 13 Drouin
-('79) Nigeria: #9 Ayuba comes in for #17 Mohammed
-('81) France: a long ball by the French keeper on Le Tallec who finds Sinama Pongolle who (both by head) sets up Pietre who fires it from 10 meters, half right, under the roof of the goal - 0:3
-Nigeria who have tried to be more physical in the second half have conceded inumerous free kicks but seldom conquered the ball in their attempts. France more skillful in those one-to-one challenges
-('89) Nigaria: Ibrahim sees yellow card for a foul against Sinama Pongolle
-('89) France: Mohellebdi replaces Le Tallec

final score 0:3 - France are Under 17 World Champions
The match almost turned upside down what was said before: France entirely dominated the match, especially the second half, while Nigeria never could contain the French attackers, especially the fantastic Simina Pongolle (player of the tournament, top scorer of the tournament) and Le Tallec. 
France had improved match by match - the final against Nigeria has been their first match in which they have not conceded at least one goal. Crowned by this second half of entire domination which had helpless looking denied Nigeria even a chance.
 

2001 Africa Asia Europe South-America Nth/Ctl/America* Oceania
starters 3 3 3 3 3 1
qualified for quarter-finals 3 - 1 2 1 1
*=hosting confederation
don't take this stats too seriously - the decisions in group C and D have been too close to read too much tendency into the records. The Asians, who weren't too far behind in  suffered a disappointment, maybe a sign of growing professionalism in the education of young players in the rest of the world, maybe only an accident.
Oman, a youth football power since years ago, had reached semi-finals in 95 and quarter-finals in 97. Qatar had reached semi-finals in 91 and quarter-finals in 99, Japan had reached quarter-finals in 93.
 
1999 Africa Asia Europe South-America Nth/Ctl/America Oceania*
starters 3 2 3 3 3 2
qualified for quarter-finals 1 1 - 3 2 1
*=hosting confederation
1997 Africa* Asia Europe South-America Nth/Ctl/America Oceania
starters 3 3 3 3 3 1
qualified for quarter-finals 3 1 2 2 - -
*=hosting confederation
1995 Africa Asia Europe South-America* Nth/Ctl/America Oceania
starters 3 3 3 3 3 1
qualified for quarter-finals 2 1 1 3 - 1
*=hosting confederation
1993 Africa Asia* Europe South-America Nth/Ctl/America Oceania
starters 3 3 3 3 3 1
qualified for quarter-finals 2 1 2 1 1 1
*=hosting confederation
1991 Africa Asia Europe* South-America Nth/Ctl/America Oceania
starters 3 3 3 3 3 1
qualified for quarter-finals 1 1 2 2 1 1
*=hosting confederation
 
1991-2001 Africa* Asia* Europe* South-America* Nth/Ctl/America* Oceania*
starters 18 17 18 18 18 7
qualified for quarter-finals 12 5 8 13 5 5
pct. 67% 29% 44% 72% 28% 71%
tendency solid solid or down?(too early to say) a little bit down solid solid or up? solid**
(1991 the U17 World Championship replaced the former U16 World Championship)
*=each confederation hosted one tournament 
**A good example that you cannot directly attach such percentages to the strength of the Confederations, because they have different structures:
Australia qualified for quarter finals each time when at start, New Zealand, the only other team, never, not even as hosts.
On the other hand European and African associations cannot gather experiences - because of the huge number of strong teams there are new faces each tournament

What can be expected of those teams in the future?

We have seen bright stars like Sinama Pongolle or Le Tallec. We have seen players who have suggested their huge potential like Maximiliano Lopez or Fernando Torres, great defenders (man of the match award for example for Walter Garcia, Argentina or Jaques Faty, France. Will they be the stars of tomorrow? 

It is difficult to say as the past is indicating. Players have different development curves which cannot be compared necessarily. Some teams achieve something by a common effort while in other teams talents alone cannot transform the squad into World Champions.
A look into the records may confirm this:
In 1985 Nigeria played Germany for the World U 16 title. Those players should have had their best time just behind them right now. 
But the only real well known name and at least temporarily regular international in the line-ups is Jonathan Akpoborie while the later most successful player on the German side is Marcel Witicek who played some time as a substitute for Bayern and is now a Bundesliga player at Mönchengladbach. Not much.
A much different picture is delivered by the 1993 Nigerian winners.
Kanu, Babayaro, Ojigwe are three familiar names.
Even the careers of players of 1991 winners Ghana, often given as an example for a failure to transport youth success into adult teams, look better than a lot of others who won the competition.

More examples can be found in the Under 20 World Cup. Here even more names of later stars should be found. But here as well you can find similar opposite examples.
While the 1983 Brazil winning squad produced key players in Dunga and Jorginho, there have not emerged similar greats from the the 1993 team (yet).
The German winning team of 1981 did not provide any regular international players and had absolutely no impact on the 1990 adult World Champions team.
On the other hand the line-up of 1991 champions Portugal has had the same key players as todays fashionable Portuguese adult squad in Louis Figo, Rui Costa, Joao Pinto etc.
Another example is France: the country famous for a successful football school system, seen as the basis for todays dominance of World football, and so a richness of talents, has just now, for the first time (Trinidad & Tobago 2001), made a major impact in a World Cup youth tournament. Before they had never reached a semi-final, neither in U17 nor in U20 World competitions.

More factors are important for later development than only talent and a level at a certain age. While 1991 World Champion Nii Lamptey seems to have not developed any further a man named Eric Carriere has made it into the World Champions France line up to replace the absent Zinedine Zidane at the 2001 Confederations Cup.
When young, he had been sorted out by scouts for his physical stature but then had improved his game continously so that he has been able to compensate for his inferior athletics. He is still working a special individual program in addition to the team training to improve further.

Many Nigerians have considered themselves at the top of the world after winning the 1996 Olympics. The names of their opponents might have been the same on adult level later in clubs and in country, but many Argentinian, Brazilian, and European players are now a class ahead than they were at under 23 level. 
A Louis Figo, a Zinedine Zidane, they have reached their climax in the second half of their 20s. Most German players reach their best when they approach an age of 30 and the Spanish surprise teams of the recent future like Valencia and Mallorca work with very aged defences, often closing down their opponents by applying the gathered experiences and using their skills more effectively.

So while winning a youth tournament goes down to a reduced number of important factors, the long term careers of the  players are a product of those early skills multiplied with a lot of other factors including the ability to learn and improve on the field. 
Not to forget the remaining potential of learning. If some player is already far concerning a particular aspect, f.e. physics, he cannot improve as much anymore as others, f.e. late-developers, who still have time to catch up with them later. The question whether this is because of some players have not had the true age or had been already further developed is rather secondary discussing future prospects. Too much is interpreted into numbers here, when assessing players.

This might explain to some point why some winning teams disappear completely while others have produced big names. It should be very interesting to investigate upon the TRUE selection philsosophies of the coaches and comparing those who have produced champions with almost no later impact to those which have had selections who featured future stars.

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