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Spain celebrating their win over Portugal…

Spain became the first team to qualify for the semifinals on Day 2 of the U19 European Championships Group Stage.  Spain’s second consecutive win means they will feature in the semifinals for the first time since they won the tournament in 2007.  Meanwhile, Italy failed to score in their second consecutive game, Croatia failed to take advantage of an extra man against Italy, France continues their scoring streak with five more goals against Austria and Netherlands rebounded from their game 1 loss by beating England (making Group A very interesting going into Day 3).

SPAIN 2 – 1 PORTUGAL

In a rematch of the World Cup round of 16 between the two neighbors on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain once again emerged victorious.  The Portugese team was confident going into the match having beaten Spain 1-0 in the qualifying round, but couldn’t best the two goals scored by Daniel Pacheco (Liverpool).  Pacheco’s second goal, which was scored in the final minutes of overtime, was the reward of a game largely dominated by Spain not only by possession but by quality of chances as well.  Portugal can thank their goalkeeper, Tiago Maia, for keeping them in the game as he denied several promising shots by Spain in the opening minutes of the match.

CROATIA 0 – 0 ITALY

The losers of both Group B matches from Day 1 faced each other, with both sides appearing desperate for a win.  In the opening moments, Croatia looked to be leaving Italy in the dust as they got themselves into several dangerous positions- particuarly a freekick from Ozobić and a shot Vukušić that just barely sailed over the goal.  But, in typical Italian fashion, Italy managed to absorb the Croatian attack and slowly inched their way back into the match, despite being a man down for the last 30 minutes of normal time once left back Michelangelo Albertazzi received two yellow cards in less than 2 minutes.  The top goal scorer from qualifying, Destro, managed to force a few saves from the Croatian keeper but ultimately neither team were rewarded for their diligence and entertaining performances.

ENGLAND 0 – 1 NETHERLANDS

After losing 4-1 to France on Day 1 (including conceding an own goal), the Netherlands team definitely had something to prove in this game.  The England team being from England almost always have something to prove- especially after some harsh criticism in the press on their first game against Austria.  Given the pressure on both teams, the stage was set for an entertaining game- and though the Netherlands dominated most periods of the game, the score line is an accurate reflection of how the game felt to watch.  Throughout the game, England managed to carve out a few good opportunities, but didn’t manage to become dangerous.  While the Netherlands only had 4 attempts on goal, England didn’t manage a single shot on goal except a goal that was a ruled to be a result of a handball, voiding the equalizer.  Both England and Netherlands have the opportunity to advance – though the Netherlands will be facing almost certainly eliminated Austria while England face the group’s top side (and tournament host), France.

FRANCE 5 – 0 AUSTRIA

Two doubles by Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad) and Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon) and a single effort by Enzo Reale (Lyon) helped to continue the winning streak France established in their Day 1 game against the Netherlands.  In the first two qualifying games, France have score 9 goals- which is 2 goals more than the sum of goals scored by their Group A competitors combined (NED=2,ENG=3,AUT=2).  So while France seem to be thriving in front of a home crowd, it remains to be seen if they can sustain both the motivation and these types of performances for the rest of the competition.  Fortunately, the U19 tournament is much shorter than senior tournaments and thus the fear of “peaking too soon” is much less dangerous.  Fans of France will be happy to know that the goal scorers in this game weren’t the only bright spots-both Mavinga (formerly PSG,now Liverpool) and Gael Kakuta (Chelsea) were also a pleasure to watch…

I also recommend checking out The Offside-Ligue 1 Prospect blog for reactions and reviews of games!

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