Obviously some of the games are televised over there and the semi-finals and finals are shown by Eurosport as they do every season. Not great but better than nothing. This is not a great market for tv companies, this is a niche and nothing else for them.
Spain 4-0 Norway England 3-4 Germany Spain and Germany qualify for the FIFA finals, with Norway and England playing each other for UEFA's remaining spot in Monday's 3rd place game.
Euro U17: The final will be the classic Spain vs Germany, I saw both semi-final and the best team qualified in both games. Norway - Spain: 0-4 I watched both semi-final and here is a little recap: Spain - Norway: 4-0 Yes the Spaniards were magnificent, moving the ball as only they can do, practicing a very high IQ football with two very little player....center forward and right-footed left winger above all technically...scored a great goals. Kudos to coach Maria Antonia who assembled a very interesting team but imho if only Norway didn't had too much respect (and fear) to Spain and took more initiative the result could have been different as Spain despite territorial dominance scored only when the Norwegian started to fade after chasing the ball for too long. Anyway, still Norway have some interesting players which we will certainly see at higher level, two in particular, cf Andrea Norheim but she needs to change her position and cm Frida Maanum. For Spain , even though it's hard to praise individuals in a team so well choreographed...but both very short 15 years old cf Lorena Navarro and lw Candela Andujar are impressive while lb Ona Battle, N10 Paula Fernandez, df Lucia Rodriguez are as much talented . England - Germany: 3-4 What a fantastic kid's game that was...both team in attacking mode trying to outscore the other, Germany won mainly because they had a team with better technical quality....precise passes, on and off ball movement, higher football IQ etc...the difference wasn't made on individuals because England have a very interesting team with a future star of the game, but on education - player development - sector where the Brits still have to ctach up the best nations but they are progressing. Both teams have some very very interesting players and here is some names; from England I liked the captain Georgia Stanway , lw Niamh Charles and rb Lois Joel (did a very good job on Gwinn) ; from Germany cb Tania Pawollek, right-footed lb Caroline Siems (really impressed me excellent player), box-to-box mid Verena Wieder and cf Klara Buhl even though her strength in her weakness. I heard a lot about Anna-Lena Stolze after finally watching her I can tell you she's way overrated....and I'm gentle... Overall I am very satisfied of the competition so far as all four teams showed many good stuff, the only negative notes are the goalie all four were quite bad...England's one shocking bad... A star is born: Alessia Russo - forward - Chelsea and England Germany had two players which were clearly superior to the rest in terms of football maturity (and talent) but both are already known so no need to present them. I'm talking about deep-lying playmaker Janina Minge and little trickster Giulia Gwinn of course. However, the one who impressed me the most was England number 7 Alessia Russo. Superb player, technically gifted, pacy, powerful, high determination, Alessia - who by the way an very Italian name not matching her look - is the kind of player able to carry a team on her shoulder, a big game player who emerge when the heat is on....yesterday she had an almost fabulous performance (almost only because England didn't won) by helping her defense specially when Gwinn had the ball but also attacking with a great power of will. The first time I saw her name was in a Kelly Smith tweets long time ago calling her England best hope...now I understand why...we will hear this player name again for a very long time.
The Russo family comes from Sicily, I have spoken with her parents many times at games before. The first team players at Chelsea really rate her.
@debzy I don't know why your so high on Gwinn.. as she's not close to being the best player in that German team, with a late call up like Klara Bühl for me being a perfect example of what I mean discussing the various talented but unheralded players Germany tend to pick prior to announcing it's tournament squads too. Plus if anybody remembers the Japan vs England quarter final during the first U-17 WWC, I think people will see a lot similarities in this England vs Germany game; but looking at some stats of the group stage and the semi finals, I also can't help but feel Italy were seriously unlucky to be placed in group B...
The highlights of both semi-finals: https://www.facebook.com/calcioinrosa/videos/vb.1547648555492075/1712671638989765/?type=3&theater www.facebook.com/calcioinrosa/videos/vb.1547648555492075/1712686095654986/?type=3&theater
Click on hyperlinks for more match information..... Norway 1-2 England England take UEFA's final spot at the next U-17 WWC In what appears to be a very close game, that see's Noway hit the goals posts twice, and still basically match or lightly edge England in total attempts both on and off target, it's England who booked their tickets to the next U-17 WWC thanks to two strikes from forward Niamh Charles. Spain 0-0 Germany Germany win 2-3 on penalties Same as their group match, Germany seem to have far more of the better goal chances in a game Spain have more of the ball overall; but with one attempt to test the German GK again, this time Germany end up hitting the goal post's twice during a final that ended up needing PK's to leave Germany one ahead of Spain as UEFA's now record 5 time champions. Overall.... After their feats during the last U-17's WC finals, Italy have to feel rather annoyed with groupings that saw them facing the ridiculous task of needing to beat Czech Republic - Spain - Germany, to even reach the Euro's semi finals... Plus I still think UEFA's coverage of this age group tournament stinks, with UEFA as a whole really needing to take a step back and begin to question their unabating desire to push for financially negligible restrictive TV deals, in the age of wide spread 21st online streaming.
Tough draw for Italy, no doubt. But it's worth adding that both Italy and the Czechs have lost twice to Norway earlier this year, so being in the other group wouldn't necessarily give Italy passage to the semis. Serbia was also a surprisingly good team.
Fair point... it's just that teams tend to change/evolve very quickly at this age group, even between the short time of the Elite Round, and the Finals tournament group stages. See, even though the England vs Germany semi appeared close on the score sheet, that match wasn't as tough for Germany as it was for them vs Italy, and the same could be said of the Spanish vs Norway-Italy matches, while Belarus wouldn't have been there if not for being hosts, as Serbia had an overall worse record than group B's Czech Republic too. In the end I know that's just the way it is when it comes to UEFA's grouping process, but those groups still feel really unbalanced assessing performances, and of course using a little hindsight.
Wow, Germany really missed some chances. They hit the post four times and squandered two sitters. That's usually the recipe for a disaster, but they didn't mess up (too much) during the penalties.
Thansk for the info, well that means she's the most British looking Sicilian-English girl that I've seen . Anyway, the first team players are absolutely right, Alessia is a gem. No there is an evident huge difference between Gwinn and Buhl at this stage of their development. Giulia is already playing "adult" football, I mean she knows how to move on the pitch in order to preserve her energy, she knows how to accelerate/decelerate the tempo, ...she's still behind in physical growth and in a increasingly muscular female football this could be a problem, plus her very small body frame doesn't help......but overall but she stinks football* (french expression to describe someone naturally technically gifted in football...Necib, Heath, Marta kind of players...). Buhl has high potential, not superstar though, but she still has to develop quite a lot her football IQ specially team mates awareness on the pitch, I didn't saw the final yet but in the semi-final she completely ignored her teammates selfishly in 2-3 occasions preferring to do all by her own and missing.... Klara is very interesting because as a true striker she only has one thing in mind...to score!...but as I said her strength is also her weakness because her "obsession" make her go blind on her surrounding.
@RockyTopFan Ughhh, Silvia Neid's time with Germany ends very soon, and like Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.... Hmmm, that would make sense if this wasn't actually a 15 yo Bühl's first time playing within a UEFA or FIFA age tournament for her nation... Gwinn was one of three players who took part in last years tournament, having long been a main stay of the German U-15/16 age groups too; but without more experienced players than herself to lead the way, I thought she really struggled to force the impetus like Bühl, Minge, or Wieder did within this team. Again, just looking at the more offensive players here, given this was Klara Bühl's first time showcasing what she could do as a last minute call up at this level, going straight into the starting line up for a team she's not been part of since it's formation just prior to the competitions Elite round; I'd say there's been pretty evident signs Bühl's a whole lot better than your suggesting right now. Yes, of course certain things could have been better... but Germany creating over double the amount of chances than each of their opponents is no small feat (even if the team was wasteful), especially considering Bühl 3 goals scored in 5 games, was also just two less than the five scored by Russo and Spain's Navarro. Germany's U-17 system is a strange beast, but after the impressive individual performance which saw 6 goals in 4 games for Stefanie Sanders last year, it's hard not to be impressed with the impact Bühl's made to this latest teams ability to create far more dangerous attacking scenarios with/without the ball.
I think you misunderstood what I'm saying on Buhl, I'm not saying that she's a bad player at all but quite the opposite actually... only thing negative that I said is the fact that she still learn a lot on football as a "team" game not individuals running after a ball. I didn't knew she was that young and only joined the team very recently but this may actually explain why she plays like she is alone against eleven....
I remember you talking about the French struggling this year due to missing a key forward, so you clearly know how random this age group can be... but with Stolze and Bühl being 15, I thought Bühl's performance was way above where it should have been considering her lower status prior to this tournament. I completely agree with your assessment of this German team having clear issues with it's forwards being so direct, but off the ball movement/interchange of position appeared really good, with players dribbling at speed some of the more impressive I've seen with any German attack at this level too. Minge was pushed back into a deeper role this time, so Kögel could provide more sophistication behind the main forward; but given the more direct ability of Ziegler playing at #10, a patient/less visible Kögel was often abandoned in favor increasing the fire power of the attack. And looking at stats, I'd say it worked lol. See, a complete one woman show like Sanders was dubbed a little monster in last years tournament, but I'd argue Bühl's team IQ is higher than Sanders, which helped create an overall more dynamic German attack this time around, witnessed in the amount of clear cut chances Germany would create and waste in each game.
France didn't struggle because we were missing one forward even though that player (Mathilde Bourdieu remember he name...) is extremely talented, we didn't qualify because our age group is pretty average that's all, and coach Soubeyrand is average too....I posted some highlights and a full game here, you could see there is nothing special in that team, next year it will be better. Sanders ceiling is clearly higher than Buhl's, Stefanie has what it takes to dominate games in the years to come while Klara could become a great scoring machine nothing else imo, just like Victoria Krug was more impressive than all your defenders this year. You're right this year Germany U17 is better as a team than last one that's why you always have to separate individuals from the team to have a better evaluation of their quality/flaws at this age level.
@debzy So if you understand how important it is to separate players individual ability from overall team cohesiveness, why are you (and others) so quick to dismiss any of UEFA's U-19's teams headed to the U-20 WC... Why acknowledge the fact there's more nuanced ways to assess things at U-17 level, only to completely ignore using the same reasonable logic to assess the potential of teams at the U-19/20 level..? Germany were completely dependent on Sanders creating her own goals last year, but still had people call her a fantastic talent for being so purely individual. Bühl helps the team create more chances overall, but gets labeled a potentially "great scoring machine nothing else" huh..? Because her own record isn't in line with the tournaments best forwards... Plus considering the open nature of their games, I personally thought both German CB's did rather well at defending 1v1 scenario's, starting numerous attacks due to their accurate balls towards the mid-field and forwards. Yeah, Gerhardt may have some competition from Linder or Seims as the nations best prospect at fullback over the next few years, but I can't see Krug being miles ahead of anything we saw at this years U-17 tournament.
???....Lol get over it Batfink is about time, Germany couldn't be considered favourite at EVERY competition...like seriously???....I (and many others) was more impressed by Spain, France and Sweden team, Japan won the U17 world cup playing one of the most mature/attractive football I've seen at that age group and I suppose many of that team will be at the U20 WC. Sorry but Germany is simply not good as those teams for us you insisting in imposing your point of view is quite sad....just get over it. This is EXACTLY why Sanders is rated higher than Buhl because she CAN create goals opportunities on her own while Klara needs players able to put in condition to score.....I mean you've got the answer to your own debate.... Both CB's were very good at starting game plays is true, specially the left footed Pawollek who you can clearly see her past as midfielder, but defensively against aggressive forwards they were shaky (very when physically challenged) in 1vs1 situation personally Krug impressed me more than all four but is just my opinion.
@debzy What's sad is you completely ignoring the educated/reasonable points you've just raised for assessing the factors of U-17 football, to again construct a completely skewed narrative for the U-20 age group; this even though I've clearly provided facts and evidence to highlight why you could be potentially be wrong on this... The Germany you see at U-17 level, some years later ISN'T THE SAME group of players that turn up for the U-19 Euro's, or U-20 FIFA WC finals. Hence certain peoples annoyance that somebody like Bremer is expected to play a major role in a second U-20 WC for Germany, just like Kulig, Marozsan, Leupolz, etc.. were all expected to do before her. A flat blanket statement of any nation at U-20 level not being good is naive, but to do it for a German program which has NEVER even won a U-17 WC is perplexing, given all the evidence of squad transition, and individual player development, that takes places for them between those two particular age groups. This isn't about some stupid need for prestige here, but instead a simple fact you continue to ignore about the U-20 level, even though you've just said "that's why you always have to separate individuals from the team to have a better evaluation of their quality/flaws at this age level."... as if this doesn't relate or apply to an U-20 event which only happens once every two years...
But your latest negative on Bühl was... "she still learn a lot on football as a "team" game not individuals running after a ball", only to see you then praise Sanders for being a uniquely individual talent, because she able to create opportunities on her own... I just personally see Bühl very different to other German forwards, as she's clearly already a #9 with no inclination to do anything but focus all of her movements towards getting goals; but this doesn't mean she's weak for not routinely beating 2-3 players like Sanders, and doesn't make her inferior for not producing for assists from wide/deeper positions like Gwinn. Looking like a Martina Müller ver 2.0, this is the first time in a while I've seen Germany produce a girl with the combination of Bühl's qualities at this stage of her development. And while she may not make it to the very top, it's why I'd personally back away from dismissing what she's been able to do so early in to her wnt career. Your probably right on Krug, but I think much of Germany's CB cause for concern came from Pawollek's partner clearly being at fault for 2 of England's 3 goals, having also been the player to conceded the own goal vs Spain during their 2-2 group stage encounter. In 1v1 defending, they (Germany) never really got beat around the box, and used a very high line trusting their ability to cover the space if long balls got behind them; but whenever the ball was played behind Pawollek's CB partner, you could definitely see the indecision/panic you mention instantly set in. Not using a DM, Germany's style of play was very open, so their defense was mainly left to it's own devices to stop opposition attacks; and we know this isn't easy to accomplish at U-17 level, where errors and physical differences can play a HUGE role in any teams ability to find success.
@Batfink ,Your problem is the fact that you see nothing else than Germany....you probably have no idea what the other teams qualified for the upcoming U20 world cup are made of that's why we will never understand each other point of view.You're measuring Germany to past U20 German's team, I'm comparing Germany to Japan, Spain , France etc....My vision is definitely more global than yours but that's fine. Is that even "negative" to say that a FIFTEEN years old player in her first international tournament needs to learn more about football as a team game ?!?!...Like you serious?.So now to underline a flaw in someone's game , and let it know, is to criticize her???....I'm speechless. Wrong. I didn't saw the final but against England they were outmuscled in basically every physical confrontation specially right back and the other cb (not Pawollek), fortunately for them England couldn't take advantage of because they couldn't keep the ball for more than three passes....but you know England and ball possession is a long sad story..
Yeah, that's the kind of narrative you keep trying to push around here, but I've already provided very clear and simple evidence of the UEFA qualification process for the next U-20 WWC, and guess what, the records of every team is basically the same..., with France and Germany having beaten Sweden and Spain 1-0 in the group stages, meaning the parity of the semi's would only confirm nobody here is clearly lower or high placed than anybody else headed to PnG... Even the goofy carry over from U-17 rule doesn't apply here either, as you never want to admit there's a very clear difference for a national program like Germany's, once it moves to the U-20 level too. So as most people say UEFA's simply sending a strong quartet of teams to the next U-20 WC, you come around here and feel it's just another opportunity to attack a particular program again, using very poor analysis devoid of little things called evidence or facts..