Day three of The UEFA European Under 19 Championship’s got under way this afternoon, with all the teams involved playing the final games of the Group A and B.
Kieran Gibbs’s England took on last years beaten finalists Greece, and Fran Mérida’s Spain up against a tricky Bulgaria.
Kieran Gibbs started the game for England needing a win and for other results to go their way in order to progress, and despite a 3-0 win over Greece, they were eliminated.
Fran Mérida started the game for Spain as they took on Bulgaria knowing they were already out, but had pride and a place in the FIFA Under 20 World Cup to play for. Mérida ran the show and collected an assist and a goal in a 4-0 rout.
Scroll down for full reports on both fixtures.
England 3-0 Greece
England came into the game knowing they were yet to find the net in the tournament, and knew they needed three points today and for other results to go their way. Kieran Gibbs kept his place in the centre of midfield, and after hitting the bar on Friday, could offer a goal threat for Brian Easticks side.
An end-to-end start to the fixture made both sets of players nervous, before England established a dominance. Freddie Sears and Daniel Sturridge both worked the Greek keeper, before they hit back by forcing two corners in succession. Victor Moses had the last chance of the half from a corner, but at the break it was all level and England were going out.
Half Time – England 0-0 Greece
The second period was just 60 seconds old as Moses’s corner was flicked home by Ben Mee to give Eastick’s men a vital lead. Greece would then work Button with two efforts from Papadopoulos, and a tame shot from Argyropoulos, before England doubled the advantage.
Lampropoulos fouled Sturridge in the box, and Freddie Sears converted from 12 yards for 2-0. Gibbs helped shield the lead as the game drew on, but pushed forward on occasions having a late effort saved by Babaniotis. Gosling and Sincliar were introduced late on, and the game was wrapped up when Arsenal fan Daniel Sturridge slotted home on 87 minutes.
It finished 3-0 to England, but with Italy beating the Czech Republic 4-3, they crash out of the tournament. Gibbs will now return to Arsenal, although he is expected to now complete his loan move to Norwich.
Full Time – England 3-0 Greece
Spain 4-0 Bulgaria
Spain’s fate was already decided coming into the final group game, but with pride still to play for Gines Melendez named a strong side to take on Bulgaria. Fran Mérida played on the left and was joined by Real Sociedad team mate Morgado making his first appearance of the competition.
Whilst Spain’s tournament was over, a win would see them qualify for the FIFA Under 20 World Cup in third place. The game began in a sloppy and slow manner with neither side getting their flowing movement going. But it was Bulgaria who fired into life first with a low shot from Vasilev.
In Mérida Spain have an outstanding player, and it was his stunning free-kick which nearly forced them an early lead. Aarón Ñíguez will be lining up alongside former Gunner Gilberto next season, and the youngster showed his credentials with a stunning long range effort to grab his side a 13th minute lead.
Just a moment later Emilio Nuse nearly thumped a second goal, but the giant centre forward would get his moment of glory shortly after. Mérida jinked inside before weighting an inch perfect through ball for Nuse to race through and slot home. Two goals in a matter of minutes had stunned the Bulgarians.
Mérida would then float a left footed corner right onto the head of Camacho, he glanced his effort just wide of the target. Aarón then pulled up injured, and after being treated was forced to withdraw from the fixture with Dani Aquino replacing the number 10. Fran’s low drive forced Karadjov to sprawl across his line, in an incredible first half for the Arsenal play-maker.
Real Madrid’s Daniel Pajero crashed his shot over the cross bar, and although Spain were in control, the goals had dried up. The half finished with two blocked shots from Mérida, before de Gea was forced to save on three occasions in a late Bulgaria come back.
Half Time – Spain 2-0 Bulgaria
The second half began with more Spanish brilliance which saw Dani Aquino cross for Emilo to bag number three in an amazing spell of football. The game then became very scrappy with a series of bookings and fouls spoiling the flow before the Man of the match took his bow.
Jordi Alba broke away down the flank before spotting Mérida on the edge of the area. He unselfishly squared the ball back to the Arsenal man who slotted home for 4-0. Daniel Parejo would then come close with another powerful shot, until Spain were rocked.
A late tackle from Domínguez Soto saw him collect his second booking of the game, before a change was forced between the sticks. Fran finished the game with a blocked shot before Bulgaria tried for a late goal.
However, it finished 4-0 leaving Spain with an impressive yet meaningless win. Fran was man of the match by far and will now return to Arsenal.
Full Time – Spain 4-0 Bulgaria
Article By – J.Sanderson
Despite elimination it’s good to see Merida scoring
He hits top form just in time for his return to Arsenal!
Yeah.
I’ve seen him against Hungary and he was by far the best player from Spain.I hope he continues his progress at Arsenal.
Off-topic:do you have any news about Sarabia the Real Madrid striker?
Sarabia was strongly linked with us, but he has signed better terms with Madrid.
This could be Frans year.
hey nice analysis mate, keep on the good work , i am waiting for merida to play for arsenal on a regular basis
j do you think wenger has merida in his first team plans. And i don’t just mean a couple of carling cup games
Of course, the new contract and his description of his talents show he has plans for him.
i think some of our reserves have a very big year ahead of them. It’s there big chance to stake a claim for a fisrt team place. Especially players such as wilshere, barazite(what a talent), merida.
Cool stuff, thanks JS! So will Fran stay with us next season or go on loan again? I missed this game and would really like to watch him play for us soon.
Some of these boys at this tournament are already in the first teams for their clubs, and Fran is one of the best and is ready for our first team. He just needs a chance.
Merida ooohoo Merida…I can see that name becoming a fans favourite.
At least we dont have to worry about him dreaming about a move to Barca!
fran merida in my opinion is a superstar in d making i missed d game do u no if they will be showin a repeat.
J can he play on the wings and who do u compare his style of play to?
I don’t know what has gone on because a lot has been denied, it is very difficult to know what is true and what is said and not said, he denies 99 percent of it. thats what arsene said on adebayor maybe all the talk of been paid the same amount as henry is crap
Nice report, just proposing a link swap J if ur interested mate.
If Merida plays for the first team where will he play? I assume he’ll start on a wing, but which one?
And how fast is he? Just quicker than Fabregas or actually fast?
j the link is http://www.arsenalheat.blogspot.com
The best position for him to play in the team right now is right midfield. I think he can seriously become a revelation in the coming season. AW loves this sort of player. He will be cutting in onto his left like Jack Wilshere yesterday and playing those exquisite passes all day long. He’s got very good shots too. Excellent delivery on set-pieces. I’m telling u, i cant remember seeing a player who is so accurate at passing (whether its 5 yards or 55 yards, even tho i probably just cursed the poor lad), he has definitely bulked up and shields the ball brilliantly. Always knows what to do with the ball before it arrives at his feet (a la Cesc) and has a great attitude. My only concern is whether he has the energy to last a 90 minute premiership game…eventually he will! Eventually, he will become world-class and that aint the first u heard that about this guy.
Also, i’d just like to add that Kyle Bartley IMHO can become a world class CB for the mighty gooners. He reminds me too much of a young Rio. I know he has been compared to Micah Richards but with the technical work we focus on as a club in our training sessions this boy has the potential to become top, top class. Maybe even better than the afore-mentioned two. I have been very impressed with him from what i have seen and so has AW, as proved with the new contract. I know all the hype about up-and-coming CB’s at the club is about Havard (And rightly so) but this kid is very special. I know “Fat Sam” was very upset at losing him when he joined us.
Merida is one of the players I expect to see quite frequently on the bench this year, with the new substitution rules and all. I hope that Barazite, Ramsey, Wilshere, Traore and Simpson will do so too, even though Wilshere should be protected a bit more than the others. I hope to see a carling cup XI (at an early stage) consisting of:
Mannone,
J. Hoyte – Djourou – Song – Rene Steer
Wilshere – Ramsey – Lansbury – Merida
Barazite – Simpson
What do you guys think?
Anyone have a link of the goal?
Both are unlucky to be out, but at that level winning isnt so much the focus, its development, and both Gibbs and Merida are developing wonderfully and can become great players for both Arsenal and their countries.
Especially Merida, not to put a downer on Gibbs who is one of my up and coming Arsenal favourites, but Merida is a little bit ultra-special.
mattn89 – your CC team is very understrength. Wenger may play young players here but he mixes it up with a few experienced players. Expect to see Eduardo getting a runout if he’s back from injury, otherwise it would be Theo and Bendtner up front. Denilson would start in midfield perhaps with Ramsey, and Traore would certainly play. Wilshere sub at best.
mattn89, your lineup is mouth-watering *wipe saliva away from mouth* :D I especially like the midfielders N strikers!!! Personally, I really hope Merida & Barazite get sum premier league game time againtst Hull or something! I think Wilshire’s a bit too fragile for EPL action, maybe 1st round FA Cup or Carling cup game or 2! I haven’t seen enough of Simpson to reach a conclusion but coz of his love for Arsenal, I think he deserves his 15 minutes of fame!!!
I’ve just realised that I’ve been coming to this site everyday for God knows how long N everytime I do come, I keep getting carried away reading J.S.’ N everyone else’s comments that I forget to post :D Congratulations on the 6 months J.S. N keep up the good work!!! I’d also like to thank U N every1 else on this bloody adictive site for the sleep deprivation I’m experiencing coz O staying up all night just to read “ALL” the articles N comments U all put up! Expect my GP’s bill in the mail soon :D
i think merida would mostly play in carling cup but with new sub rule, some impressive youngster would get prem league bench and if things gone right they might get few minutes play time. i expect merida, barazite, randall, lansdbury, nordtveit and gibbs( if they not going out loan), to features few times in bench. i think merida, barazite and nordtveit already good enough to be regular bench player but the other might take one more season. if so many going out on loan the one that could benefit a lot is wilshere and ramsey. ramsey shown last game he could be the new fabregas in the making, start match regularly despite only 17. wilshere could be the surprise revelation. he the youngest in barnet game but he play like a season pro. take charge of the game, drive team forward, not afraid to take defender and always attempt to make things happened. i don’t think wenger could slow down his light speed quest for first team football, just like fabregas 5 years ago. no wonder wenger happy to let hleb go.
I think this will be a breakthrough season for nordtveit, randall, merida n simpson. They seem the most likely to make the supersub roles in the PL matches. Well the biggest talents at arsenal now are Merida, Ramsey n Wilshere. Although i had lots of expectations on Denilson, its fading. I see him bein a regular sub or injury replacement. He is supposed to be a replacement for gilberto not fabregas. He’s very defensive. But with his size he wont make it. Flamini was much more tenacious than him. Gibbs has got real potential. But needs to bulk up. I’m waiting to see how good simpson is gonna be. I like this guy so much. He’s all arsenal at heart. So hardworking n desperate to make his name here. I wish this guy all the luck, coz in a world where all players are after money, we dont get many loyal ppl. Toure, Fabregas, Gilberto, Clichy, Henry never asked for payrise. They earned it by playin their hearts out. Proud to be a gunner.
I still think it’s too soon to judge Denilson – it took flamini 3 years before he could establish himself in the first team
Pass, I agree on Denilson. Especially as people are getting hyper critical on the first pre-season friendly for the poor lad.
Re: Carling Cup team
Bar a few changes (injuries, call-ups, Eduardo coming back), for me it looks like this:
Fabianski
Hoyte Djorou Song Traore
Eboue Denilson Randall/Ramsey Merida
Walcott Vela
A few things: Bendtner is now 3rd choice striker, and as Eduardo won’t be rushed back and RVP is a china doll, he will be kept for ‘proper’ games. I guess this would relate to Theo as well, but the boss likes occasions he can throw him upfront instead of where he will be this season, the right wing. I see it as being the last season Eboue spends close to the first team as throughout the year he will pushed further and further away from the team, in a similar fashion to Theo, by the likes of a returning Rosicky, Simpson and Merida unless he starts to be less frustrating to watch. Hoyte might be sold but signs at the moment would only point to a Villa switch. Song is the new heir apparant, while Djorou needs playing time.
Regarding Denilson, I feel a bit disappointed as well, he looks to be a bit too slow and he lacks aggressiveness to be our DM at the moment. I had expected him to go from strength to strenght since he arrived, but I think that many of his performances last season let him down a bit, even though he spent much time on the sidelines due to injury. Now I’m not saying that he hasn’t got a chance to make it at arsenal, let’s not forget how young he actually is, but I don’t think we should use him in our first XI this season. I would rather go with Diaby (remember his performance against Chelsea in the CC final? He played through the middle).
I would feel let down a bit by AW, though, if we fail to sign another CM, preferably in the Yaya Toure mould. He is a quality player who would have fit the bill perfectly in my opinion, and if Ade leaves in favour of Barcelona, I truly expect Yaya to come the other way, even though Pep Guardiola is reluctant to sell. Of course then we would have needed another striker…
How many bloody times does it have to be said?
Wenger has had many, many chances to sign Yaya and every time he has deemed him not good enough for the team. How his mind will changed on an issue he seems very sure on I don’t know. Yaya has only been at Barca a year, they’ve revamped their side with Pep wanting him part of it and Wenger doesn’t want him. GETS OVERS ITS.
I think you guys are being a bit harsh on Denilson. I love this lad. His ball controll and distribution are impressive. What I love the most about him is that he can steal the ball away from under an oponents leg without having to tackle, a bit like Gilberto but with a slight beauty to the eye. I think he can make it at arsenal. I never rated Flamini, his technique is not that great. Even when he plays the ball he makes it look hard. A good quality of great players is that they make playing look easy. That is what we see with Cesc and Denilson.
Get your facts straight Samuel, in an interview on ATVO not many months ago, Wenger said that they had an agreement with Yaya to sign for arsenal, but due to work permit issues, he was to spend 5 years or so with belgian outfit Beveren. For some reason the agreement was broken, and Yaya was (eventually) sold to Olympiacos in Greece. Unfortunalely I can’t find a link, but if you systematically watch the Wenger exclusive interviews from last season, you will eventually find the one I’m referring to =P. Point is that Wenger does in fact rate Yaya as a player, and IF barcelona are in fact desperate to land Adebayor, then we should play hardball with the spanish bastards and get a quality player in return (plus cash).
Well, I don’t believe that considering we had the opportunity to take him from Beveren when Kolo and Eboue came. Or when Monaco offered him to us and we turned him down.
He is a good player, there is no doubt. But one that will never play for Arsenal.
Any idea on the squad going to austria and hungry ?
Come on denilson has had a lot of chances i think injuries are hampering is career and we have to get rid of him just like diaby they are too injury prone which is why auxerre sold him to us. Diaby didnt play in da squad coz he was injured. The reason why wenger is a genius he buys cheap injry prone players and tries to make their fitness better. ie overmars, petit, viera, van persie, diaby, denilson, rosicky, henry, thats da reason why arsene gets bargains for dem coz they are injury prone
john: thats stupid. half of those werent injury prone when we signed them. Do you think Wenger meets Steve Rowley and the convosation goes…
AW: So, who’d you recommend?
SR: Well, Sergio Aguero looks great boss.
AW: Yes, but is he injured all the time?
SR: Er, well no.
AW: Fuck it then, I wanna buy players who might only possibly kinda play.
SR: What about Benzema? He’s got perfect technique and scores great goals out of nothing.
AW: No, he’s too fit, he can go fuck himself.
and so on.
Injury prone players are cheaper its fact u mug and wenger buys alot of injury prone players like i just mentioned because we cant afford expensive world class players we buy people who ahve got potentail but are injury prone. Henry, van persie, lauren , campbell , edu, petit, viera, jose reyes, rosicky, ljunberg, all these players are injury prone
Denilson needs to watch a re-run of Francis Coquelin’s first 45 minutes in an Arsenal shirt and learn to deploy his hunger and determination in winning back possession. As a DM you dont need to have amazing vision and creativity. Your job is the “Water Carrier”…(win possession back and give it to the playmakers – Cesc, Nasri, Merida, Rosicky, Ramsey). Denilson is not committed enough to win the ball back all the time like that. Flamini was! Yes, he had poor technical ability and no creativity but he did an excellent job of “water carrying”. Denilson will NOT partner Cesc this year.
J – I mentioned like a day before the Barnet game i had a feeling we had something very special in Coquelin and he didnt disappoint. Just got the ball back and played the easy pass. Very aggressive, gave the opposition no breathing space. It would be nice if AW partnered him with Ramsey from the start tomorrow so we can have another look at him. Another exciting steal from the Prof.
hahahahahaha, Samuel u are a barrel of laughs.
Merida is a god player
Henry, van persie, lauren , campbell , edu, petit, viera, jose reyes, rosicky, ljunberg, all these players are injury prone
-They might be now, sure. But when we signed Henry, van Persie, Lauren, Campbell, Edu, Petit, Vieira, Reyes and Ljungberg, none of them were injury prone. Only in Wenger’s time can I think of two, Overmars and Rosicky who were bought as injury risks.
Sure, they are cheaper, but you are going on as if the main reason we buy players is cos they might have injury problems, which is a ridiculous notion at any angle you dress it up. The majority of the bargain players we buy are not being used at their full potential when we buy them, which is the best way I can put it. But now more so than ever are we starting to just take the best talents from teams, loved and adored by their fans, injury free and talented (Eduardo, Sagna, Nasri, our three biggest signings of the past year or so…).
Merida is a god player
Hamid said this on July 21, 2008 at 12:36 pm
-Does he have his own religion or is he just the second coming of Mohammed?
Anyone know when the squad for the Szombathelyi Haladas game will be announced?
Samuel is right, saying Wenger likes to buy injury prone players is bollocks. Most of the players u listed:
“Henry, van persie, lauren , campbell , edu, petit, viera, jose reyes, rosicky, ljunberg, all these players are injury prone”
Were not injury prone before they joined the club. Wenger also does not buy a player cuz hes injury prone and therefore cheep, Wenger nearly always goes for his firt choice, and although they arent always the obvious, thats just a mark of how good a manager he is. Hes the one manager in the league i truely believe u could put at a club like Everton, Portsmouth, Newcastle or Blackburn and turn them into title contenders cuz hes the best manager at getting the best players that wont cost 20+mil, only 5-12mil and wont want to go straight onto a 60k+ per week contract.
If Wenger buys an injury prone player its cuz hes a great player, not cuz hes cheep and decent, and he also has a team that can fix injury problems as best as is possible.
J thanks for the good work mate. I seem to remember some months before we signed Merida I read a commentary about him. In that commentary someone said that Merida is in the mould of Fabregas but with a bit more skill. Do you really think that could be the case?