Dangerous, France U-17 Difficult To Score Goals In The First Half

France U-17 must find a solution to the sluggish attack line ahead of the 2023 U-17 World Cup semifinals (documentation of LOC WCU17).

JAKARTA - France U-17 has indeed succeeded in advancing to the semifinals of the 2023 U-17 World Cup. However, along the way they have had one weak point which is in the spotlight.

The final solution is still a team deficiency and the solution has not yet been found by Les Bleus coach, Jean-Luc Vannuchi.

In fact, France U-17 appeared dominant in possession of the ball and created opportunities for almost the entire match.

Talking about ball control, Les Bleus only lost to South Korea U-17 in the five matches they played.

While looking at opportunity creation, France U-17 has a record of at least double digits. Only in the match against Senegal U-17, Vannuchi's team scored eight attempts.

If detailed further, Joachim Kayi Sanda and colleagues collected 15 shots, nine of which were on target, when they met Burkina Faso U-17. From that score, they managed to score three goals.

Continuing to the second match of the group phase, they were still superior with 12 opportunities, four of which were on goal, when they met South Korea U-17. However, they only managed to score one goal.

Then, in the clash against the United States U-17 they scored 10 attempts, six of which were on target. They succeeded in maximizing three shots into goals.

The group stage results show that France U-17 was inconsistent. This can be proven further when entering the knockout rounds.

Vannuchi's students failed when they met Senegal U-17. They only scored eight goals, four of which were on target, but not one was converted into a goal.

It was even sadder when they met Uzbekistan U-17 in the quarter-finals. Domination in everything does not guarantee that France U-17 will be flooded with goals.

In fact, they created 28 chances, but only two of them went to the goal. Of the two golden opportunities, only one resulted in a goal.

Vannuchi admitted that his players were still weak in finishing. Les Bleus were lucky to score first and their opponents couldn't score.

If France U-17 falls behind first, Vannuchi implicitly admits that it will be difficult to catch up.

"I think we were lucky to score first. Today we had a lot of chances, but we weren't able to finish them well," said Vannuchi after the match against Uzbekistan U-17.

Vannuchi's confession that his children will have difficulties if they are left behind is not without reason.

France U-17 had difficulty scoring quick goals or goals in the first half.

Of the eight goals that have been scored, only two were scored in the first half, that too in the group phase. In detail, against South Korea U-17 in the second minute and against the United States U-17 in injury time.

In fact, five of the goals scored by Les Bleus occurred after the 80th minute. This condition clearly made Vannuchi confused.

“We should have scored earlier. If we can do the same thing again in the next two matches then I will obviously be very happy," said Vannuchi.

Vannuchi was clearly dizzy with the homework that lay ahead. If only Senegal U-17 and Uzbekistan U-17 could score first, Les Bleus' fate would be different.

However, luck is still with them, as the coach admits.

"When they (Uzbekistan U-17) started to weaken physically, we were lucky enough to score a goal, but it wasn't easy," said Vannuchi.

The weaknesses of France U-17 are now starting to be exposed. The efficiency of the front line is still a problem even though they make up for it with the solidity of the defensive line.

However, in the semifinal match, the team's condition like that has a chance of not being as sweet as before. Teams that do not have an advantage in attack will meet their bad luck.

Not surprisingly, one of the France U-17 players, Mathis Lambourde, realized this weakness and the importance of finishing in the semifinals and subsequent matches.

“We knew that we really needed to improve our finishing and get better towards the end of the game. "That gave ourselves more of an advantage by scoring goals–once, twice, three times–in the first half,” Lambourde said.