Following in the Footsteps of Toni Kroos, Brunner Won the Title of Best Player in the European Cup and U-17 World Cup

German national team winger U-17 Paris Brunner (photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - German U-17 national team winger Paris Brunner won the title of best player at the U-17 European Cup and U-17 World Cup.

This certainty was obtained after Brunner successfully led the Panzer Team to win two tournaments in the last year.

Germany won the U-17 World Cup title for the first time after a dramatic win over France in the penalty shootout with a score of 4-3 in the final match which took place at the Manahan Stadium, Solo, Saturday.

Quoted from Antara, during the competition which took place for the first time in Indonesia, Brunner was recorded as having scored five goals and provided one assist. Brunner was the key player who led Christian Wueck's team to win the U-17 World Cup title.

The brilliant performance from the Borussia Dortmund player occurred during the preliminary round. In the quarter-finals, a single goal from Brunner ensured that Spain had to leave the tournament.

Brunner's good performance continued into the semifinals, his brace against Argentina helped Germany secure a ticket to the final round. Then in the final round, Brunner's penalty shot gave Germany a 1-0 lead even though normal time ended with the score tied at 2-2.

Brunner is now the second German player to win the title of best player at the U-17 World Cup, after Real Madrid superstar Toni Kroos, who won the title in 2007 after leading Germany to the third best place in the tournament.

In second place after Brunner, Mali national team midfielder, Hamidou Makalou, was named the second best player of the tournament. Hamidou Makalou was Mali's central pivot throughout the tournament. Even though he only made his debut in the national team when playing at the U-17 World Cup, Makalou appeared impressive by bringing Mali to the best third place. Makalou was recorded as having scored two goals and one assist throughout the tournament.

Meanwhile, French national team midfielder Mathis Amougou is in third place. Even though he plays as a midfielder, Amougou often appears to be the difference when the French front line often has difficulty scoring goals. Unfortunately, Amougou's one goal in the final round was not enough to lead the team coached by Jean Luc Vannuchi to win the second title during their participation in the U-17 World Cup.

The following is a list of the best players in the U-17 World Cup according to FIFA, released on its official website, Saturday:

1. Golden ball winner: Paris Brunner - Germany

2. Silver ball winner: Hamidou Makalou - Mali

3. Bronze ball winner: Mathis Amougou - France