2008 July 14 « Jeorge Bird’s Arsenal Youth

Welcome to the Arsenal Youth coverage of the 2008 UEFA u-19 Championships. This year’s tournament is being held in the Czech Republic and kicked off today. Kieran Gibbs is Arsenal’s sole representative at the tournament. He will be the envy of several of his team-mates who failed to qualify for the tournament-the likes of Nacer Barazite, Armand Traore and Havard Nordtveit. Spain are the current holders and are looking for their third success in a row. They are in Group A alongside Germany, Bulgaria and Hungary. England, meanwhile, are in Group B with the hosts Czech Republic as well as Greece and Italy. Spain are the current holders and are looking for their third success in a row.The top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals, with the winner of Group A facing the runner-up of Group B and vice-versa. The winners of these two ties will progress to the final of the competition which will take place on July 26. You can view an in-depth preview of the tournament here. Scroll down to find out how Kieran got on in today’s opening group game. Spanish midfielder Fran Merida was also set to represent Arsenal at the tournament but he pulled out of the tournament at short notice due to a slight injury.

GROUP A

Germany 2 Spain 1

Fran was left out of the Spain squad because of injury as the holders took on Germany in the later kick-off.

Germany led 2-0 thanks to goals from Sukuta-Pasu and Toprak. Spain pulled one back through Alba on 66 minutes but the Germans held on for the win.

Bulgaria 0 Hungary 1

In the other game in Group A, Hungary beat Bulgaria thanks to a 10th minute strike by Liverpool’s Kritzian Nemeth which was the first goal of the tournament.

GROUP B

Kieran Gibbs- Czech Republic 2 England 0

Kieran played the whole 90 minutes as England lost their opening group game to Czech Republic, despite the hosts being reduced to nine men.

Kieran was named in the starting line-up and handed the no.8 shirt which meant he would be occupying his usual role for the Three Lions-central midfield-despite breaking onto the scene at Arsenal as a winger.

England were without Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck who pulled out of the tournament last week through injury. Despite this, coach Brian Eastick could still call on two top talents up front in Daniel Sturridge and Freddie Sears. The team that started the game was:

—————Button———————–

–Cork—Tomkins———–Pearce—-Bertrand

-Sinclair–Gosling————Gibbs—-Rose

———Sturridge———–Sears———

Both sides started the game nervously, looking to find their feet. A few reckless challenges flew in from both sides, with Scott Sinclair bringing down Polak with less than a minute gone. Czech Republic responded a couple of minutes later when Reinberk brought down Pearce. More fouls followed, but it was England who had the first opportunity in front of goal when Sturridge forced Vaclik into a save on 12 minutes.

However, Czech Republic were slowly growing into the game, despite beginning on the back foot. With the home crowd behind them, they won a succession of corners which kept England ‘keeper Button on his toes. Button then made a spectacular save to deny Necid’s header to prevent England from going behind. England were the better side in possession but couldn’t make much use of it and struggled to test Vaclik in the Czech goal. England seemed restricted and weren’t inclined to attack down the wings which meant their style of play becoming predictable, allowing the Czechs to close them down.

Freddie Sears did well to thread the ball through to Daniel Rose but Rose found himself offside. Ryan Bertrand was next to try and make a breakthrough. The Chelsea left-back, currently on loan at Norwich, broke forward and came close to scoring but his shot was well saved by Vaclik.

England’s scrappy play was becoming frustrating to watch and another move found Sears in an offside position.

Eastick’s side could also be accused of some poor defending in the first-half with Pearce allowing the Czech’s to break through but they squandered a good chance when the ball could have been rolled to the on-rushing Necid.

England went into the break level at 0-0 and knowing that they would have to up their game in the second half.

Half time- Czech Republic 0 England 0

The second half started in a similar pattern to the first, with England dominating from the start and Czech Republic quite happy to sit back and allow the Three Lions to dictate play.

By now it was becoming apparent that the Czech’s tall striker Tomas Necid was going to be a massive threat. He tested Button out early on in the half with a couple of efforts. Then he managed to find the net after he pounced on a mistake by the English ‘keeper and guided the ball home to make it 1-0 following Zeman’s long ball forward. Button was left embarassed and saw his good work from the first-half undone in one moment of madness. But there was still more to come from Necid.

He doubled his and the Czech Republic’s tallies just four minutes later after he nodded home from a corner. Zeman turned provider again with an inch-perfect ball and Necid was free to score due to some shambolic marking which left Brian Eastick livid. One man who will be even more angry though is Luca Toni, after Necid’s attempt at copying his goal celebration!

Gibbs was trying his very best to drive England forward and encourage his team-mates. However, expectation soon turned into frustration for the Lambeth-born youngster after he kept running into what seemed like an endless supply of Czech defenders.

Zeman loked to trouble Button again, but this time the goalie read the clever attempt at a shot. England knew they needed to change things and opted to do so by replacing Scott Sinclair (who, in my opinion, had dwelled too long on the ball) with Temitope Obedayi of Bolton Wanderers.

England were still pushing forward but weren’t making the most of their chances, squandering a decent opportunity from a corner.

Then Rose was played through and was deliberately blocked off by Heideriech, who had already picked up a yellow card earlier in the game. The referee was decisive and wasted no time in showing him a second yellow and ultimately a red. This was England’s opportunity to get back into the game, but would they be able to take it?

They certainly weren’t giving up trying. Sturridge did well to hit a left-footed free-kick over the wall but it wasn’t good enough to beat the ‘keeper.

The hosts tried to run the clock down by bringing on Lecjacks for Vashalik, which was also an attempt to shore up the defence and make it more difficult for England to break through.

England responded by making a change of their own a few minutes later, with James Chandler replacing th ineffective Gosling in midfield.

Freddie Sears then did well to round the ‘keeper and won a corner but once more the delivery was poor and it turned out to be another wasted opportunity.

England couldn’t find a way through but got some more good fortune when the Czech’s were reduced to nine men with eight minutes left. Brunclick was sent off for a second bookable defence after kicking the ball away in frustration. It was an uneccessary and stupid thing to do and it gave England another chance.

The Three Lions continued to push forward but were left frustrated again by some good defending. The Czechs then frustrated them even further by making another sub, this time replacing the impressive Zeman with Stepanek.

England just couldn’t make a breakthrough as the Czech’s continued to wind the clock down. Daniel Sturridge attempted a powerful drive late on, but once again the ‘keeper was equal to it.

The referee then blew the final whistle to put England out of their misery.

Eastick will now have to pick up his squad-and sort out his poor defence (which is suprising considering they didn’t concede a single goal in qualifying) before Thursday’s crunch match with Italy.

Full time- Czech Republic 2 England 0

PLAYER WATCH- KIERAN GIBBS

Kieran was one of England’s best players and displayed his eye for a pass, although occasionally he overhit a couple. He gave away a couple of unneccessary fouls but looked comfortable on the ball and seemed to carry the team at times. He showed good concentration and some flashes of brilliance as well as being very determined and can take heart from his performance.

RATING: 7.5/10

Other game:

Greece 1 Italy 1