Tribal Football

France comeback leaves Denmark heartbroken in Euros

Svend Bertil Frandsen/Rory Baird
Tottenham's Mathys Tel scored the decisive goal for the French Under-21 side
Tottenham's Mathys Tel scored the decisive goal for the French Under-21 sideANP, ANP / Alamy / Profimedia
Thanks to two goals in the final ten minutes, France turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win as they booked their ticket for the semi-final of the U21 Euros at the expense of Denmark in an entertaining thriller Sunday evening in Slovakia

Gérald Baticle’s men came into this match looking to build on their unbeaten start (W2, D1), and despite Denmark having most of the possession in the opening 10 minutes, it was Les Bleuets that had the first big opportunity.

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The chance came after nine minutes, when Johann Lepenant found Mathys Tel inside the penalty area, but Andreas Jungdal made a stunning save from point-blank range. 

However, Denmark had an opportunity of their own just five minutes later, as Noah Nartey hit a sweet strike from distance only to be denied by the crossbar, with Guillaume Restes well beaten.

They did go on to take the lead a few minutes later with 18 minutes on the clock, with Clement Bischoff capitalising on a mix-up in the French defence before firing a first-time effort into the roof of the net from just inside the penalty area. The Danes were unable to make it to HT with their lead intact, though, as Djaoui Cissé beat his man with ease before coolly slotting the ball under Jungdal.

Denmark (U21) - France (U21) - Player Ratings
Denmark (U21) - France (U21) - Player RatingsFlashare

Denmark didn’t let that equaliser dampen their spirits, though, restoring their lead just four minutes after the restart. The goal was scored by midfielder Oliver Sørensen, as the FC Midtjylland man pounced on a flick-on from Bischoff to poke the ball into the bottom-left corner.

As the game began to reach the closing stages, France started to mount more pressure on the Danish defence, and they thought they had their reward with 20 minutes remaining, as Tel managed to nod home Lepenant’s searching cross at the back post, but the goal was ruled out for an offside in the build up. 

France did eventually get their equaliser with just six minutes remaining through a sublime strike across goal from outside the penalty area from Quentin Merlin.

Les Bleuets completed their stunning late comeback just two minutes later through Tel, as the Tottenham Hotspur forward cut onto his right-foot before bending an exquisite effort into the bottom-right corner. France saw the game out from there to advance to the semi-finals, but they must await the result of tonight's game between Germany and Italy to find out their opponent.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Quentin Merlin (France)