Germany Defeats France To Win FIFA U-17 World Cup, Osawe Sees Red

Germany, shrugged off the disadvantage of playing one-man down when Winners Osawe was red carded to beat France 4-3 through penalties after a 2-2 regular time to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.

The win was Germany’s first at the U-17 level. Almugera Kabar scored the decisive penalty, but goalkeeper Konstantin Heide was the ultimate hero, as he saved three spot-kicks in the shootout.

Germany went ahead in the game through Paris Brunner’s 29th penalty and Noah Darvich doubled the lead with a back-post finish from a tight angle in the 51st minute. But France roared back through Saimon Bouabre, who fired a low shot past Heide to put the game back in the balance.

Things took a turn for the worst when a second yellow card in the 69th minute for Osawe meant that Christian Wück’s side would have to see out the final stages of the match with just 10 men. Despite their resilience, a gap finally opened up in the tiring defence for Mathis Amougou to level the scores in the 85th minute and send the game straight to penalties.

Germany were on the back foot after Eric da Silva Moreira missed their first spot-kick to give the French the upper hand. However, a shot against the crossbar from Nhoa Sangui was followed by Heide’s save against Bastien Meupiyou to put the Germans ahead after four attempts each. Paris Brunner stepped up for the 10th and potential match-winning penalty, but was kept out by goalkeeper Paul Argney to send the shootout into sudden death.

Tidiam Gomis missed the first effort for Les Blues, and Kabar held his nerve to claim an historic trophy for Germany. Paris Brunner, who finished the tournament with five goals, was voted the best player, but goalkeeper Heide, who was the backup until the semifinal and then the hero in the penalty shootouts against Argentina and France, was also instrumental to the success.David Odogu and Charles Herrmann were also outstanding for the champions.