The Euro Espoirs is already over for the Blueberries. Sylvain Ripoll’s players suffered the law of Ukraine this Sunday in Cluj, in the quarter-finals. Defeat 1-3, difficult to digest for the young tricolors who had been warned by Philippe Diallo (new president of the Federation) of the objective of joining the last four. Ukraine will face Spain on Wednesday (21:00) for a place in the final. In the other half, Israel will challenge England.

Les Bleuets attacked the match from the right end by taking control of the game from the start. The 52% possession at the break in their favor did not illustrate their total domination, the 6 shots (4 on target) more. A few minutes after a first double chance which ended with a shot from Barcola then one from Cherki who both found Trubin on their way, the nets shook to launch the young French in the best possible way. Rayan Cherki took care of opening the scoring after a superb movement triggered by Enzo Le Fée and continued by Bradley Barcola.

Thanks to a sublime body feint following Barcola’s center back, Cherki opened his way to the goal to launch his partners perfectly. Enough to reward a controlled and exciting first half for Sylvain Ripoll’s men.

Abused, the Ukrainians were able to hurt twice, on their only two shots in the first 45 minutes. Always thanks to the Mudryk – Sudakov duo who hit the mark to surprise and gray the sky above the heads of the French. The Chelsea striker dropped Barcola on his start in the 30th minute before going to challenge Pierre Kalulu at the edge of the area. The AC Milan defender mowed down the one who was making his debut in the competition for an indisputable penalty in favor of the men of Ruslan Rotan, who was responsible for transforming Sudakov (32nd).

The yellow playmaker then doubled the bet a few moments later (44th) after a superb opening from Mudryk, taking advantage of the very poor placement of the French defense.

We thought Ripoll’s players were strong enough to take control in the second half, but unfortunately for them, the collective strength of the Ukrainians and their defensive solidity were stronger. During a second half at a pace chopped up by faults and yellow cards (4, two French sides for Thuram and Nkounkou). The chances were rare, only Barcola was dangerous but in an offside position and Elye Wahi scored (81st), but also in an illegal position.

The Ukrainians continued their strategy by using Mudryk to throw long balls into the back of the French defenders. Nazarenko almost took advantage of it for the first time (69th) before he was the decisive passer for captain Artem Bondarenko who played with Lukeba to finish with a small ball stung above Chevalier, bearing the mark at 3-1.

By winning, Ukraine continues its very beautiful tournament and continues to make a very good impression. Mykhailo Mudryk’s teammates will return to La Rojita after a first clash in the group stage, which ended in a 2-2 draw. In addition, Ruslan Rotan’s players have officially qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris by joining the last four of this Euro Espoirs.