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For the first time
Ghada Abdel Kader Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 16 - 07 - 2013

France was crowned FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions on the final day in Istanbul, Turkey after beating Uruguay 4-1 on penalties after the match ended 0-0 after extra time.
France goalkeeper Alphonse Areola saved Uruguay's first two penalties, from Emiliano Valazquez and Giorgian De Arrascatea, before Dimitri Foulquier scored the decisive fourth spot kick in front of a sparse crowd, beating Uruguay keeper Guillermo de Amores to seal victory for France who beat Turkey, Uzbekistan and Ghana on the way to the final.
It was France's first ever FIFA U-20 World Cup title.
The French celebrated for several minutes on the field with rhythmic dance moves, singing and waving to fans, before captain Paul Pogba lifted the trophy.
France had a modest start to the tournament with a draw against the US and a defeat to Spain, but the team improved in the knockout stage. France found fluency in their attacking game and eased past hosts Turkey (4-1) and Uzbekistan (4-0), before edging Ghana 2-1 in the semi-finals.
France conceded just two goals in the knockout stage and kept a clean sheet in the final, despite missing suspended defender Samuel Umtiti, who was sent off for a second booking against Ghana.
Uruguay was not regarded as one of the tournament favourites despite defeating 2011 champion Brazil in qualifying.
France dominated ball possession but Uruguay created more danger, mainly through winger Nicolas Lopez, who had six shots on goal. After the match, Uruguay's Guillermo De Amores was named best goalkeeper of the tournament by FIFA, while Ghana's Ebenezer Assifuah won the Golden Boot for being the top goal scorer with six.
France is the sixth European champion in the 36-year history of the event, but only the second in the past 20 years, after Spain's victory in 1999.
Uruguay suffered their second defeat in a final after losing to Argentina in 1997.
Earlier on, Ghana ended the tournament in third place, after beating Iraq 3-0. Joseph Attamah opened the scoring on 35 minutes, with Ghana going 2-0 up in first-half stoppage time through Ebenezer Assifuah's sixth goal of the tournament.
With 12 minutes remaining Ghana made sure of the win, Frank Acheampong finding the target.
Ghana returns home with a bronze medal around their necks. That win ultimately ended the African side's hopes of their greatest ever showing at a FIFA tournament, having to be content with matching their performance at the Olympics in 2004 – but it remains their best-ever FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The competition was a test of Turkey's ability to hold a major sporting event ahead of the September decision on the city that will host the 2020 Olympics.
Istanbul is one of three contenders for the Games along with Madrid and Tokyo.
France became the first nation to win all five FIFA 11-a-side men's titles (FIFA World Cup 1998, FIFA Confederations Cups (2001 and 2003), FIFA U-20 World Cup (2013), FIFA U-17 World Cup (2001) and Olympic gold medal (1984). This is the first time in history that neither Brazil nor Argentina qualified. This is the second time for Brazil not to take part. The first time was the 1979 edition.
Egypt was in the tournament in Turkey but was knocked out in the group stage.

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