El Tri youngsters blitzed by France in Toulon tourney

El Tri was dominated in first half of semifinal

France’s Under-20 team overwhelmed Mexico’s Under-21 squad 4-1 Thursday, sending El Tri into a third-place match against Colombia’s Under-20 side in the prestigious Maurice Revello Tournament in Toulon, France.

The hosts will face Venezuela’s Under-23 team in the championship match, also on Sunday.

El Tri had the first two chances on goal, missing a great opportunity to jump out on top when Atlas winger Jonathan Herrera latched onto a loose ball in minute 2 and tried to loop a shot from 30 meters over goalie Hugo Barbet who had strayed out near the top of the box. Unfortunately, Herrera was too strong with his shot and it soared over the crossbar.

The rest of the half belonged to Les Bleus, led by Sékou Mara’s brace. The Bordeaux man opened the scoring in minute 13 with a tap in at the back post after El Tri goalie Héctor Holguín left an easy rebound and Mexico’s defenders failed to react.

Six minutes later, France captain Lucien Agoumé fired home from 20 meters with Holguín out of position. The Santos Laguna goalie had reacted to a through ball that was cut out by Toluca’s Jorge Rodríguez, leaving an open net for Agoumé to aim at.

Mara added a third in minute 31 just moments after Holguín had made a splendid save against him in a 1-on-1 situation from point blank range. On his goal, Mara took advantage of passive defense by Rodríguez, spun quickly onto his right foot and slotted home inside the far post.

El Tri was completely outmatched in the first 45 minutes, soft on defense and slow in transition which allowed France to dominate midfield. Playmaker Efraín Álvarez (LA Galaxy) was disconnected and inaccurate with his passing, forward Santi Muñoz (Newcastle United) had little time on the ball and Herrera was too often caught holding the ball too long.

To Mexico’s credit, the team refused to concede and just 2 minutes after the restart, Álvarez had narrowed the gap. After great pressure from Herrera had won possession in the offensive third, El Tri stayed forward and harassed France’s clearance effort. When the ball popped free outside the box on the right side, Álvarez gathered it in, dribbled into the box, made a nifty fake to the outside, the left-footed a shot inside the near post. The score was 3-1 and El Tri perked up … momentarily.

Three minutes later, Muñoz and Álvarez worked a give-and-go but Santi’s shot was wide short side. At the 65-minute-mark, clever interplay between Muñoz and Álvarez sent the LA Galaxy man into the box but he went down under pressure instead of standing up to the challenge.

Five minutes later, El Tri’s last best chance to make a game of it again fell to Álvarez. Sub Diego Medina (Santos Laguna) squared across the top of the box to the 19-year-old from East Los Angeles, but Álvarez hesitated, then hurried a flicked shot wide of the far post.

Ten minutes before the final whistle, France put the nail in the El Tri coffin when Mara split two defenders on the left side of the box then found Adil Aouchiche all alone on the right side. Aouchiche composed himself, waited for a defender to overcommit, then drilled a shot into the side netting inside the left post.

El Tri will have to shake off the disappointment ahead of Sunday’s consolation match against a Colombia team that lost on penalty kicks to South American rivals Venezuela.

El Tri already has two third-place trophies in the Toulon Tournament (1976, and 2019), including the last time the event was held before the Covid pandemic. That team – led by coach Jaime Lozano – defeated Ireland in a penalty shoot-out after a scoreless 90 minutes.