Zinedine Zidane inspired Spain to win the Danone Cup Nations Championship as the young Spaniards beat Switzerland 3-1 in the final in front of about 15 000 thrilled fans at Parc de Princes Stadium in Paris on Sunday. South Africa, last year’s winners, came third.
The Frenchman, who plies his trade in Spain where he plays for Real Madrid, was a guest of honour in the 32-nation tournament, which is played annually in Paris.
The Spaniards led 2-1 at half-time. They increased their tally to 3-1 just after the interval. They took home a huge trophy, which was lifted by South Africa last year after beating Portugal 2-0.
The new-look South African junior squad, who are affectionately known as the Tse-Tse Flies, settled for third position after beating Turkey 3-2 on penalties earlier on.
The skilful South Africans went down 1-0 against Switzerland in the semifinal.
Nozozo Solethu, who converted one of the three penalties, walked away with the top-goal-scorer trophy, having rattled the net 11 times. The Tse-Tse Flies, who had not conceded a single goal in their five wins before losing to the Swiss, were awarded for their best defence.
They topped Group E with 15 points.
But the disappointment was that France, the hosts, failed to reach the semifinals — something that the French have not been able to get right since the inception of the tournament in 2000.
Barney Kujane, who was the head of delegation for the South African under-12 squad, and his colleague Dan Soko were delighted about the Tse-Tse Flies’ display throughout.
”The boys did well and we as Safa [South African Football Association] representatives are more than satisfied. The kids really enjoyed themselves and they should not worry about failing to defend the trophy. It was about participation and gaining international exposure.
”Other kids, who have since graduated to under-17, under-20 and under-23, did not enjoy this privilege,” reasoned Kujane, who is also the director of national teams.
”Our gratitude also goes to all the parents and their teachers for their cooperation.”
Soko, an executive member of Safa, added that such participation makes the children’s development easier.
”Look, winning was not the name of this tournament. Sometimes a loss is good for the real test of character.
”It is pleasing that we progressed to the semifinal where we lost narrowly to Holland in our first appearance in 2002.
”We came back very strongly to win the tournament in 2003. This just shows that Safa has a sustainable developmental programme,” said Soko.
The Tse-Tse Flies will arrive back home on Wednesday morning. — Sapa