KUALA LUMPUR – France continued their impressive form at the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup as they edged out Australia 3-2 today to secure their semi-final spot.
The clash between the dark horses saw a total of three green cards and four yellow cards shown to both sides.
Head coach Matthias Dierckens attributed the success to the extensive playing history of his team, which was an advantage for Les Bleus to overcome their world number five opponent.
“My boys have been playing together since they were 11 years old, and they have developed excellent chemistry over the past decade.
“In France, where we don’t have a huge talent pool like other European countries, we have been building this team for a very long time.
“Many of them have progressed to play on the senior team in the Men’s World Cup and the Pro League, providing my boys with the experience of high-level hockey, which helped them overcome a tough opponent like Australia today.
“We anticipated a tough match and deeply respect the Australians,” said Dierckens in the post-match conference.
Looking ahead, Dierckens expressed the team’s determination to put in more effort in the next two days to secure a win and qualify for the finals.
Meanwhile, Australia’s head coach, Jay Stacy, blamed his team’s defeat on the lack of a winning mentality among his players and contentious umpire decisions in their encounter against France.
“My boys were good on several occasions in the match, but they lacked a winning mentality, unlike our opponents. We also made poor decisions throughout the game.
“The umpire wasn’t the smartest at times, and I’m frustrated that our goal was disallowed in the final minutes. If that goal had gone in, it would have been a game-changer for us.
“I can’t entirely blame the umpires, as my boys were not creating enough chances at 59 minutes before the incident happened.
“I wish we were playing in the semi-finals, but we would like to move on and focus on delivering our best in the fifth to eighth-place classification matches,” said Stacy.
Noé Jouin scored a penalty corner brace for France in the 17th and 43rd minutes, with midfielder Gaspard Denis contributing a field goal in the 21st minute.
Australia managed to score through Cooper Burns in the 43rd and 48th minutes.
However, Cooper’s third goal was disallowed in the 60th minute due to a foul committed by Craig Marais on France’s Brieuc Delemazure in the penalty box.
France is set to take on the winner between Spain and Pakistan in another quarter-final match today.
Their best performance in the World Cup came in the 2013 edition in New Delhi, where they finished third. – December 12, 2023