France kicked off their Under-17 European Championship campaign with a rampant 5-0 victory over Scotland in Stara Zagora.
After a tough and even start for Jean-Claude Giuntini’s side, it was Paris Saint-Germain’s Nanimato Ikone that opened the scoring after 18 minutes – he would stun the Scottish side by making it 2-0 just minutes later after dancing through the Scottish defence.
His club teammate, Odsonne Edouard scored the pick of the goals when his cute backheel made it 3-0 after 25 minutes.
The first half rampage was complete when Marseille’s Bilal Boutobba made it four from distance with five minutes left in the half.
It was a good day for Paris Saint-Germain’s youngsters, and even though the foot was clearly off the gas in the second half, centre-back Mamadou Doucoure wrapped up the 5-0 win after 47 minutes.
It was a completely dominant performance from the French youngsters, Scotland only had one shot on goal the whole game, while France had 20, plus eight corners.
After the game, Giuntini was quick not to get carried away while talking to UEFA.com:
“It’s a great start for us, of course. We played very well in the first half and did some beautiful things. It’s always nice to start a tournament with a win, but this is just the first game.”
Greece drew 2-2 with Russia in the other group game, France take on Russia on Sunday.
SCOTLAND: Rob. McCrorie – Ross. McCrorie, Souttar, Higgins, Harvie – Burt, McIntyre, Hendry – Hill, Miller, Middleton
FRANCE: Zidane – Georgen, Upamecano, Doucoure, Maouassa – Cognat, Ruiz, Boutobba – Samba, Ikone, Edouard
