Admittedly deprived of many talents of the current generation, the French Espoirs team, led by Gérald Batic, took dear in the semi-finals of Euro U21 against Germany (3-0), Wednesday in Slovakia. A heavy defeat which recalls the 4-1 collected by the Bleuets against Spain, in the semi-finals of the Euro Espoirs 2019, organized in Italy. In his goal, Paul Bernardoni had experienced a sacred Calvary.
Sylvain Ripoll, the coach of tricolor hopes, could count on a beautiful team, especially in the offensive sector with Houssem Aouar, Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, Jonathan Ikoné, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Moussa Dembélé and Marcus Thuram. But it was therefore the defense that took the water, despite an impressive central hinge composed of Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konaté, two executives from the EDF of Didier Deschamps today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3jvaoofudg
If Mateta opened the penalty score (16th), the Rojita led by Luis de la Fuente completely overthrew the situation. The Spanish were then led by the future European champions 2024 Unai Simón, Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino, Dani Olmo and Mikel Oyarzabal (as well as Pol Lirola and Carlos Soler).
Paul Bernardoni, the descent into hell
Paul Bernardoni made a few parades but, abandoned by lethargic teammates, cashed the equalization signed Marc Roca (28th). Then Konaté offered the penalty of 2-1 to Oyarzabal (45th+5) and Dani Olmo (47th) and Borja Mayoral (66th) took advantage of the defensive generosity of the Blueberries to weigh down the score. Three days later, the select was crowned European hopes champion by beating Germany (2-1) thanks to goals from Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo.
Bernardoni, he completely disappeared from traffic … Guardian of the French team at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, the former Bordeaux then lost his place in Angers and did not convince on loan to AS Saint-Etienne. He opted for exile in 2023 by joining Konyaspor, in Türkiye, and is now playing in Yverdon Sport, who arrived last D1 last month … A new nightmare for the 28 -year -old goalkeeper.
