Saturday’s FIFA U-17 World Cup final in Indonesia saw ten-man Germany defeat France on penalties to make history as the first side to win both the global and European age crowns in the same year.
The teams couldn’t break the 2-2 tie in the muggy Surakarta, Java island encounter, thus extra time was played.
In a replay of this year’s European Championship final, which they also won on penalties, the young Germans then maintained their composure to defeat the Blues and earn their first Under-17 world title in the spot shootout.
The German hero was goalie Konstantin Heide, who stopped two penalties before Almugera Kabar of Borussia Dortmund netted the game-winning penalty to end the shootout 4-3.
Tidiam Gomis missed the penultimate attempt, but Germany also missed two penalties, allowing their opponents to reenter the shootout.
Germany had jumped out to a two-goal lead in normal time thanks to goals from captain Noah Darvich in the 50th minute and Paris Brunner of Borussia Dortmund in the 28th, but they were held back by a resolute French team.
