The France Under 17 squad that won the 2004 Under-17 UEFA European Championships was blessed with real talent with the likes of Jeremy Menez and Karim Benzema. However, most of that squad’s players have slipped from the radar
Symbols of the famous generation 87, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jeremy-Menez-c18345 and Hatem Ben Arfa were lucky enough to reach the highest level in their respective playing careers. That was a talented quartet of players who have so far, failed to repeat the
same performances for the senior side the way they did during the Under 17 European Championships when Les Bleuets won the tournament at the expense of Spain.
In 2004, France Under 17 side became European Champions after beating a Spanish side that had the likes of Cesc Fabregas and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gerard-c14664 Pique in their squad. Eight years later, only Jeremy Menez and Karim Benzema donned the colours of the French senior side
that played http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 on October 16, 2012 in a World Cup qualification game in Iberia.
This is indeed a sad state for the generation 87 side that promised so much but delivered little or nothing in most players’ cases. Of the 18 players who were selected by Philippe Bergeroo at that time, only four players from that triumph have played for
Les Bleus (Benzema, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hatem-Ben-Arfa-c15884, Samir Nasri and Menez).
However, due to their disciplinary issues at the European Championships earlier this year, Ben Arfa and Nasri are yet to return to the national side.
Regardless, all four players have had great careers so far. However, the same cannot be said of most of their teammates from the Under-17 triumph.
Kevin Constant for instance, struggled to really make a name for himself in first Chievo and then with Genoa. Now on loan at AC Milan, the now http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Guinea-c2914 international has played 11 games and has finally started realising a tiny portion of the talent that made
him such a promising player for the youth side all those years ago.
Benoit Costil was one of the best keepers in the Under 17 tournament and is now a first-choice custodian at Stade Rennais. However, the former Sedan man is yet to be capped by the national team that has a plethora of options in his department.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 and are experiencing a downward trajectory. Ahmed Yahiaoui, who trained at Marseille with Samir
Nasri, never saw his career take off due to recurring injury problems.
Now playing in Ligue 2 with Sedan, the midfielder once spoke about the time when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Samir-Nasri-c32360 (when he was still at Arsenal) was asked about Cesc Fabregas about his other teammates who beat his side all those years ago.
“One day at http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429, Fabregas asked Samir Nasri what had become of the six who played with him in the final of Euro (U-17). Samir told him that I had stopped playing. Fabregas did not believe him and said that it was a joke. I am aware of my mistakes, and
it is normal to have fallen so low eventually. But if I had followed the same path they (Nasri, Benzema) did, without any external problems, I’m sure I would have been at the same level today.”
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