Estonian U-21 football team in 6:1 away loss to France
The Estonian men's under-21 football team went down 6:1 away to France on Monday evening in their group three European Championships qualifier.
This was the last match before the winter break.
Estonia's sole goal in Grenoble was scored by Tony Varjund. The under 21s have not yet won a qualifier, and started off their campaign losing 2:1 away to the current team of the moment, at least so far as the senior team goes – the Faroe Islands.
A home loss against Switzerland was followed by draws, both of them at home, against Iceland (1:1) and Luxembourg (2:2).
Manager Jani Sarajärvi was, despite the loss, satisfied with the mentality his team showed in the France game, given the quality of their opponents. "For me, the bigger picture is very important. We played against a top team, but when you look at our mental aspect in this match, it was very good. The Estonian U21 team wasn't afraid of their opponents — we were active and ready to play. There are different kinds of losses, and we need this kind of attitude across all our youth teams — one where we want to play, no matter whether the opponent is France or Italy. And today we can be proud that we wanted to play and showed it," Sarajärvi said post-match.
"Ahead of the game, we stressed that the opponents are human too, so they make mistakes," the manager continued. "That turned out to be proven in a situation where we forced them into an error, and Tony was very active in that moment," he said, speaking of the goal.
"Our players had to play on the edge, and at times you could see they were tired, but everyone truly fought as much as they could," Sarajärvi went on.
On the night, France began the match with more attacking intent. In the 9th minute, Estonian captain Ott Nõmm's misplaced pass led to Wilson Odobert setting up Mathys Tel for a 1–0 lead. Three minutes later, Tel assisted Djaoui Cisse to make it 2–0.
France controlled the first half, but in added time, Tony Varjund pressed well, capitalizing on a mistake by Warren Zaire-Emery to score for Estonia.
After halftime, France kept pressure. In the 49th minute, Eli Junior Kroupi scored to make it 3–1. Odobert added goals in the 64th and 79th minutes, while Kroupi completed his brace in the 86th. Estonia's Ramol Sillamaa missed a chance in the 69th minute.
With two points in their group so far, Estonia continues the European Championship qualifying campaign in March next year, with away matches against Iceland and Switzerland.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
