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Under 20 World Cup

Spain 2 - France 1

Spain's under 20 side ended the first stage with maximum points after beating France 2-1 in their third and final group game. Paco Alcácer opened the scoring for Julen Lopetegui's team after a good run by Jesé midway through the first half, and Jesé himself came close to a second when Areola pushed his shot on to the post just before the break. Ten minutes after the restart though the Real Madrid forward did get his name on the scoresheet, taking advantage of a poor clearance by Zouma from Suso's long pass to steer a low shot past the keeper, his fourth goal of the tournament. France themselves were looking to at least tie up second spot however, and although reports came through that Ghana were leading against rivals USA, they were not taking any chances. With two minutes to go Sabaly fired a shot against the bar, and with the game in injury time Vion got on the end of Sanogo's cross to get one back. That came too late to change the result, but it was a warning to Spain that they need to concentrate until the final whistle. That will be more important from now on as the knock-out stage begins, but at least they stay in Istanbul for their next match, with their opponents coming from one of the four best teams who finish third in their group. (27.06.13)