England’s wonderkids face Brazil test in Under-17 World Cup semi-final

Asked about their dominating show against Brazil, he said: “We dug deep, obviously Brazil were a very good team so we just stuck to our plan”. They rose to the occasion nicely utilizing their wing play and cashed in on most of the opportunities which came in their way.

Asked whether Brenner’s miss in the second session proved the decisive moment of the match, Amadeu said: “In football you can not pick one moment which will decide the match”.

“You want to be playing these games and playing against the best, and that’s what we’ll be doing”. We got balance and got chances but we couldn’t. As with Germany providing the template for stopping Brazil, a Canarinha will draw inspiration from Japan thwarting the English over 90 minutes. He also also netted a treble against the United States in the last eight.

“Compliments to our boys they kept really well and did not let them get through”.

“Well, I didn’t think it would be this early”. We had a chance with Brenner, had one where Lincoln couldn’t touch the ball, Paulinho had space to go through then Alan.

Brazil’s under-17 side features a flat back-four in most of the games as coach Amadeu has given a lot of importance to defending in numbers without the ball. “Maybe the crowd will be behind us”, Cooper said. Whoever we play we can be a match and play better than the opposition.

The English certainly have the quality to trouble the Brazilians, and they will aim to push forward against a defence that looked uncertain at times.

He is, quite simply, the flawless Guardiola player, small in stature but fearless in possession, able to change the pace of a game with one swish of his left boot or a mesmerising dribble upfield.

England will face either Mali or Spain in the final. They did force England to misplace a few balls in unsafe positions but Lincoln and his teammates could not quite capitalise which is what Liverpool starlet Rhian Brewster did when he was presented with a chance in the tenth minute. Yet, there is a precautionary tale to anyone who thinks, due to their recent successes, the Three Lions senior side will be lifting the World Cup over the next decade.

Judging by England’s performances at the U17 World Cup, Chelsea could rue letting another striker prospect join their Premier League rivals as Rhian Brewster is on course to emulate Solanke by firing his country to World Cup glory.

In less than a day of the reshuffle, the tickets were sold out in no time whereas flock in hundreds fought tooth and nail at the ticket counter outside the stadium last night, hoping to witness this cracker of a match. Find us on Facebook too!