Can England upset odds and beat strong Spain in semi?
It was a late show for England’s Under-19’s at the UEFA Championships, but a 93rd minute header from substitute Matthew Phillips gave England the point they needed to squeeze through to the semi final. After one win and a defeat, England faced table topping France, who had beaten Holland 4-1 and Austria 5-0 in the group. Things didn’t look too promising for England as they fell behind in a match they expected that they would need to win in order to qualify. The scenario was supposed to go like this: Netherlands would beat Austria, which would leave England needing a win themselves over France to stand a chance of going through to the last four. As it happens, Austria popped up with a surprise victory over Holland, giving England the advantage in the group, and even if Wycombe Wanderers Phillips had not have netted, England would have gone through.
Noel Blake’s side will now face Spain on Tuesday, looking to emulate their last outing in the competition, where they reached the final in 2009. France’s team selection helped England a little bit, as they were sure of getting through to the semi’s. Still, France started the match better than England, and deservedly took the lead. Luck played a big part in the game, even though England battled well without ever looking overly impressive or consistently threatening in attack, they certainly did not have the same quality in possession as the French. England did create chances, having a shot off the line, but at the other end keeper Declan Rudd certainly had his fair share of work to do against one of the best teams in the tournament. England were generally chasing the game against the slick passing and movement of the French.
England finished as runner’s up in the tournament last year, losing to the Ukraine, and there has been a lot of focus on the progress of the young players, after the failure of the senior England national team at the World Cup. But England have not set the tournament alight, certainly not in comparison to France and Spain, two of the other semi finalists. They made hard work of their opening 3-2 victory over Austria, while they were bogged down in the middle of the park by a hard working Netherlands team which had much more of a creative spark than England. But tournament football is sometimes simply about progressing and building momentum. What the last minute draw against the strong French will have done for Blake’s side, is give them confidence. Hopefully they are saving their best for the latter stages of the tournament, as they have generally flattered to deceive in their outings so far.
The reports from the camp insist that England are up for the job, and that confidence is high. Whilst winning would inject a huge boost of confidence into the squad, the players and tactics should come under scrutiny. Are England playing the right way, abandoning the typical English game of being physical and playing with speed? Not really, there has not been quite as much evidence of technical passing and patience in possession as one would have hoped, but hopefully results can be gained in a better fashion than what they have produced so far. There is a lot of pressure on this crop of young players to not only perform, but to bring some creativity, flair and a touch of a new brand of football to build England’s future upon. It’s not quite there yet, and again any failings will be exposed by their semi final opponents, Spain. The Spanish beat Italy 3-0 in their final group match to secure top spot, setting up the semi final clash with England.
Spain play with a fantastic confidence on the ball, and can play a high tempo but very well controlled and structured match. Spain have won four out of the eight previous UEFA Under-19 European Championships, and have never lost when reaching the semi final. The success of the current senior Spanish team can be traced back to the successful development of their youth players. Fernando Torres hit four goals in the inaugural tournament in 2001/02, including scoring the winner in the final which kind of underlines the importance of this youthful tournament. Unfortunately though, judging by the displays so far, England are still behind the level of the Spanish in many aspects of the game, even at this young level. The balance should tip in favour of the technically gifted Spaniards, and while they know they can expect a battling performance from England, for England fans, they would be hoping things were the other way around.
UEFA Under-19 European Championships Semi Finals
England U19 to win: 17/4 at Bet365
Draw: 13/5 at Bet365
Spain U19 to win: 4/6 at Boylesports
France U19 to win: 8/11 at Stan James
Draw: 13/5 at Bet365
Croatia U19 to win: 17/4 at Bet365
