So, there we go; England are world champions. It’s just a starting point, but in the meantime, England are world champions!
Happy Sunday!
England are now a serious power in age-group football, also finalists in the under-17 European Championships and winners of the Toulon Tournament. Somehow, they have to keep these players developing - as individuals, as partnerships and as a team. They won’t all get through to the senior side, but that has to be the starting point.
AND HERE THEY GO!
Fingers are waggled, ooohs are ooohed, and Jake Clarke-Salter raises the trophy! ENGLAND ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS! ENGLAND ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!
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They’re singing campiones, campiones. I don’t know if this counts as evidence or not.
The PA is playing Don’t Look Back In Anger...
...wonder if any of this lot have even heard of it *snivel*.
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And here come England!
Well-in Everton. Tom Davies could also have played in this competition, and they should be a treat to watch next season.
💙💙💙 #U20WorldCup #EFC pic.twitter.com/qCkZmZSC3O
— Everton (@Everton) June 11, 2017
Italy have just received their medals for finishing third; now Venezuela go up. No sign of Uruguay I’m afraid.
Dominic Solanke collects his golden ball as the tournament’s leading scorer. Others to have done so are Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Luis Figo, Sergio Aguero and Paul Pogba.
In the studio, they’re talking about getting these players game-time, and I agree that it’s important. I still wonder whether any elite talents have failed to make it because of missed opportunities, though.
Freddie Woodman has just been awarded a golden glove trophy, with a sponsor’s name pasted over it. It should be Uhlsport or Sondico, but it isn’t.
Still no presentation, now that you ask.
“Is the best thing for this group to have them sat down tomorrow for a ‘you’ve done nothing yet’ chat?” asks Elliott Carr-Barnsley. “Surely a worse thing than players who’ve achieved nothing getting big heads is players who have.”
I think we can allow them tomorrow. Truth is, I’m pretty sure most if not all of them have far grander ambitions.
“Interesting how quickly the players seem to have adapted to the video review system as well,” says David Wall. “The England players were making the universal sign for ‘go to the video ref’ after he gave the decision initially, yet they’ll not have encountered the system before this tournament. Do you think fans will adapt and accept it as readily?”
Players will do anything to save themselves, I’m sure. And yep, it’d - it’ll, I guess - become part of the game pretty so, and we’ll keep going with it. As I’ve written on here before, personally I don’t care all that much about whether decisions are right or wrong - it’s only football after all - so for me it’s about using replays at the right time, not using them to slot in adverts and stuff, and retaining the integrity of the decision-making process
So, how do England build from here? The likely stars of the team seem to me to be Onomah and Lookman, both of whom are likely to get plenty of football next season. But the truth is that all these lads seem to have a chance, and managers who’ll help them out - it’s exciting to see what they do next.
Thinking back to that penalty - and it was a fantastic save - the video refereeing worked perfectly. What it means is that officials can make big decisions when they might not be sure, knowing that they can later be saved; otherwise, the temptation is not to award spot-kicks because giving one that isn’t causes more aggravation than not giving one that is.
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“Is John Terry going to lift the trophy?” asks Simon Thomas.
I’m just relieved there’ll be none of the players’ kids on the pitch.
Apparently, the presentation ceremony is going be of phenomenal length. Stay with me for all its glorious nuance and detail.
Full-time: Venezuela 0-1 England
The England players mob Woodman and charge about in ecstasy and their opponents collapse in despair. But both teams have done a great job, and all the players will be back.
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90+6 min Venezuela 0-1 England
In comes the ball, out goes the ball, AND ENGLAND HAVE WON! ENGLAND HAVE WON THE UNDER-20 WORLD CUP! ENGLAND ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!
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90+4 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Eventually Woodman is ready to continue - we’ll be having another couple of minutes for that. And that’s a change we can all surely get behind, telling us how long the game is. Anyhow, England win a corner, try keeping it in the corner, fail, and Venezuela break. Sosa burns down the right, and Maitland-Niles does superbly to get back and concede a corner. Surely this is it...
90+2 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Woodman comes out to smother with Tomori and and Pena following the ball in ... Tomori tramples his buddy’s calf thanks in part to a friendly shove from Pena, and there’s a break while treatment is handed out. In the meantime, Penaranda departs and Hurtado comes on; someone please reassure me that his dressing room nickname is Nelly.
90 min Venezuela 0-1 England
There’ll be four added minutes as Herrera slips a low pass into the box ... Clarke-Salter gets his feet all over the show trying to clear, slicing towards his own net, and Woodman dives to shovel around the post. Farinez comes up for the corner, and the ball breaks to him on the edge of the box, but he can’t make room for a shot and England block him off!
90 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Penaranda moves into space outside the England box, finds Herrera and doesn’t move for the return! England break, and Calvert-Lewin again gets away only for Lucena to catch up and rob him. Superb tracking at this stage of the game.
88 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Excellent from England, moving down the right to win a corner. Ojo and Solanek keep it there briefly, eventually cede the goalkick, and Farinez wellies it into touch! England are nearly there!
87 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Lovely from Onomah, shrugging off a challenge in centrefield and gliding towards the box. In front of him, Calvert-Lewin is running across the line in search of a through-pass, but when it arrives it turns out he’s gone too early. Right idea from both, though.
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85 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Venezuela win a free-kick on the right, 40 yards out, and again Lucena rips it into the box with menace. But Kenny does enough at the back post to disrupt Pena and England get the ball away.
84 min Venezuela 0-1 England
England are doing really well here, not sitting back but looking to spring forward on the break. Calvert-Lewin finds himself in space through the middle, and he has Ojo outside him, but decides to have a dig, sending a shot wide and plenty.
82 min Venezuela 0-1 England
“Danny Mills talking like Nigeria didn’t go further than England at the last World Cup,” tweets Mo; “The way he made out winning AFCON means nothing, he’s so disrespectful,” says Millie.
I’d really rather not be talking about this at this juncture, but it’s important so here we are. Here’s a piece on the issues, including what Mills said about Wilfried Zaha, should anyone want to consider further.
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80 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Penaranda burrows forward, but Ojo nuzzles in from behind, knocking him over and taking the ball. No foul, rules the ref.
78 min Venezuela 0-1 England
I’m not mad about using video evidence, but that penalty was a good example of how it can work. The problem, I guess, is when it’s unclear, but suppose a right or a wrong decision can still be made as before.
76 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Just before the penalty Sosa replaced Cordova, and now Lookman departs with Maitland-Niles coming on.
WOODMAN SAVES PENARANDA'S KICK!
75 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Woodman goes right and the ball goes down the middle but somehow he chucks his hands back the other way! It’s a bit Seaman v Sampdoria, I guess - he dives past it, but still saves with a mighty arm. Brilliant!
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PENALTY TO VENEZUELA!
73 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Penaranda turns inside Clarke-Salter inside the box, right-hand side, and Clarke-Salter piles through him. England insist it’s not a penalty, the ref checks, and of course it is!
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70 min Venezuela 0-1 England
The commentator points out that three of England’s team are eligible for Nigeria. “If the chance comes to play for England you’ve got to take it,” he says - he really does! - explaining that it’s their best chance of “winning competitions that really matter”.
I feel unwell. But to be clear, it’s really none of anyone’s business how people identify, there are competitions which really matter outside of those for which England are eligible, and no country is inherently better than any other country.
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70 min Venezuela 0-1 England
The game restarts and nothing comes of England’s corner.
68 min Venezuela 0-1 England
The corner goes towards Clarke-Salter at the back post, and his header is deflected over the top for another. That one sees Ferraresi and Solanke going for the ball, and oh dear; Solanke plants face on crown, and accordingly there’s a bit of blood.
66 min Venezuela 0-1 England
If you had to pick a scorer now, it’d be Venezuela. But here goes Ojo down the left, smacking the ball past Lucena into space and caning him for space. But Lucena gets back at him well to concede a corner.
63 min Venezuela 0-1 England
An incursion from Walker-Peters is stopped by Cordova and Lucena, who sandwich him just by the left corner of the box. Lookman and Ojo wait behind the free-kick, the latter running over for the former to curl high.
63 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Ojo replaces Dowell.
61 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Venezuela break - with Soteldo, of course - who weaves and bounces through and around a couple of challenges. Eventually, the ball ends up with Pena, just inside the box, left side. He might find yerman, but instead goes for goal, dragging wide of the near post. This behaviour is not greeted with uniform appreciation.
60 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Strong work from Calvert-Lewin down the right, bearing Hernandez and forcing a corner; it comes to nothing.
59 min Venezuela 0-1 England
When England won the World Cup - in 1966, apparently - apparently they scored a goal after the ball had hit the bar and bounced down! Eerie!
58 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Herhandez escapes Dowell down the left, so Dowell pulls him back and is booked. This is a really excellent game now.
57 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Soteldo nips around the outside of Walker-Peters and drives a low cross which Tomori blocks. He has changed the game in minutes.
56 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Onomah mooches through midfield before, from 30 yards and without any warning, he wipes his foot across an outswinging shot, which splatters the bar and bounces down onto the line. Brilliant effort!
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55 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Venezuela are into this now! They win a corner down the right which picks out Herrera in the middle! But he’s about ten yards out, so though he connects well, can’t generate the power necessary to beat Woodman’s dive.
53 min Venezuela 0-1 England
And there’s Soteldo immediately! He slides a perfect pass between Clarke-Salter and the desperate slide of Tomori, into the stride of Cordova! But his first touch is slightly heavy and Woodman does brilliantly to rush out and block the sidefooted shot which follows.
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52 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Chacon drags a shot wide, his last contribution to proceedings; he’s replaced by Soteldo, considered the most talented member of the Venezuelan squad, all 5”3 of him - he’s just been struggling with injury.
50 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Venezuela win a free-kick on the left, 40 yards out, and Lucena swings it into the box where Herrera outjumps Tomori. But his downward heads is too close to Woodman, who dives left to snatch easily enough.
49 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Calvert-Lewin goes down the left and looks for Solanke in the middle. Nothing comes of the move, but it’s a good start for England, asserting their positive intention.
48 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Penaranda slips away from Tomori, who stretches around him in an effort to confiscate the ball, bringing him down instead. He’s booked.
48 min Venezuela 0-1 England
“OK, OK, so you reckon 6ft 1in is small for a goalie,’ sniffs Peter Turnbull. “Really? The prize has to go to Steve Death, who at just 5ft 7in, made a total of 537 appearances for Reading. Like all goalies, he was a bit a nutter too.”
I wonder why?
46 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Velasquez imparts forearm to neck, and Calvert-Lewin goes down; his assailant is booked.
46 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Off we go again! Techno techno techno techno.
“Up at 5 am in USA to watch England win the World Cup. Thought it would never happen in my life time #NOTHINGISIMPOSSIBLE” toots Guy Harvey.
Champions Trophy, you are next, Champions Trophy, Champions Trophy, you are next.
On that hotel scuffle: “We regret that this happened. Fifa has always been in favour of fair play on or off the pitch.”
Oi, stop sniggering at the back.
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Venezuela need to test England down the flanks - they’ve got two wingers and two strikers after all. England just need to be a little sharper around the box.
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Half-time: Venezuela 0-1 England
That was an enjoyable half of association football, even if both sides need to improve.
Anyway, while we wait for the second half, you’ll want to do this.
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45 min Venezuela 0-1 England
There shall be one added minute.
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Summary
44 min Venezuela 0-1 England
Venezuela have yet to be behind at half-time in this tournament, but it looks as though they will be here. They’ll know that they can play better, but they’ll also know that England can too - and did against Italy the other day.
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43 min ... and he goes over the wall towards the near post, but at the last second Woodman pulls his dive, noting that it’s going just wide.
42 min Kenny drags Pena down 30 yards out, left of centre, and Penaranda is pacing out his run-up....
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39 min “Er, the late Les Sealey was 6ft 1in,” emails Peter Turnbull, “so he was hardly short.”
Maybe not for those of us who count our halves, but for a goalkeeper I’d say that’s not much. Les made up for it in craziness though.
37 min The defending there was not at all good - Ferraresi was weak, but more than that, no one being there to hoof the second ball away just looked really weird. There’s just no way Calvert-Lewin should’ve been permitted three consecutive touches, a second apart, in the box, but he did really well to persevere.
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GOAL! Venezuela 0-1 England (Calvert-Lewin 35)
The free-kick, a long, er, diag, picks out Calvert-Lewin, who outjumps Ferraresi. There’s no one anywhere near, so when the ball drops he sweeps and excellent first-time shot towards goal ... Farinez shoves it out, but yerman wasn’t standing about admiring his effort so catches up with the rebound and punches it into the empty net! England lead the World Cup final!
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34 min Lucena charges into and through Dowell; we see the offence from multiple angles. “50-50,” reckons Mills.
33 min Neither side has quite found its rhythm yet. There’ve been flashes, but no flow.
31 min A long hump aimed at Pena sees Tomori inserting body between man and ball; immediately, England do similar, and Farinez has to race out of box to head. Solanki might challenge, but Sunday league-style opts to wait and see if the keeper makes a mess of it. He doesn’t, and the chance disappears.
30 min Apparently the police were called to the Venzuelan players’ hotel last night, to defuse a little chat between them and the Uruguayans they beat in the semi-final. Oh man, that sounds fantastic.
29 min
@DanielHarris decent crowd here for the game. Nervous start so far... pic.twitter.com/beimbliCKu
— Robert Kemble (@RobertKemble) June 11, 2017
27 min “I think the most exciting aspect of watching this England side,” emails Matt Loten, “is the fact that, perhaps the Chelsea lads aside, just about every one of this first XI is playing for a manager that is likely to give them a fair crack at the whip in the Premiership. Not that Conte won’t, but you couldn’t pick a much better group of managers to bring them through at club level than Klopp, Koeman and Pochettino.”
Yes, that’s true. The problem will be if there are better players ahead of them; not much space in that Spurs side, for example.
24 min Venezuela win a free-kick 35 or so yards from goal, Lucena behind it ... AND WHAT A STRIKE THIS IS! He snaps his right foot into the ball and barely follows through, the movement taking the ball from the middle of the goal to that same right, somehow drifting and hissing, lifting and dipping, away from Woodman and clattering into the post about halfway up. Brilliant effort.
23 min Over comes the corner, and it flicks off a head, arriving on the laces of Calvert-Lewin at the far post, eight yards out ... it’s a really difficult chance, and he slices wide. “Saw the headlines” says Mills, which seems unlikely given the fraction of a second he had to pick the line of the ball and shoot on instinct.
22 min Nice from Solanke, holding onto the ball just outside the box until Lookman arrived alongside him. At precisely the right moment, he squares, and his man does very well to hold off the challenge of Herrera before unloading a drive from 20 yards that Farinez pushes around the post.
21 min “I think it is more learning about being away together and learning how to cope in that environment than the on-pitch stuff,” reckons Alex Sergeant. “Lions tour are a prime example of where this can go well or badly. Also, all the quotes about Rooney in SA during the World Cup being incapable of sitting still. Maybe if he’d been away with the juniors more he would have learnt how to cope.”
As someone who can’t sit still, as 38 years old I can tell you that practice makes no difference. And by that World Cup, Rooney had done three tournaments.
19 min Venezuala creep forward and Pena finds himself with possession 25 yards out; with defenders drawing in, he manages to generate Allan Clarke-style power with minimal backlift, but the ball sails a few feet over the bar.
18 min Calvert-Lewin finds himself on the ball down the left so attacks the space and reaches close to the line. He then tries to clip back a cross for Dowell, but Farinez snatches it away.
16 min Cordoba finds Hernandez down the right, and he slings a high cross into the middle. But i’s far too close to Woodman, who comes out confidently to catch.
15 min “Les Sealey, John Burridge, Dave Lawson” says Dan on Twitter - he’s talking small goalies, I imagine - as Onomah moves forward with the ball and nudges right to Solanke. He scuffs a drive, but again, good positive play from England.
14 min England look really composed, building play from the back. Ballplaying defenders get a bad press these days, but surely this is a coaching issue more than anything else? It’s not that they’re dribbling into trouble, more that they’re caught out of position.
12 min I shouldn’t really, but well, y’know: apparently, if Venezuela succeed, “these players will playing in all four corners of the globe”. I like this image.
10 min Lovely from England, and Solanke should score! A lovely exchange, Kenny into Dowell, sees the latter’s flick send Solanke in. He’s right of centre, perhaps eight yards out, and has a look, but can only drag his shot into the ground and against the keeper. Poor effort, promising movement.
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9 min Penaranda makes tracks down the left and crosses, but the ball ends up behind and England start again. Both sides are looking to attack, but haven’t yet put together anything threatening.
7 min Lovely from Lookman, bursting away from a tackle and using his arms to right himself as he topples. Walker-Peters is outside him, so he’s found, and eventually the ball ends up with Kenny on the opposite flank. His cross, though, is overhit and flies behind.
5 min Solanke finds himself in possession and inside-left and bundles his way through three challenges. Eventually, Velasquez blocks him off, so he flings himself to the floor beseechingly, but the ref is having no such thing.
4 min Lookman blocks off Hernandez on halfway and looks to move forward, but ends up checking and going square. It’s been a pretty sedate start so far.
2 min Farinez, the Venezuelan goalkeeper, is 5”9. Apparently he’s very athletic and acrobatic, as were Chris Turner and Fabian Barthez, both still too small. Any more for any more?
1 min I’m confused by something. We’re being told that it’s important for young players to get tournament experience, but surely they just get that in the first one they play at full level? Are we really saying they need to learn “how to survive being away from home for a long time”?
1 min Off we go!
While you’re here, do this:
There’s nothing like a camera close enough to hear how bad voices are. The Venezuelans tear up their anthem anyway; England are more sedate.
Trevor Sinclair has taken roughly four minutes to reference “a giant club like Manchester City”. Herrera Venezuela’s central-midfielder, is at the club; will he get a go? The problem for him is the demand for instant success - if Guardiola fails again this season, that may be it for him, and even if he doesn’t, how much longer will he stay? Of it’s also possible he just won’t be good enough which, for all the gassing, is what holds back most young players who don’t make it.
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The players are coming out...
The excellent Tim Vickery was on the wireless the other day talking about a potential Venezuelan golden generation. So we can all look forward to some hilarious failures, then.
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Anyway, back to the teams, Josh Onomah returns to the England midfield after his semi-final suspension for beating a man too aggressively; he replaces Ainsley Maitland-Niles. And for Venezuela, Velasquez and Hernandez are back from their games off, with Queor and Meijas dropping out.
No messing about here.
Goths and Crusts
Venezuela (4-4-2): Farinez; Hernandez, Ferraresi, Velasquez, Hernandez; Cordova, Lucena, Herrera, Penaranda; Pena, Chacon.
England (4-3-3): Woodman, Kenny, Clarke-Salter, Tomoki, Walker-Peters; Cook, Onomah, Dowell; Calvert-Lewin, Solanke, Lookman.
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Read Rob Smyth on England’s 1993 Uefa under-21 champions.
🎥 The reaction of the 🇻🇪Venezuela U-17 women’s team as they watched @VinotintoSub20 progress to the #U20WC final 🏆🇰🇷pic.twitter.com/UfyP1TFQSL
— #U20WC (@FIFAcom) June 8, 2017
Preamble
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
And may you stay
Forever young
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay
Forever young.
Sorry, not quite sure what came over me there. Ah, ok, you got me - I didn’t quite write those words, but your Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan שליט”א did, and that’s more or less the same thing. Anyway, there’s something apt about England reaching the final of a youth competition in the week that England’s young people - and those of the United Kingdom - asserted their influence. Because, agree or disagree with what they told us, youthfulness is raw, beautiful and unstoppable, all the more so in these straightened times. So let’s sit down, shut up, watch them do their thing and kvell our arses off.
Kick-off: 11am BST
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