Report: England MU19s 0-1 Iceland
Young Lions now need to beat Turkey on Tuesday in Chesterfield to stand any hope of qualifying
England men’s under-19s head into a crunch final U19 EURO qualifying match with Turkey on Tuesday after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Iceland this afternoon.
England MU19s had kicked off their U19 EURO elite qualifying round campaign with a 1-0 victory over Hungary on Wednesday.
Only the group winners will qualify for this summer’s U19 EURO Finals in Malta and this afternoon’s narrow loss to Iceland means the Young Lions now need to beat Turkey on Tuesday and hope Iceland do not win their match with Hungary.
Tickets in Chesterfield will be £6 for adults and £3.50 for concessions, and are available from here.
Head coach Simon Rusk made five changes to his starting XI for the game against Iceland at Rotherham’s New York Stadium.
Goalkeeper James Beadle was one of those to retain his place and he pulled off a brilliant save early on as he somehow managed to get down and turn away a header which was about to nestle in the bottom corner.
Iceland did take the lead five minutes into the second half though, as Ashley Phillips fouled Kristian Hlynsson and Orri Oskarsson dispatched the spot-kick.
Phillips went close to making amends when he was close to turning in George Hall’s low cross from the right.
And England went close again when Iceland goalkeeper Lukas Petersson somehow denied Divin Mubama from close range.
The Young Lions continued to push for a equaliser but were unable to break down the resilient visitors.
England: 1 James Beadle (Crewe Alexandra, loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), 3 Luke Chambers (Kilmarnock, loan from Liverpool) ©, 5 Ben Nelson (Doncaster Rovers, loan from Leicester City), 6 Adam Wharton (Blackburn Rovers), 9 Divin Mubama (West Ham United), 10 Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), 11 George Hall (Birmingham City), 12 Omari Forson (Manchester United), 15 Ashley Phillips (Blackburn Rovers), 18 Lewis Hall (Chelsea), 20 Amario Cozier-Duberry (Arsenal)
Substitutes: 2 Reuell Walters (Arsenal) for Nelson 33, 19 Reyes Cleary (West Bromwich Albion) for Forson 71, 7 Sonny Perkins (Leeds United) for Mubama 71, 4 Charlie Webster (Chelsea) for Cozier-Duberry 78
Substitutes not used: 13 Joe Whitworth (Crystal Palace), 14 Will Dickson (Manchester City), 16 Lee Jonas (Liverpool), 17 Zak Sturge (Chelsea)
Head coach: Simon Rusk
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