Report: England MU20s 3-0 Chile

England men's Under-20s stepped up their preparations for next summer’s U20 World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Chile.

It was the first of three games in the space of a week for the Young Lions as part of the Costa Cálida Supercup tournament in Spain.

The current MU20 side is largely made up of players who won the U19 EUROs in the summer, with head coach Ian Foster also progressing with the group ahead of next summer’s FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia.

And they impressed once again as goals from Stoke City loanee Liam Delap, defender Daniel Oyegoke and new Southampton signing Sam Edozie helped the MU20s beat Chile at the Pinatar Arena.

After a frantic first five minutes of both teams trying to settle on the ball, the earliest chance fell to Delap, who steered his effort wide of the mark from a cutback.

Moments later, Edozie couldn’t get his shot away after forcing himself brilliantly into the area as England began to ramp up the pressure.

Ten minutes in, England got their opening goal. A left-wing cross from Juventus’ Sam Iling-Junior was whipped in with pace and Delap swept home a left-footed shot after getting in front of his man.

England started to assert their dominance as Edozie’s tricky feet won a free kick, which Iling-Junior sent just over the bar from about 25 yards out.

The moment of the match came midway through the first half as Oyegoke, on his first appearance for the MU20s, doubled England’s lead brilliantly. 

The defender, on loan at MK Dons from Brentford, picked up the ball outside the box on the right side and impressively beat three men to weave his way into the area, before unleashing an unstoppable left-footed curler into the top corner. 

Delap was then relieved to see the flag up for offside after he could’ve and should’ve tapped home a third England goal, but his close-range effort looped over the bar on the stretch.

After struggling to get much of a foothold in the game, the final ten minutes of the first half were all the South Americans’. 

Their first shot on target came from their liveliest player Dario Osorio, who is set to feature in the Chilean senior squad against Morocco in a couple of days, but his attempt from outside the box was easily gathered by Harvey Davies.

Moments later, Davies had to be on his toes to shovel another long-range Chile effort around the post for their first corner. 

La Roja further threatened with free kicks and balls into the box but couldn’t find a breakthrough before the interval.

England then regained the advantage after the break and moving away from goal, Edozie tested the ‘keeper with a low shot. 

Delap’s mazy run then resulted in new Chelsea signing Carney Chukwuemeka firing his shot wide as England demonstrated they could go from back to front quickly.

Pushing for a third, the Young Lions had three blocked efforts in quick succession as Chile put their bodies on the line.

Then the third did finally come, and any small doubt about the result was quashed as Edozie deservedly got on the scoresheet. England’s left side caused problems again and when a cross wasn’t cleared, Southampton man Edozie picked his spot from just inside the area.

A flurry of frequent substitutions from midway through the second half for both sides meant the game lost some of its rhythm, and although Chile can be encouraged by their display after the break, the contest was already wrapped up.

England managed to comfortably see out the rest of the encounter to get their campaign off to a positive start.

Next up for the MU20s is a game with Morocco on Saturday (5pm BST) before they round off the trip off against Australia on Tuesday 27 September (4pm BST).

England: 1 Harvey Davies (Liverpool), 2 Daniel Oyegoke (Milton Keynes Dons, on loan from Brentford), 3 Callum Doyle (Coventry City, on loan from Manchester City), 4 Alex Scott (Bristol City), 5 Ronnie Edwards (Peterborough United), 6 Finley Burns (Manchester City), 7 Sam Edozie (Southampton), 8 Carney Chukwuemeka © (Chelsea), 9 Liam Delap (Stoke City, on loan from Manchester City), 10 Aaron Ramsey (Norwich City, on loan from Aston Villa), 11 Sam Iling-Junior (Juventus)

Substitutes: 14 Tim Iroegbunam (Queens Park Rangers, on loan from Aston Villa) for Edwards 45, 15 Reece Welch (Everton) for Burns 45, 12 Ethan Ingram (West Bromwich Albion) for Oyegoke 60, 23 Harvey Vale (Hull City, on loan from Chelsea) for Iling-Junior 60, 17 Malcolm Ebowei (Crystal Palace) for Edozie 70, 19 Dane Scarlett (Portsmouth, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) for Delap 70, 21 James Balagizi (Crawley Town, on loan from Liverpool) for Ramsey 80, 18 Charlie Patino (Blackpool, on loan from Arsenal) for Scott 80

Substitutes not used: 13 Matthew Cox (GK), 20 Daniel Jebbison, 22 Tobi Oluwayemi (GK)

Head Coach: Ian Foster

Goals: Liam Delap 10, Daniel Oyegoke 23, Sam Edozie 62