Published 09 June 2023 2 min read
Men's U18
Report: Norway 2-2 England MU18s
Young Lions settle for a share of the spoils in their opening game in Portugal
Birthday boy Rio Kyerematen celebrated his big day in style on Friday, with his late goal sealing a 2-2 draw against Norway for England men’s under-18s.
The Young Lions had found themselves two goals down in their opening game of the Lisbon International Tournament, following quickfire strikes at the end of the first half and then two minutes after the restart, despite coming closest to breaking the deadlock after Joe Bauress saw his free-kick well saved following a foul on Jobe Bellingham.
But head coach Neil Ryan saw his team show their character to stage a second-half fightback and rescue a result, with a strike from Millwall’s Romain Esse getting them back in the contest just after the hour mark.
And with the game two minutes into stoppage time and the Norwegians holding on, substitute Kyerematen drilled home a fine shot into the top corner to equalise on what was the Tottenham Hotspur player’s 18th birthday.
England will be back in action on Sunday morning (11am BST) when they face Australia in their second game of their trip to Portugal before they play the final match against hosts Portugal on Tuesday (5pm BST).
England: 1 True Grant (Manchester City), 2 Sai Sachdev (Sheffield United), 3 Lino Sousa (Arsenal), 4 Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion), 5 Benjamin Arthur (Peterborough United), 6 Ashley Phillips (Blackburn Rovers), 7 Romain Esse (Millwall), 8 Joe Bauress (Burnley), 9 Aaron Loupalo-Bi (Fulham), 10 Jobe Bellingham (Birmingham City), 11 Adrian Blake (Watford)
Substitutes: 17 Lemar Gordon (Fulham) for Esse 63, 20 Travis Patterson (Aston Villa) for Sousa 63, 12 Josh Davidson (Liverpool) for Sachdev 63, 19 Zach Marsh (Crystal Palace) for Loupalo-Bi 63, 15 Rio Kyerematen (Tottenham Hotspur) for Bellingham 70, 23 Zak Johnson (Sunderland) for Arthur 70, 16 David Ozoh (Crystal Palace) for Bauress 70 21 James Debayo (Leeds United) for Phillips 78, 14 Harry Whitwell (West Bromwich Albion) for Hinshelwood 78, 18 Chibuzo Nwoko (Fulham) for Blake 78
Substitutes not used: 13 Ben Cisse (West Bromwich Albion), 22 Jonathan Macauley (Watford)
Head coach: Neil Ryan
Goals: Romain Esse 63, Rio Kyeyematen 90+2
The Young Lions had found themselves two goals down in their opening game of the Lisbon International Tournament, following quickfire strikes at the end of the first half and then two minutes after the restart, despite coming closest to breaking the deadlock after Joe Bauress saw his free-kick well saved following a foul on Jobe Bellingham.
But head coach Neil Ryan saw his team show their character to stage a second-half fightback and rescue a result, with a strike from Millwall’s Romain Esse getting them back in the contest just after the hour mark.
And with the game two minutes into stoppage time and the Norwegians holding on, substitute Kyerematen drilled home a fine shot into the top corner to equalise on what was the Tottenham Hotspur player’s 18th birthday.
England will be back in action on Sunday morning (11am BST) when they face Australia in their second game of their trip to Portugal before they play the final match against hosts Portugal on Tuesday (5pm BST).
England: 1 True Grant (Manchester City), 2 Sai Sachdev (Sheffield United), 3 Lino Sousa (Arsenal), 4 Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion), 5 Benjamin Arthur (Peterborough United), 6 Ashley Phillips (Blackburn Rovers), 7 Romain Esse (Millwall), 8 Joe Bauress (Burnley), 9 Aaron Loupalo-Bi (Fulham), 10 Jobe Bellingham (Birmingham City), 11 Adrian Blake (Watford)
Substitutes: 17 Lemar Gordon (Fulham) for Esse 63, 20 Travis Patterson (Aston Villa) for Sousa 63, 12 Josh Davidson (Liverpool) for Sachdev 63, 19 Zach Marsh (Crystal Palace) for Loupalo-Bi 63, 15 Rio Kyerematen (Tottenham Hotspur) for Bellingham 70, 23 Zak Johnson (Sunderland) for Arthur 70, 16 David Ozoh (Crystal Palace) for Bauress 70 21 James Debayo (Leeds United) for Phillips 78, 14 Harry Whitwell (West Bromwich Albion) for Hinshelwood 78, 18 Chibuzo Nwoko (Fulham) for Blake 78
Substitutes not used: 13 Ben Cisse (West Bromwich Albion), 22 Jonathan Macauley (Watford)
Head coach: Neil Ryan
Goals: Romain Esse 63, Rio Kyeyematen 90+2