Favourites England rally to beat NZ 3-2 in warm-up encounter at Andheri
The England U-17 side justified their favourites tag for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup with a come-from-behind 3-2 thrilling win over New Zealand in their first training match at the Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri yesterday. Liverpool kid Rhian Brewster netted a brace while skipper Marc Guehi, who honed his skills at Chelsea academy, added the other. For the All Whites, Oliver Whyte and Elijah Just chipped in with a goal each. The Young Lions were at the receiving end of a well-knitted Kiwi attack, who have gone down again after losing their first training game to Brazil 1-2 earlier last week. New Zealand failed to sustain their potent attack and that's when the Young Lions began to roar.
"It is frustrating. We could have nicked a draw, but that is something the players have to learn from. We went up one nil, then we mentally switched off for little bit and thought we're beating England, but that can't be the case. Our mentality needs to be super strong. We can't switch off for a second," New Zealand coach Danny Hay said. Calum Hudson Odoi, another Chelsea student, beautifully controlled his side's game and also came close to scoring from just outside the 30-yard circle with a shot, but the ball sailed over the goal post.
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England forward Rhian Brewster (left) tackles New Zealand defender Emlyn Wellsmore during a FIFA under-17 World Cup warm-up tie at the Mumbai Sports Arena, Andheri yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
'England, a real threat'
"We looked like a real threat in the first half. Callum played good. They are both doing their jobs and they need to get into the box and create and score goals," England head coach Steve Cooper said about his winger. In a dramatic turn of events, the Kiwis launched a stinging counter attack after an England free-kick was held firmly by 'keeper Jacob Clarke, who wasted no time to throw the ball to Willem Ebbinge. The wily midfielder, seeing Olivier make a dash, fed a delicious through ball to his teammate, who targetted England's right corner with ease.
England wasted no time in scoring the equaliser. Callum was in action again, this time from a corner kick. After taking the shot, the ball landed back at him. Seeing his skipper Guehi unmarked on the far left side, Callum neatly passed it to his Chelsea teammate, who slammed it into the net. After half-time, Cooper introduced fresh legs, including his main players Phil Foden, who has been under Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola's watchful eyes and Manchester United wonder kid Angel Gomes. England dominated possession in the next 45 minutes with most of the starting XI on the field. Although, the tempo of the game dipped, New Zealand were still finding it tough to break in with England's precision passes.
Kiwis' poor defending
However, it came as a shock to a sizeable number of Mumbaikars present when Emile Smith Rowe made a meal of a back pass to 'keeper Crellin Willian, who was among the six new faces in the second half. The pass seemed to lack power and Just capitalised on the opportunity to see the ball behind the English net. That's when the Lions upped their game and not only drew level, but also found the winner, courtesy Rhian in a span of two minutes.
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