International Football - Super Spain down England to make final

Eurosport - Tue, 27 Jul 16:50:00 2010

Spain’s U19 side turned on the style to beat England 3-1 in the semi-finals of the European U19 Championships in France.

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Excellent goals from Liverpool’s Daniel Pacheco, Atletico Madrid’s Keko and Real Madrid’s Sergio Canales were enough for the Spaniards, who were by far the better side although they struggled at times with England's pace and strength.

Tottenham youngster John Bostock was on target for Noel Blake's team, who displayed good spirit and were dangerous on the break but lacked the quality to beat a side dominated by Barcelona youth players.

Spain will face hosts France in the final after they beat Croatia 2-1 in their semi later on Tuesday.

In keeping with national stereotypes, Spain played an enthralling short-passing game, dominating possession and impressing with superb control and passing all over the park.

England, meanwhile, were frantic and disjointed, looking for direct passes to utilise the physical attributes of Nathan Delfouneso and Frank Nouble.

They had the first real opportunity though, when Aston Villa striker Delfouneso skinned Martin Montoya and played in a cross that keeper Alex failed to hold: luckily for him, Nouble was just beyond the ball at the far post.

Spain then dominated, creating a succession of chances, and they took the lead on 12 minutes.

Forward Pacheco placed a finish with the inside of his right foot from just inside the box after Real’s summer signing Canales robbed skipper Matthew James - of Manchester United, on loan at Preston - and picked out his team-mate with a clever low pass.

Spain continued to boss the ball but Blake’s Lions were dangerous on the break as - despite holding a clear technical disadvantage over Spain - superior physicality saw Nouble and Delfouneso constantly menace the back four.

Nouble easily got past Jorge Pulido but his cross-shot fell into space and Spain survived, and England again could have levelled when a moment of madness from Alex saw the keeper rush out of his box: Nouble’s ball was cleared by Oriol Romeu chasing back as Delfouneso prepared to finish.

Spain were 2-0 up soon afterwards thanks to the best open-play goal of the tournament.

After keeping the ball for around two minutes, Pacheco found Canales who fed Keko with an instant backheel allowing the busy playmaker man to surge into the box and slide the ball under Declan Rudd.

But England pulled one back within seconds when Bostock - on as a sub for the injured Nathan Baker - half-volleyed superbly into the bottom right after a high ball into the box wreaked havoc.

A cagey opening to the second half burst into life seven minutes in when Rodrigo somehow scuffed a simple finish at Rudd.

Two minutes later, Celtic’s Josh Thompson clattered into Rodrigo 30 yards out and Spain had a free-kick.

Rodrigo looked all set to blast it but, as he pulled the trigger, Thiago Alcantara clipped the ball over the wall for Canales to race in unchecked and rifle the ball under Rudd.

It was a brilliantly-inventive set piece to add to Ezequiel Calvente’s audacious penalty against Italy in the group stage.

England rallied in the latter stages and should have pulled one back immediately when Delfouneso - England’s stand-out player yet again - went on a powerful, mazy dribble before putting Nouble through.

The West Ham striker was hesitant to shoot and drilled a low ball across goal that only Delfouneso was alert to, but it was too far wide for him to get the finish on target.

Pacheco and sub Ruben Rochina spurned good opportunities on the break, with Rochina also firing just over from distance late on.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 5 - 24 of 24

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  1. GRUTZ7POLE
    finally someone who understands the­ game.
    yes our problem always has been and I am­ guessing always will be this.
    big strong kids are­ chosen over talented smaller lighter players at a young­ age.
    who are the best players ever?
    maradona? pele?­ cruyff? law? hagi? daglish? platini?
    messi? xavi?­ iniesta?fabregas? NON OF THEM GIANTS
    big players have­ a place,but only as a goalkeeper,centre forward or­ centre half.

    From geordieprince1, on Wed 28 Jul 18:56

  2. stan the man
    Englands game against Spain in the­ Semi-Final shows the class between players who have had­ aproper
    introduction of what a soccer player has to­ have and needs to compete with countries in Europe and­ throughout
    the world............namely , the­ coordination on the ball with both feet and ability to­ pass,trap and kick with both
    feet............this sets­ a players ahead of any of his counterparts, then the­ intelligence to think quickly in a given
    situation of­ how to respond when in possession and when in a trio­ around the ball, to hold the ball and protect it
    until­ a pass is possible , pass and move to a new position,­ quickness of movement on and with a ball, keep the ball­ on the ground with subtle trapping of the ball to feet­ and guard the ball with body, one-touch or two-touch­ passes to quicken the movement forwards and­ backwards,.....................and there are lmore­ things to teach and learn.....................but the­ younger the players the better to get practising with­ the ball.
    Too much long-ball play is practised in this­ country and full-pitch games rather than games in a­ small area , 5,6 aand 7 aside to allow accuracy and­ movement , without composure and confidence Britsh­ players will lag
    behind their European­ opponents....................BIG AND STRONG is not­ always the answer look at Fabregas and
    Vela , I would­ rather have a team of ball players rather than 11 burly­ 6 ft plus booters running up and down.
    Vela.

    From grutz7pole, on Wed 28 Jul 16:52

  3. Getting to the semis for England is well done, but to­ go to the 'next level' it's the ability to­ cultivate pace and power and combine it with technique­ and skill. That has to start from very early on, U-19­ should already be the final product just needing the­ time and opportunity to play. England needs to rethink­ 'root and branch' and do it, not just give­ lipservice which is what all the FA just does so far­ ...

    From ispurs, on Wed 28 Jul 16:09

  4. always the bridesmaid ...never the bride

    From L.G.H.U., on Wed 28 Jul 16:01

  5. WHY CANT SOMEONE SOMEWHERE JUST SIMPLY SAY " I AM­ PROUD OF MY ENGLAND NATIONAL SIDE REACHING THE SEMI­ FINALS" WHY?

    From mark, on Wed 28 Jul 15:52

  6. annoying spain

    From The_great_Orson, on Wed 28 Jul 15:38

  7. Stop bashing England...they reached the semifinals and­ they were only defeated by 3 goals of exquisite­ quality...of which not even the vast majority of senior­ sides can't even dream of...

    From stavros h, on Wed 28 Jul 14:52

  8. ssssssttt...

    From Rusli, on Wed 28 Jul 14:39

  9. Just another example of why English clubs and youth­ organizations need to rethink their training and­ preparation regimen. It's no longer sufficient to­ be a quick and spirited footballer. Lads must also­ become technical and athletic, meaning to devote all­ parts of one's lift to the preparation: diet,­ sleep, cross training and weight training, etc.

    From staubreyz, on Wed 28 Jul 14:31

  10. Normal run of the mill!!! It's expected for england­ never to be able to cross the finishing line in any­ tournament, they are simply useless!

    From .!., on Wed 28 Jul 14:16

  11. After so many years with a team on top of the league,­ Mr Feg should show the results from youngsters that he­ was supposed to develop. In fact he will spend time­ doing every thing for Man Untd. We need managers who­ develop youngsters to represent the country. For­ other football nations, their young teams are doing­ better. France's senior team may be down,­ disorganized, their youngsters are still far better­ than the english counterparts. How did English team­ proceed to semi-final with 4 points?

    From Jack C, on Wed 28 Jul 8:50

  12. One of englands biggest problems is we aren't­ willing to give youngsters a chance, clearly delfoneuso­ is a quality player and considering how average aston­ villas strikers are he should be getting his chance,­ and nouble definately should, englands future looks­ better than it does at the moment, we have hart,­ dawson, cahill, huddlestone, lennon, milner, ashley­ young, abonglahor, rooney, adam johnson, and all sorts­ of other good players, and im sure many would agree­ that going forward many other countries cannot compete­ with this in terms of youngsters, so stop your worrying­ and get behind your team for once!!

    From graeme, on Wed 28 Jul 8:06

  13. Visca el Barca!!!

    From paulthahun, on Wed 28 Jul 7:53

  14. "cheating spanish t w a t s"

    From­ Rafascrackingup, on Tue 27 Jul 4:58PM

    This guy­ is my favourite poster....

    From stavros h, on Wed 28 Jul 6:42

  15. ENGLAND ARE EVEN LUCKY OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES LIKE­ SPAIN,GERMANY AND FRANCE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THAT­ BORING CRICKET GAME OTHERWISE ENGLAND WOULD NOT EVEN­ WIN ANY CRICKET HONOURS.THEIR EGO WONT LET THEM­ ACCEPT THEIR STYLE OF KICK AND RUN FOOTBALL IS­ PRIMITIVE AND WONT WIN THEM ANYTHING.ALWAYS FINDING­ SOMEONE TO BLAME FOR THEIR FOOTBALL FAILURE.EITHER­ BLAME ENGLAND MANAGER OR TOO MANY FOREIGN PLAYERS IN­ THE PL.SOME EVEN BLAME WENGER.

    From billionaire, on Wed 28 Jul 6:25

  16. Sir alex...sod the english national team.

    From David, on Wed 28 Jul 6:17
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    SIR ALEX~how many mancs r in that u21 spain side??­ PACHECO is the next torres

    From liverpool.rtu39, on Wed 28 Jul 5:41

  18. Rob from Gloucester

    I agree with lots of the messages­ tonight on the England U19's match with Spain. I­ cant speak enough about how good the Spanish youngsters­ are all ready & what they are going to be. Spain­ could dominate international footbal for years to come­ at this rate. British football & not just England­ need to sit up & take note of this. Coaching for­ young players nowhere good enough here. Kids as young­ as 6 playing matches instead of just working on ball­ skill. This is not good for the future of football in­ the UK. You all can see what the future is at­ international level, teams like Spain & Germany are­ showing the way. But we have a Premier league which is­ purely about MONEY!

    Rob from Gloucester.

    From ROBERT, on Wed 28 Jul 5:17

  19. And the Spanish triumph yet again and all the English­ can do is watch. Even if the English Premier League can­ arguably be labelled the best league in the­ world, how is this benefiting the English national team­ at any level? When's the last time the England­ senior team got to a final of major international­ tournament? 44 years ago. A semi final of a world cup?­ 20 years ago and for the Euro's? 14 years ago.­
    England 1 World Cup (1966),
    Spain 1 World Cup­ (2010)
    Spain 3 x Euro Finalist 2 x Winners
    England­ 0
    But at least England can brag about having the best­ league in the world (largely because of the­ foreign imports), despite continued failure on the­ international stage. At this rate I doubt England would­ of improved even for the world cup in 2026, still­ reminiscing about the glory of 1966.

    From Sir alex, on Wed 28 Jul 4:29

  20. France is gonna mess them up!france's u19 squad is­ very very strong !!!!!

    From ????????, on Wed 28 Jul 4:12
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