Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
England are in a World Cup final for the first time since 1966, admittedly it may not be the full senior team but that should not take anything away from the efforts of this incredibly promising Under 20 side. Victory over Italy this afternoon means that they will go head to head with South American side Venezuela in the Final.
Without wanting to get ahead of ourselves and doing England’s opposition a disservice the Venezuelans are relative South American minnows and in addition to that they have also had to deal with Extra Time and Penalties in their semi final win over Uruguay which took place earlier in the day.
With that in mind this England side will certainly go into the game fresher than their opponents and will look to complete what has been an incredible run of progress in this tournament. Although that said they did get off to the worst possible start in their Semi Final against Italy.
This young Italian side managed to draw first blood after just 2 minutes when Juventus winger Riccardo Orsolini slotted home from inside the area. This was now going to be a test of just how much resolved these young lions had at their disposal.
But without wanting to spout a cliche it was as if the Italians scored almost a bit too early (evoking the spirit of Andy Townsend there) as England were more dominant after the break and went up through the gears as their Italian counterparts began to falter.
Man of the moment Domnic Solanke leveled for England after cooling slotty home from nine yards and there would be a Merseyside connection as Everton’s Ademola Lookman gave England a deserved lead with quarter an hour to go. With Italy faltering, England turned the screw and the new Liverpool Solanke added a second late on to wrap up a victory and secure a final berth for Paul Simpson’s team.
The final takes place on Sunday (Midday kickoff UK time)
Here is all you need to know from the historic Semi Final
