England 2-2 Spain

UEFA Under 17 Championship, Group B
Sunday 11th May 2003
Vila Real
4.30pm kick off

A four-minute comeback shortly after half time against a silky Spain side, guided England into the last four of the UEFA Under-17 Championships in Portugal on Sunday afternoon.

After one win and a draw from their last two games, John Peacock's side were aware that a draw would secure their place in the semi-finals alongside the Spanish, whose two previous wins saw them top the Group B two points ahead of England.

However, qualification looked an extremely tough proposition after only 9 minutes when Xisco scored for Spain. From twenty yards, Cases lobbed David Martin in the England goal, only to see his effort strike the bar, but Xisco was first to react to the rebound and sent the ball into the net.

England's problems doubled on 27 minutes. Some neat work from Jurado on the edge of the box made space for a shot and his low drive evaded the dive of Martin and nestled into the corner of the net.

But this England side, who always look good when leading games, proved their quality and character in four second half minutes to tie the match a 2-2. John Peacock made two changes at the half, bringing on the attacking flair of Grant Leadbitter and Aaron Lennon, and they paid off, seen minutes later, England were back in it.

A deep ball hoisted into the box from Nathan Doyle put pressure on Spain's defence. Close range efforts from the ensuing scramble saw the bar, post and keeper's gloves employed on more then one occasion, before Martin Cranie's header goalward was helped on past Adan by skipper Steven Taylor.

In the 51st minute the young Lions were level and heading into the last four. A deep ball from the right was met by James Milner's downward head at the far post and wrong-footed Adan on its way in to the net.

The tournament hosts, Portugal, who maintained their 100% record with a 2-0 win over Hungary on Sunday, await England in that semi-final match in Viseu, as Group A winners, and England will have to be in a similar frame of mind as they were in their second forty against Spain to earn a place in next Sunday's final.

England: Martin, Ifil, Giddings, Huddlestone (Leadbitter 40), Cranie, S. Taylor, Morrison (Lennon 40), Bowditch, Doyle, Jarvis (A. Taylor 74), Milner

Spain: Adán, Ruz, Llorente, Sergio, Sisinio, Bergara, Jurado, Arzo, Cases, César, Xisco

Related Items:
England Under 17 Results