England

v

Portugal

 

 

UEFA Under 17 Championship
Group B
6 May 2004 3pm kick off (2pm BST)
Vallée du Cher, Tours

Following the 2-0 victory over Ukraine in the tournament's opening game, Portugal are next on the list for England. The match also gives coach John Peacock and midfielder Nathan Doyle a chance to avenge last year's semi-final defeat, for it was the Portuguese who knocked us out on penalties.

Goals from Ipswich Town's Dean Bowditch and Leeds winger James Milner looked set to give England a two-one win in front of a large Portuguese support in Viseu, but a last minute equaliser set-up penalties in which Derby youngster Doyle, who was playing up a year, saw his saved by Felgueiras.

Portugal went on to win 3-2 and lift the trophy against a strong Spanish side, but twelve months on, the Young Lions have another bite at the cherry.

A win for Peacock's side this afternoon would virtually assure a place in the semi-final and mean that Portugal would be relying on other results in the final round of games on Saturday.  However, despite leading Group B, Peacock is taking nothing for granted against a team who England drew 0-0 with in the Algarve Tournament in February.

"At youth level, Portugal are always very strong, and proved that last year by winning this tournament," said Peacock.

"But in our last meeting three months ago I think we had the better of the game, despite it finishing goalless."

He added: "Combine that with our win against the Ukraine on Tuesday and we're confident that, if we play as we know we are capable, we can get something from today."

England play their final group game in Blois against Austria on Saturday and a top-two finish would send England into the semi-final next Wednesday. The final follows on Saturday 15 May.


England's Starting Eleven

Ben Alnwick - Sunderland FC
Richard Stearman - Leicester City FC
Nathan Ashton - Charlton Athletic FC
Mark Noble (c) - West Ham United FC
David Wheater - Middlesbrough FC
Billy Jones - Crewe Alexandra FC
Chris James - Fulham FC
Nathan Doyle - Derby County FC
Shane Paul - Aston Villa FC
Fraizer Campbell - Manchester United FC
Kyel Reid - West Ham United FC

Subs:
Ben Parker - Leeds United FC
Mark Davies - Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
Joe Lewis - Norwich City FC
Levi Porter - Leicester City FC
Gary Roberts - Crewe Alexandra FC
James Walker - Charlton Athletic FC
Simon Walton - Leeds United FC

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