26 Aug 2007
VIDEO: England 3-0 Italy

In the final game of the International Tournament, England made light work of Italy at Kenilworth Road running out 3-0 winners.

England

3-0

Italy

Townsend 20, Donaldson 30, Stewart 50

U17 International Tournament 2007
3pm, 2 September 2007
Kennilworth Road, Luton Town FC

England U17 coach Noel Blake has hailed the efforts of his players after a convincing 3-0 victory over Italy at Luton’s Kenilworth Road on Sunday.

England acquitted themselves admirably in the three team tournament, thrashing Northern Ireland 6-1 before producing a spirited display to draw 1-1 with a well-drilled Turkish outfit.

And Blake saw many positives to take into the European Championship qualification fixtures next month.

“We played very good football in the main,” said Blake.

“This has served as excellent preparation for the qualifiers for the European U17 Championship starting next month.

“We dominated for long periods against Northern Ireland and Italy which I was particularly pleased with. The only disappointment was the first half against Turkey.

“I told the boys that we needed our work ethic to match our technical ability and I was pleased with how they turned things round in the second half.”

With the U17 World Cup taking place in South Korea Blake’s squad included a number of 16-year-olds, and their manager felt the experience of playing football at international will benefit them – and England – in the future.

“We have the ability to move the ball more quickly and when we do that we are a very good side,” Blake revealed.

“It's too early to talk about individual names and there is always room for improvement, which comes from preparation together.”

England: Rudd (Norwich City); Gordon (Leeds Utd), Solly (Charlton), James (Manchester Utd), Briggs (Fulham); Mellis (Chelsea), Norwood (Manchester Utd)(O’Neill, 68), McPike (Birmingham City), Stewart (Manchester Utd)(Ajose (Manchester Utd), 51); Townsend (Tottenham), Donaldson (Newcastle Utd) (Phillip (Chelsea, 59)

Subs not used: Bostock (Crystal Palace), Lyness (Birmningham City)

Coach: Noel Blake

Italy: Colombi (Roma); Albertazzi (Bologna), Caldirola (Inter Milan), Brosco (Roma), Rigione (Inter Milan); Perucchini (AC Milan), Gianbonato (Juventus)(Petrucci (Roma), 55), La Rocca (Juventus), Guitto (Empoli)(Terranova (Parma), 62); Santon (Inter Milan), Ragatzu (Cagliari)

Subs not used: Zaza (Atalanta), Vecchi (Parma), Galassi (Parma)

Referee: Mr K A Woolmer

Attendance: 3,272