Victor Moses scored twice to help England into the Semis - a win which also booked a World Cup berth.
England 4-2 Holland
UEFA U17 Championship Finals
Group B
Monday 7 May 2007
Tubizi, Belgium
There was double delight as England moved into the Semi-Finals of the European Championships after a thrilling 4-2 win over Holland - a result which confirmed their qualification at the World Championships in Korea.
Victor Moses was England's hero, scoring twice in a game which earned England top spot in Group B. Their reward is a clash with France in the last four.
After an early scare when Middlesbrough keeper Jason Steele spilled a regulation shot which took a nasty bobble in the opening 15 seconds, England were handed a glorious chance to take the lead in the eighth minute.
Manchester United midfielder Daniel Welbeck was fouled in the box by Anthony Bentham, but Arsenal forward Rhys Murphy could only watch as his penalty was saved by Sergio Padt, low to his left.
But the young Lions only had a minute to dwell on Murphy's miss as Henri Lansbury spectacularly fired them ahead, the Arsenal man half-volleying into the top-corner from 25 yards.
It was 2-0 after 15 minutes. England enjoyed success from a corner in their first game against Belgium and they repeated the dose to extend their lead. Nathan Porritt delivered a perfect dead ball which allowed Crystal Palace's Moses to head home.
Holland responded and only the excellence of Steele kept them at bay.
He showed assured handling to hold Luciano Narsingh's angled drive on 20 minutes but emulated that eight minutes later when he leapt to tip over Bentham's cross which appeared to be looping under the crossbar.
However, there was little Steele could do about Holland's first goal. After England had squandered possession, Bentham skipped down the line before centring to the unmarked Narsingh who turned it home at the near post.
Both sides traded chances towards the end of the half, with Moses firing wide from the edge of the box after some clever footwork, while at the other end, Georginio Wijnaldum lashed wildly over the bar.
England were caught cold just four minutes after the restart - but it was a goal of the highest class. Luis Pedro cantered towards goal before unleashing an unstoppable drive which arrowed into the top corner.
The young Lions were back in front ten minutes later, although there was an element of luck involved in Moses' second strike. Having shifted the ball on to his right foot, the Palace forward's drive from the edge of the box took a deflection off Timothy Van Der Meulen before looping over Padt.
England continued to press but without the necessary finesse in front of goal to kill off the Dutch and they had to wait until injury-time to ensure the win.
The unmarked Welbeck forced an excellent save from Padt, but the ball rebounded off the bar to Tristain Plummer who nodded into the empty net.
England: Steele (Middlesbrough), Ofori-Twumasi (Chelsea), Mattock (Leicester) (Woods, Chelsea, 41), Lansbury (Arsenal), Pearce (Birmingham City), Spence (West Ham), Welbeck (Manchester United), Rose (Leeds), Murphy (Arsenal) (Plummer, Bristol City, 41), Moses (Crystal Palace), Porritt (Middlesbrough) (Gosling 80).
Subs: Smithies (Huddersfield), Taiwo (Chelsea), Franks (Middlesbrough), Hoyte (Arsenal).
England Goals: Lansbury 9, Moses 15, 54, Plummer 80
Holland Goals: Narsingh 31, Petro 44