Portuguese striker sinks England again.

Portugal 2-0 England
The Algarve Tournament
3pm, Saturday 21 February 2009
Estadio Municipal de Albufeira.

Portuguese striker Filipe Barros came back to haunt the Young Lions for a second time this season, scoring twice to fire his country to victory in the opening game of the Algarve Tournament.

Barros netted twice back in August when the sides met at Rushden and Diamonds in the Nationwide Tournament and he was in sharp form again to punish John Peacock's team.

With the teams set to face each other for a third time in their European U17 Championship Elite Round Qualifiers in Hungary next month, the Young Lions will no doubt hope they can have the measure of their opposition next time.

It was a close and even start to the game in Albufeira though, with both teams enjoying possession before the hosts hit England with a pair of quickfire goals in two minutes through Barros.

England did look to get themselves back into the game, but the best they had to show for it in the first half was a shot from Thomas Ince, which went wide just after the half hour mark.

Peacock made changes at half time and substitute Lateef Elford-Alliyu was unlucky not to pull a goal back just four minutes into the second half when his shot came crashing back off the bar.

The Young Lions enjoyed more of the possession after the break, but just couldn't find a way through and with both teams making a string of substitutions, it was always going to be hard to maintain any sense of rhythm.

Elsewhere in the Algarve Tournament, France and Israel shared a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The Young Lions will play play France in their second game on Sunday afternoon.

The Teams

England: Sam Johnstone, Keanu Marsh-Brown, Tom Parkes (Eddie Oshodi, 70) Jose Baxter, Ryan Tunnicliffe (Emmanuel Frimpong, 60), Benik Afobe (Lateef Elford-Alliyu, 46), Jacob Walcott (Joe McCann, 56) Thomas Ince, Luke Freeman (Ahmad Benali, 46) Louis Laing, Ezekiel Fryers (Jamie Reckord, 56).

Substitutes not used: Jed Steer, Jamie Reckord, Joe McCann, Eddie Oshodi, Emmanuel Frimpong, Ahmad Benali, Lateef Elford-Alliyu.

Portugal: Joao Figueiredo, Joao Amorim, Ricardo Ferreira (Pedro Alexandre, 71) Miguel Serodio, Sergio Oliveira, Kabi (Tiago Romeira, 55), Ruben Pinto (Telmo Castanheira, 71) Filipe Barros (David Viana, 60) William Carvalho (Luis Gustavo, 55) Afonso Taira, Andre Dias.

Substitutes not used: Pedro Cavadas, Rui Coentrao, Luis Gustavo, Pedro Alexandre, David Viana, Telmo Castanheira, Tiago Romeira.