Lions looking for the win
Nicholas Veevers in Caen
Tuesday, 20 July, 2010
Noel Blake's team to take positive approach to Holland on Wednesday evening.
UEFA European U19 Championship
The Finals
Live on Eurosport
Noel Blake takes his team into their second game of the European U19 Championship Finals on Wednesday evening knowing that a victory could secure them a place in the semi-finals.
The Young Lions got off to a winning start in the competition courtesy of a 3-2 win against Austria on Sunday and they now know that a similar outcome against the Netherlands will be enough to take them into the last four.
Holland were beaten 4-1 by hosts France on Sunday, leaving them bottom of Group A on goal difference, so they go into the game knowing a result is necessary for them to stand a chance of staying in the competition.
So they will no doubt be keen to attack England and Blake is keen to fight fire with fire by going for the win himself.
“We’ll try to play the game and go for the win as we always do,” he said. “They lost their first game, so the onus is on them to try and get a victory more so than us, but if you start going into games looking to draw, it can give you a bit of a slap so our approach will be positive and we’ll try to win the game.
“We expect a very difficult game and it’s an old cliché but it’s a fact. We know they are a very, very good side. We played them in March and it was a very good game and we expect nothing different.”
When the two sides met in a friendly earlier this year in Waalwijk, Blake’s team were unfortunate not to come away with a win after Jacob Mellis scored early on only for the Dutch to snatch an equaliser through a Reece Brown own goal with only minutes to spare.
Of course that result means nothing now and after studying the Dutch performance from the weekend, Blake believes his players will have to be at their best to get the ideal result.
“I watched their game myself on the television and we’ve got the copy on DVD,” he explained.
“They were in the ascendancy in that game when the French went in front and there was two late goals which perhaps flattered France in the end.
“The French goalkeeper made a few good saves too, so we know what to expect from the Dutch.
“Their philosophy is always the same, so we’ve got to make sure that our minds are right and we approach the game in the right way for the full 90 minutes.”
Remember, the match will be shown live on British Eurosport, kicking off at 5pm BST.