Neil Dewsnip: 'We hope the football gods smile down on us'

Neil Dewsnip admits his side’s lack of a cutting edge may cost them as they wait to discover their FIFA Under-17s World Cup fate.

The England head coach saw his side dominate South Korea in their final group match on Friday evening, recording over 20 shots, but they failed to convert one as they were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw in Coquimbo on the west coast of Chile.

The result left the Young Lions in third place in the final standings with two points behind second placed Brazil and winners South Korea. They can now only advance to the last 16 if results in the other group matches go their way and they finish as one of the six best third-placed sides. 

Speaking to the media following the stalemate, Dewsnip said he hopes the “footballing gods smile down“ on him and his young charges.

“The first half was quite even and we didn’t play to our best, but second half I was very pleased. I felt we dominated, had lots of chances to score but unfortunately we didn’t.

“We were aware of the score in the other game, but that did not alter our own game plan of trying to win, which I think everyone will agree we tried very hard to do.

“We had over 20 chances in the game, which is incredibly high not to score at least one. My players and staff are all very disappointed that we couldn’t get the victory.

“Now our fate is in other people’s hands and we just hope that the footballing gods smile down on us.”

When quizzed about what his expectations were at the start of the competition, Dewsnip responded by saying he always expected Group B to provide a stiff test, but says the final standings have come down to fine margins.

“The World Cup at U17s level is very difficult to predict and past competitions show that the best teams can come from anywhere. So we were unsure of what our expectations were heading into the tournament, but what we did know was that we would have a very tough group,” he said.

“Brazil, South Korea and Guinea are very dangerous sides, and perhaps we had it most difficult playing the latter first.

“It hasn’t been a surprise how strong each side was, football around the world now is very strong everywhere and each game is difficult. The margins have been very fine in our group, we just haven’t scored enough goals.

“But we are not out of the competition yet, and if results go our way over the next 48 hours then there is still a chance we could get through.”