England U17s began the Algarve Tournament with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of hosts Portugal.
The Young Lions, playing the first of three games at the annual competition, found themselves behind midway through the first half as Benfica’s Goncalo Gomes opened the scoring after 24 minutes before doubling Portugal’s advantage on the stroke of half time.
That was how it remained until the final ten minutes when Umaro Embalo made it 3-0 in the 70th minute and Enrique Jocu rounded the scoring off with a fourth goal five minutes later.
Steve Cooper’s side, currently preparing for May’s Euro Finals on home soil, will be in action next on Sunday when they play Germany.
England: 1 Arthur Okonkwo (Arsenal), 2 Vontae Daley Campbell (Arsenal), 3 Clinton Mola (Chelsea), 4 Thomas Doyle (Manchester City) (C), 5 Ajibola Alese (West Ham United), 6 Luis Binks (Tottenham Hotspur), 7 Xavier Amaechi (Arsenal), 8 Faustino Anjorin (Chelsea), 9 Tyreece John-Jules (Arsenal), 10 Trae Coyle (Arsenal) 11 Rayhaan Tulloch (West Bromwich Albion)
Substitutes: 20 Matt Daly (Huddersfield Town) for Anjorin 59, 15 Mason Greenwood (Manchester United) for Coyle 69, 17 Bobby Duncan (Unattached) for John-Jules 69, 19 Jack Nolan (Reading) for Tulloch 69
Substitutes not used: 12 Dylan Crowe (Ipswich Town), 13 Luca Ashby Hammond (Fulham), 14 Buakyo Saka (Arsenal), 16 Jimmy Garner (Manchester United), 18 Arvin Appiah (Nottingham Forest), 22 Marcus Dewhurst (Sheffield United)
Head coach: Steve Cooper
