The all-conquering England U20s may be more than 5,500 miles from home, but forward Dominic Solanke says doing the nation proud will be on his team-mates’ minds in Sunday’s World Cup final.
In two previous attempts to reach the U20 World Cup final England have fallen short.
But on Thursday Solanke scored twice as the current crop of Young Lions came from behind to beat Italy and set up a Sunday showdown in Suwon against Venezuela for the right to be crowned champions.
“It’s our time. Everyone will be rooting for us back home, so hopefully we can make them proud,” said Solanke, set to join Liverpool from Chelsea this summer.
“The determination we have is what drives us on. We know that even if we’re losing we can bring it back.
“The disappointment we had in the U19 Euros last year [losing in the semi-final], going out in that, we know that feeling, so we want to go and win this time.
“There have been no special words from the manager, he’s just told us to put this behind us and focus on the next game, as he always does.
“There’s one more game that we need to go and win and if we do it right we’ll be champions.
