England played a very competitive in their opening game of the Under 17 European Championships against Italy

England 1 Italy 3 (half time 1-3)

England created the initial goal opportunities before Italy had their first shots on target, however Italy were the ones that found the back of the net first and scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the game. Our team had started the game nervously, which is normal considering we have the youngest team in the competition, with seven players in their first year at this level (born in 1994).

We called a time out to calm the team down a little and when we subsequently scored our goal it gave us the confidence we needed, although one defensive mistake cost us another goal, the team were still well organised on man to man restricted, pressuring the player with the ball and creating good counter attacks.

Our second half was the best I have witnessed from an England Under 17 team playing against one of the top three countries in the Europe, we controlled the game and gained more ball possession and created the best goal scoring opportunities.

No goals in the second half, however England did have a great chance to get a historic result as during the last 2 minutes we missed a direct free hit as we hit the post.

Our ball possession had improved in the second half and as a result Italy had to finish the game defending the result.

We were very competitive during this game and look forward to the next game against Switzerland tomorrow.

1-Peter Hunt
2-Sam Norton
3-William Smith
4-Kieran Brady
5-Nick Flint
6-Richard Claxton
7-Liam Conroy
8-Han Wei Lim (Cap)
9-Michael Carter
10-Reuben Alam

Goal scorer: Richard Claxton

Carlos Amaral