Portugal 9 England 1 (Half Time 4-0)

The individual technique of the Portuguese players aligned to the more competitive play and speed are responsible for the result.

In the first half the team executed the man to man restricted very well and kept position, which made Portugal look for alternatives to attack the restrict, using more one to one solutions and scoring two goals from behind the goal. All four goals in the first half came from individual play. During the last five minutes the team, after a time out, regained the confidence and consistency that they have shown in the last three games.

During half time we spoke about bringing the ball a bit closer to Portugal’s goal rather than long shots. Also we made some corrections to our defence system to ensure Portugal could not get to the far post to finish as well as front shots.

The first ten minutes of the second half was probably the best performance so far from the England team. During this period the team was perfect in defence, explored counter attack , keeping the ball for as long as we could prior to the shot and we actually scored a goal and whilst not conceeding any. Although we rotated the players as much as we could, due to fatigue following the previous three hard games at the group stage, our team found it very hard to stop Portugal in the last five minutes and they scored five goals.

Goal Scorer

Will Smith

It was a great achievement to play in the semi finals of a European under 17 Championships and we appreciated Portugal’s gesture when they brought the English players into a joint celebration shout at the end of the game.

The team is looking forward to playing Italy for 3rd and 4th place.

Carlos Amaral