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England emerged as the FIFA U17 World Cup 2017 champions defeating Spain 5-2 in Kolkata. England defeated Spain by a scoreline which no one had even imagined in their wildest dreams.
The game began on a bright note and it ended with even more flavour especially English flavour. This final will be remembered for ages to come, by both Spain and England but for different reasons. While England will remember it for being their first FIFA U17 World Cup title, Spain will remember it for the drubbing they were handed by England in one of the biggest football stadiums in Asia. Having a healthy lead and not being able to close the game down, Spain will only have themselves to blame for this defeat.
Let's take a look at the main 5 talking points from this game:
#1 England’s revenge complete, and a comeback to remember for the ages
England had an angle of revenge on their mind when they took the field against Spain, the team to which they lost in the UEFA U17 Championship this year. Spain have constantly been a thorn for this bunch of English players and they will be in seven heavens for getting past La Rojita in the biggest stage of football in the U17 age category.
The victory will be even sweeter for England because they won the game coming back from being behind. England were down 2-0 and reduced the margin to 2-1 before halftime. The way they turned around the game after halftime deserves special mention and praise. Very few teams in the world have been able to overcome a two-goal deficit by scoring five goals. This comeback by England will be talked about for ages to come.
#2 Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi: English wing play demolishes the Spain's soft defence
The two English wingers, right from the first minute, started causing trouble for the Spanish defence. England could have gone ahead in the first minute itself had the Spanish keeper Alvaro Fernandez not pulled off a dramatic save.
Foden scored two goals on the night and showed his class and justified his selection as the Golden Ball winner with his performance today and all throughout the tournament. Callum Hudson-Odoi deserves special praise too for his attacking and defensive duties, the way he tracked back to check Ferran Torres was really praiseworthy. The two English wingers were the main craftsman of the spirited English comeback.
#3 With a pure team effort, England showed they are more than just Sancho
When England arrived in Kolkata they were billed as the favourites, but one thing which the pundits said to go against them was Jadon Sancho's absence. But England overcame a major drawback with style and flair.
They showed that this team doesn’t depend on one player and play a collective brand of football, which is a treat to watch. They also showed that England’s not-so-recent shake-up to change the whole youth development program is bearing fruit with English teams winning trophies which has been a rare incident in international football until now.
#4 Mohamed Moukhliss' miss and other gilt-edged missed chances Spain will rue
Spain were leading 1-0 when midfielder Mohamed Moukhliss had a free run at goal but took too long to pull the trigger by when England 'keeper Curtis Anderson came off the line to make a brave save.
Cesar Gelabert was in line with Moukhliss but instead of passing to his Real Madrid teammate, he thought of going for glory only to make a hash of things. Spain did extend the lead a few minutes later and had the scoreline been 3-0 at that moment instead of 2-0 we could have had different team dancing with the trophy at the moment. Spain ultimately fell prey to their major flaw which has been their finishing. They created a lot of chances but their conversion rate was poor and that has ultimately led them to lose the world cup.
#5 Kolkata factor works wonders for England
England played their sixth game in Kolkata today and won their sixth game at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. They overcame teams like Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Japan at this ground and the weather and facilities in Kolkata seem to have been a lucky charm for England.
Spain played their first game here in Kolkata today, and maybe the change in cities and the hostile crowd and the humongous stadium had an effect on the players and it showed in their performance especially after Brewster scored the first goal for England which had the crowd cheering wildly for England.
Spain seemed to choke on the big occasion, making silly mistakes in midfield and losing the ball very easily which helped England turn defence into attack and score those five goals.
