Weah to lead strong USA attack on English defence
MARGAO: England and the USA will face each other in their quarter-final match here on Saturday, aiming to enhance their reputation in an event they are yet to win despite a strong tradition of qualifying for global finals.
The United States’ best effort remains a fourth place in 1999.
England made their U-17 World Cup debut a decade ago, with this edition being the Young Lions’ fourth outing at this age level.
They reached the quarter-finals on debut in 2007, when they were beaten by Germany.
At Mexico 2011, the Germans once again dispatched their English counterparts. Last time, at Chile 2015, England failed to reach the knockout stages.
While the likes of Danny Welbeck, Raheem Sterling – who were part of the earlier squads -have graduated to the senior level and star striker Jadon Sancho has left for his club commitments in Borussia Dortmund, England still have the firepower to go further.
England will take some confidence from the fact that they finally broke the penalty shootout jinx, with goalkeeper Curtis Anderson pulling off a fine save when the pressure was intense against Japan.
They should be battle ready, having registered a hard-fought 5-3 win in the penalty shootout.
In the absence of Sancho, England struggled to open up the Japanese defence.
Angel Gomes, who replaced Sancho in the pre-quarters against Japan, along with Callum-Hudson Odoi and Philip Foden, need to show more creativity in the midfield.
The US attacking trio of skipper Josh Sargent, Tim Weah and Ayo Akinola is expected to pose problems to the England defence. Weah will be high on confidence, having scored a hattrick in the 5-0 drubbing of Paraguay.
The Americans are quick when it comes to attack and the English back four, comprising Timothy Eyoma, Joel Latibeaudiere, Marc Guehi and Jonathan Panzo will have to be alert.
England coach Steve Cooper said, “We have shown a lot of character to remain unbeaten so far, which shows our strength and quality.
“USA too have given good account of themselves to reach this stage and we are ready for them. Hopefully, we can do what we have done in the league stage, take the game to the opposition. We will not be underestimating anybody.”
His counterpart, John Hackworth, said, “We are playing for the first time against a European team in the World Cup. We have played England in the past three years and the match will be exciting.
“We are playing against a strong opponent who has been unbeaten so far, but we are ready to face them.”
We are playing against a strong opponent who has been unbeaten, but we are ready to face them. JOHN HACKWORTH, US coach