Oh boy! Lions sowing
RUSSIA next summer will be too soon but by the time of Qatar in 2022 the England side could be a combination of two teams of World Cup winners.
That prospect became a glorious reality after an extraordinary evening in Kolkata on Saturday.
Two-nil down, England’s Under17s responded in amazing fashion and that was even without a hat-trick from Rhian Brewster.
But from the eight goals which brought the Liverpool star the honour of being the tournament’s top scorer, perhaps it was his one strike here which proved the most crucial.
It came just before half-time, it brought England back into the game, and the second half will long be talked about.
Thus Steve Cooper’s team matched their Under-20 counterparts from the summer and the manager knows the standard is being set for the senior team to become the beneficiaries of this youth glory.
“We have a plan,” said Cooper. “We have been at St George’s Park for five years and all the national coaches are very close, we work in a similar way.
“The teams are expected to play in a certain way and, if it’s a good one, the more you practise it the better you become at it.
“The results have been fantastic but we are very much still in the infancy. It was magnificent to win but if we hadn’t it would still have been important. moment for the future of English football.”
A future which over the next five years towards the World Cup in Qatar could be special as the stars of 2017 take the next step.
ENGLAND U17S: