UNDER 20 BID FOR REVENGE ON ITALY

ENGLAND believe they ‘owe Italy one’ when they meet in the semi-finals of the Under 20 World Cup in South Korea today. Tottenham right back Kyle Walker-Peters, along with many of his team-mates, suffered heartache when they lost 2-1 to the Italians at the same stage of last year’s Under 19 European Championship. Now they are aiming to take revenge in Jeonju. ‘We played them in the semi-final of the U19 Euros and they knocked us out,’ said 20-year-old Walker-Peters. ‘We’re confident, though. Having experience against Italy helps and we’ve played them a few times so we know their style and what they’re all about. ‘But not only that, we owe them one after last year, so everyone’s going into it with something in their head after what they did to us at the Euros.’ Meanwhile, almost 6,000 miles away in France, another version of England’s Young Lions are in another semi-final — in the Toulon Tournament, where they face Scotland’s Under 20s today in Fos-sur-Mer. The two competitions are taking place at the same time, though the more recognisable names are in South Korea. Paul Simpson’s side at the World Cup are formed of talents drawn mainly from leading Premier League academies. They topped their group ahead of Argentina, South Korea and Guinea, then eliminated Costa Rica and Mexico to set up this meeting with Italy. Walker-Peters added: ‘The mood in the camp is good, all the boys are buzzing. We know we’ve got a massive chance to make history.’ The last time England reached the last four of this competition was 1993, when a team including Nicky Butt and David Unsworth ended up with bronze. England are set for a busy summer, with Aidy Boothroyd also preparing England’s team for the Under 21 European Championship in Poland, which starts a week tomorrow.