Brewster puts kids in World Cup semi

LIVERPOOL’S Rhian Brewster scored a hat-trick as England breezed into the semi-finals of the Under-17s World Cup for the first time.

They face Germany or Brazil on Wednesday for a place in the final and left the pitch in Goa to fulsome praise from coach Steve Cooper.

‘The key to tonight’s success was the game plan,’ said Cooper, whose side are hoping to emulate the Under-20s, who won their World Cup in Korea earlier this year.

‘The boys were committed to it and delivered it. They played like men tonight.’

England’s ploy of coming racing out of the traps paid off. Manchester City’s Phil Foden won lavish praise from Pep Guardiola after an eye-catching pre-season debut against Manchester United, and he was influential here as England raced into a two-goal lead in 14 minutes.

His rasping shot was kept out by Justin Garces but Brewster was well- placed to smash the rebound high into the net. Three minutes Brewster darted between centre-backs James Sands and Chris Durkin to slide in his third goal of the tournament. England piled on the pressure in the second half and the win was assured when Brewster sped away to cross for Wolves’ Morgan Gibbs-White to crash in his first World Cup goal.

John Hackworth’s side gave themselves belated hope when Sargent scored, only the third conceded by England.

Dest was to turn villain, however, with a red-card tackle in added time, enabling Brewster to round off his and England’s perfect night.

Hackworth acknowledged England’s brisk opening was crucial to the outcome. ‘We got off to a bad start, and we were playing against, arguably, one of the best teams in the world,’ he said.

‘All credit to England, but I thought we kept battling well and I think their goalkeeper [Curtis Anderson] made some world-class saves. He was outstanding.’