Malta defender Daniel Buckle (left) tries to stop England midfielder Joshua Onomah from advancing at the National Stadium on Friday. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Malta Under-17 coach Sergio Soldano was pleased with his side’s tenacious performance in the opening-day defeat to England but has called on his players to eradicate the costly mistakes when they take on the Netherlands in their second Group A game this afternoon at the Gozo Stadium (kick-off 3.15pm).

The home team showed admir-able commitment during Friday’s game but England, under the guidance of long-serving coach John Peacock, made their technical and physical superiority count as they coasted to a 3-0 win with Patrick Roberts, Fulham’s exciting winger, scoring a brace.

While England justified their billing as one of the top favourites to win the tournament, the Netherlands also impressed as they overpowered Turkey with a three-goal surge in the second half after they had fallen behind.

“We surely can’t relax just because we have played our opening game against England,” Soldano told Times of Malta.

“We must head into our next match with the same mindset as anything less would ruin this phase of the tournament.

“The game against the Netherlands will be tougher than England. We need to repeat the good things we did in the first match and play with the heart and mind.

“The players had a rest day after the England game as that was the right thing to do, but we can’t allow our rhythm to drop.

“We are working hard to make sure that the boys maintain their concentration.”

Roberts, who is reportedly coveted by top English clubs like Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, posed endless problems to Malta with his intelligent and swift incursions on the right wing.

Soldano knows that his players must defend and track back quicker on the flanks as the Dutch are also dangerous on the wings.

“We have to cover better on the wings,” Soldano said. “The Dutch are also very strong in that sector.

“We are also working on another flaw... we can’t allow our opponents time and space to shoot at goal as we did against England.

“Also, we must avoid this frenzy when we have the ball.”

Hibs winger Joseph Mbong, who was struck down by a stomach bug on Friday, is expected to recover for this afternoon’s game.

Although the Netherlands’ vibrant performance in the second half of their opening 3-2 win over Turkey drew praise from critics and neutrals, Soldano thinks that England are the stronger team.

“England are strong in all departments,” Soldano said.

“From what I’ve seen so far, Turkey are close to England in terms of compactness but the Dutch have a lot of flair and good individual players.”

England will seal their place in next Sunday’s semi-finals if they beat Turkey in today’s opening Group A match at the Gozo Stadium.

In Group B, Switzerland, who held Germany to a one-all draw in their opening game on Friday, meet Portugal, 2-0 winners over Scotland who face the Germans in the second match at the Hibs Stadium.

Results and fixtures

Group A

Group B

Semi-finals

Finals