Netherlands 1
Schuurman 40;
England 1
Solanke 25;

(England win 4-1 on penalties)

England have a history of failure in penalty shoot-outs but their young guns offered hope that the trend may be beginning to change.

With the score tied at 1-1 after Jari Schuurman had wiped out Dominic Solanke’s opener for England in yesterday’s UEFA Under-17 Championship final at Ta’ Qali, the issue was to be decided by penalties.

The English fans, as well as the thousands of children from local nurseries who clearly wanted the Young Lions to take the title, must have feared the worst when Swedish referee Andreas Ekberg blew the final whistle. They need not have worried though as the England youngsters showed nerves of steel from the spot.

Captain Ryan Ledson set the tone with an emphatic finish while the Dutch, who came into this final as slight favourites on the back of four consecutive wins, lost composure after Dani van der Moot had his initial penalty saved by goalkeeper Freddy Woodman.

Schuurman gave the Netherlands a glimmer of hope but all the pressure was on the Dutch after Taylor Moore and Callum Cooke scored to put England 3-1 up.

Dutch hearts and heads sank when Calvin Verdonk’s spot-kick rolled wide and their misery deepened when Jonjoe Kenny dispatched his shot past Yanick van Osch, sparking the celebrations as England were crowned Euro U-17 champions for the second time.

The game itself had been a fitting finale to a great tournament, impeccably organised by the Malta FA, as both teams set out to attack.

Some of the football was a joy to watch and Michel Platini, the UEFA president who had jetted to Malta hours before the final, must have been pleased to see that youth football is in such good health.

Balance prevailed for most of the match but England were worthy winners as they were the brighter side in the second half, again oozing determination and defiance after the Netherlands had equalised on the cusp of half-time.

England had taken to the field without their first-choice striker as Adam Armstrong was only certified fit to start on the bench after hurting his ankle in the 2-0 semi-final win over Portugal.

His place in England’s starting XI went to Joshua Onomah.

In Armstrong’s absence, the onus of fronting England’s 4-2-3-1 formation was handed to Solanke who was supported by Chelsea team-mate Isaiah Brown and Patrick Roberts, of Fulham.

Not surprisingly, Dutch coach Maarten Stekelenburg confirmed the same team that started the 5-0 mauling of Scotland in the semi-finals on Sunday.

The tactical strategy was in keeping with Dutch attacking traditions as Stekelenburg opted for 4-3-3 with the promising Steven Bergwijn the central figure in their mobile forward line.

Hardly two minutes had elapsed when Brown drifted infield but his effort was too central to unnerve Van Osch.

The next notable move came from Bilal Ould-Chikh whose run took him into English territory but his cross just eluded Segun Owobowale. The latter went close moments later, racing into the box but his drive was touched away by Woodman.

Just when it looked as though the Netherlands might take control, England served up a reminder of their own attacking potential.

Everton right-back Kenny strode forward before dragging a cross into the box. Onomah stretched himself to flick the ball goalwards but his attempt was repelled by Keziah Veendorp.

The two teams continued to trade chances. There was little between them but on 25 minutes England struck.

Roberts’s corner was deflected towards the edge of the box and Taylor Moore’s attempt at goal rolled into the path of Solanke who made no mistake to take his tally to four goals.

Netherlands were stung into action. Owobowale opened up the English defence but his cross was repelled by the unflappable Joseph Gomez, certainly one of the best defenders in the tournament.

But, the attacking qualities that marked the Dutch march to the final lit up the stadium just before half-time. Ould-Chikh set up Bergwijn whose exquisite chip released Schuurman who dispatched his shot past Woodman.

The goal coming just before half-time was a hammer blow for England but they started the second half on the front foot.

Solanke twisted and turned just outside the box before attempting a through-ball to Roberts who was anticipated by a defender.

At the other end, Bergwijn’s effort was blocked by Woodman. Van Osch did likewise from Onomah.

There was a scare for the Netherlands when England were awarded an indirect free-kick inside the box after Van Osch had collected a backpass.

The Dutch players formed a human barrier on the goal-line and they succeeded in keeping out Ryan Ledson’s drive.

England were in ascendancy. They lay into the Dutch with Brown and Solanke putting their strength and speed to good effect.

Roberts, who had been quiet so far, had a shot blocked by Hidde ter Avest.

It was not long before the highly-rated Fulham winger came to the fore. Retrieving possession deep in his team’s half, Roberts galloped forward before veering to the centre but his low pass to Solanke failed to go through.

Taylor Moore tested waters from the distance but his attempt was high.

At the other end, Gomez made a crucial intervention, tracking back quickly to stand in the way of Kenneth Paal’s strike after the Dutch substitute had profited from a deflection.

A minute from time, Kenny was first to Roberts’s corner but his header was high.

‘England, England’ chanted the fans as penalties loomed.

But the scoring chances at both ends of the pitch continued un-abated.

The Dutch broke on the counter, Donny van de Beek crossed for Van Der Moot who miscued his shot.

Roberts then had a grounder saved and, deep into stoppage time, Owobowale headed wide.

Netherlands
Y. Van Osch, H. Ter Avest, K. Veendorp, C. Verdonk, W. Verloo, D. Van de Beek, S. Bergwijn (47 M. Slabbekoorn), J. Schuurman, S. Owobowale, A. Nouri (58 K. Paal), B. Ould-Chikh (76 D. Van der Moot).

England
F. Woodman, J. Kenny, Tafari Moore, R. Ledson, J. Gomez, J. Onomah, D. Solanke, I. Brown, L. Cook (74 C. Cooke), Taylor Moore, P. Roberts.

Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Sweden).

Attendance: 9,422.

Penalty sequence
Ledson (E) scores 1-0; Van der Moot (N) saved 1-0; Taylor Moore (E) scores 2-0; Schuurman (N) scores 2-1; Cooke (E) scores 3-1; Verdonk (N) misses 3-1; Kenny (E) scores 4-1.

Aftermatch comments...

John Peacock (England coach)

“In my opinion the best team won today because we showed the better qualities for most of the 80 minutes of the match. We knew this was going to be a difficult encounter and that’s why we had also practised penalties regularly these couple of weeks.

“Also playing in front of this 9,000-plus crowd was not easy for the lads but they did great despite conceding a goal just before half-time which was a psychological knock back for us.

“But I’m glad with my boys’ strong reaction. They showed better composure and nerves, particularly in the penalty shoot-out.”

Maarten Stekelenburg (Netherlands coach)

“This upset is tough to fathom considering we won all our matches this season and the only one we did not succeed in winning, but we did not lose either, in the end cost us dearly.

“We also beat England here in Malta but that’s football. It’s really disappointing to lose this final and going down on penalties left a devastating effect on my players.

“However, we’re still proud of our boys and what they managed to achieve to reach this prestigious European final.”

Under-17 champions
2013-14 - England
2012-13 - Russia
2011-12 - Netherlands
2010-11 - Netherlands
2009-10 - England
2008-09 - Germany
2007-08 - Spain
2006-07 - Spain
2005-06 - Russia
2004-05 - Turkey
2003-04 - France
2002-03 - Portugal
2001-02 - Switzerland

Finals top scorers
Schuurman (Netherlands) - 4
Solanke (England) - 4
Aktay (Turkey) - 3
Bergwijn (Netherlands) - 3
Roberts (England) - 3
Verdonk (Netherlands) - 3