Reds Starlets Make Appearance in England Draw

With the England U17s starting their defence of their European Championship title this week, I thought it would be good to keep an eye out for the Reds players featuring in the tournament in Serbia. Yesterday afternoon, the Under 17s played out a 2-2 draw in a tightly contested match against France. Liverpool’s Brad Smith, Adam Morgan and Raheem Sterling were all in the squad to play against the French but only defender Smith started for John Peacock’s side.

After early danger from French number 10 Abdallah Yaisien, it was England who took the lead through Hallam Hope after tucking the ball home from a Alex Henshall cross shot which the French keeper got nowhere near. Considering the precocious talent of Raheem Sterling on the bench, wingers Henshall and Nathan Redmond must have some real ability to keep the young Red out of the side and both players were pretty lively during the match.

In a frantic first half, there were two more goals and before even the 15th minute mark, France were back level after Sebastien Haller scored with a smart volley past keeper Jordan Pickford after a pacey left wing cross was delivered into the box. Still, there were more opportunities for England to get back into the lead in the first half, and they duly did after a mix up in the French defence. Just for before the half hour mark, France’s vulnerable keeper Quentin Beunardeau was part of a defensive error which saw defender Adrien Tameze Aoutsa head the ball onto the keeper’s chest which then fell into the path of England midfielder Nick Powell who expertly finished with a lob.