John Peacock’s men defeated the Netherlands comprehensively in a penalty shootout in Malta to claim the country’s second title at this level in the last five years
England have won the Under-17 European Championship by beating Netherlands on penalties in Malta.
Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke gave John Peacock’s men the lead with an opportunistic strike on 25 minutes, but Jari Schuurman brought the Dutch level with a clinical volley five minutes before the break.
After a goalless second half the match went straight to penalties, with Dani van der Moot and Calvin Verdonk missing while Ryan Ledson, Taylor Moore, Callum Cooke and Jonjoe Kenny all converted for England.
The victory gives England their second European title at under-17 level, after a side boasting Ross Barkley, Connor Wickham, Josh McEachran and Andre Wisdom triumphed over Spain in Liechstenstein in 2010.
Wisdom and Wickham scored in that final, and English fans will be hoping several of the class of 2014 can go on to forge distinguished careers in the Premier League.
Fulham winger Patrick Roberts appears to have a particularly bright future, and it was his tormenting corner which caused the defensive scramble which ended with Solanke firing England in front.
It was the Chelsea man’s fourth goal of the tournament, ultimately tying him at the top of the tournament scoring charts with Schuurman in a month which also saw him net the winning goal in the Blues’ thrilling FA Youth Cup final win over a Roberts-inspired Fulham, and lift the trophy along with fellow England starlet Isaiah Brown.
Victory on penalties will be particularly satisfying for long-suffering England fans, who will hope it proves a good omen for the senior Three Lions squad when they begin their World Cup campaign in Brazil next month.
The result also brought a measure of revenge for Peacock’s men, who had earlier lost to Netherlands 2-0 in the group stage of the competition.
