March 22 2013

Wilfried Zaha

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha scored his first goal for England U21s last night in a 3-0 victory over Romania.

Zaha was playing as lone striker and capped a fine performance with a goal in the first half.

The 20-year-old received a pass from Raheem Sterling and made a jinking run past a few defenders, and curled a shot into the far corner, giving the Romanian keeper no chance.

Jack Robinson and Nathan Delfouneso also scored to make it a comfortable 3-0 victory.

Zaha said: "I've wanted that for a while. I did the hard work, made the runs and I'm happy it paid off.

"Goals-wise I'm not the most prolific striker, so I'm glad to get on the score sheet. It's been a good week so I'm happy to get man of the match as well.

"We're bonding as well, we understand each other and it's a very enjoyable experience."

U21 coach Brian Eastick was full of praise for Zaha: "He plays wide for Crystal Palace and it is slightly different role we are asking him to do.

"Obviously in terms of international football, you need that flexibility. We don't want to be too mechanic, too robotic when we have possession of the ball.

"Having someone like Wilfried helps as he can play wide and he showed tonight can be really effective in those forward areas."

See Zaha's goal and amazing skill in the second half.