April 29 2002

England

Wayne Routledge and Garry Borrowdale have helped England progress to the second round of the U-17 European Championship finals.

England entered a first round group stage against Finland, Holland and hosts Denmark.

Their first game was against Finland on Saturday afternoon. They won 3-2 with Borrowdale having a hand the second goal. Wayne Routledge also played the full 90 minutes at the Gladsaxe stadium.

England had a great chance to progress through to the second round, after Holland and Denmark drew 4-4. They needed only one more win to do so and got that against Holland this afternoon.

The young lions ran out 2-0 victors with goals from Everton forward Wayne Rooney and Charlton midfielder Stacey Long.

First goal
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Second goal
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Routledge had several good runs on the right wing and had a hand in the second goal.

Good wing play by Routledge
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England coach Dick Bate was full of praise for his stars.

He said: "I thought it was a good all round performance. We defended well, kept the ball well and looked good going forward. It was a much improved performance from our first game.

"The boys are enjoying the experience of tournament football and are acquitting themselves well.

"The team I took to the semi-finals of last year’s UEFA Under-16 Championships was an extremely solid one, but this one seems to have a little more invention going forward.

"In terms of potential winners of the competition, I think the traditional powers like France and Spain will both be there at shake-up and Denmark, as the host nation, will also be a strong side."

England play their final match of the first round on Wednesday, May 1 against Denmark, kick off 5pm.