FIFA Under-20 World Cup: Ghanaian glut

GHA U20 4-0 ENG U20

England were last night demolished in their Under-20 World Cup Group D match against Ghana. It was their second game in the tournament, their first being a narrow 1-0 loss to Uruguay, meaning that the Young Lions must now beat Uzbekistan to have any hope of progressing to the Last 16 as one of the best 3rd-place teams.

The major problem with England’s performances at this tournament so far is that there were several top-quality players not picked for the squad. Young stars such as Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck, and Jack Rodwell have been taken out of consideration by their club managers in favor of them being on the bench or playing for the Reserve Team rather than gain experience in an international event. Even Theo Walcott would have been eligible. Football figureheads, such as Sepp Blatter, have slammed the decisions of Ferguson and Wenger among others.

In the match, the goals came from Dominic Adiyiah (twice), Andre Ayew, and Ransford Osei, with Brian Eastick’s charges barley getting a look in. It was a performance to be expected of Ghana, who play admirably in this sort of tournament, but not for an English team, at any level, and the management could soon regret being unable to bring some of our nation’s brightest stars to a competition that brought a real chance of glory.