Joeys outclassed by England

From the start of the match the English team applied plenty of pressure to the Joeys with a pressing, high tempo game which gave it the early control.

England eventually took the lead in the 33rd minute when Matthias Fanimo, struck a left foot shot from the edge of box, sending the ball neatly inside the left-hand post.

Two minutes later England doubled its lead after Joeys goalkeeper Lachlan Tibbles cleared an English free kick from just outside the box, but unfortunately the ball landed in possession of Courtney Meppen Walters whose resulting shot found the back of the net.

England increased its lead again early in the second half after a fine solo effort from Raheem Sterling.

Sterling dribbled the ball nearly the length of the field and then calmly slotted his one-on-one opportunity with Tibbles into the bottom right corner of the goal.

The Joeys lifted midway through the second half to control some passages of play and had a number of shots on goal, but was not able to break England down sufficiently to get back into the game.

England completed its scoring in additional time when Nick Powell placed his perfectly weighted free-kick in the top right corner of the goal giving Tibbles no chance of saving.

After the match, Joeys Head Coach Jan Versleijen admitted that his team was not as competitive as its previous effort against Portugal, but recognised that the lessons learnt from playing high quality opposition would be beneficial in the long-term.

"The level of this game was too high for us and it was evident that these (England) players play at a higher level week in, week out," said Versleijen.

"This was the first time our players have faced a team as good as this in a match situation and it was evident that we were playing a very high quality opponent.

"The players will learn a great deal from playing a match like this," concluded Versleijen.

In the other match of the tournament, Turkey defeated Portugal 3-2.

The Joeys face Turkey in its final match of the tournament on Sunday 29 August.

The Joeys are using the FA Men's U17 International Tournament as part of its preparation for the upcoming AFC U-16 Championship 2010 which will be played in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 24 October - 7 November 2010.