England's Steve Cooper, Angel Gomes and Tashan Oakley-Boothe react to U17 World Cup win over Mexico

Thursday 12 Oct 2017

Steve Cooper saw his Young Lions make it two wins from two in the U17 World Cup on Wednesday, with a 3-2 victory over Mexico.

The result means England have secured progress from the group stage, with goals from Rhian Brewster, Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho giving Cooper’s side a three-goal lead.

But Mexico provided a test late in the game, after a brace from Diego Lainez gave his side some hope of rescuing a point in Kolkata.

England saw off the late pressure though and now head into Saturday’s final group game against Iraq knowing that if they avoid defeat they will finish top of their group but they are already secure of second-spot and will be involved in next week’s knock-out stages.

Cooper is anticipating a tough test against Iraq though, with the AFC champions currently sat in second place in the group following a 3-0 win over Chile on Wednesday and a point against Mexico in their opening game.

Read the thoughts of the head coach below, along with Tashan Oakley-Boothe and Angel Gomes.

;

Steve Cooper

On performance and result

“I don’t think we should forget how good we were to go 3-0 up against really strong opposition in Mexico, so we're pleased about that.

“We played some outstanding football, were very dominant and I thought we were worthy of the scoreline.

“As for conceding two goals in the last 15-20 minutes, that can happen with young players and we will look at that and learn from it – everything we do is a learning opportunity.

“But we didn’t crumble, we didn’t concede the third and we didn’t lose our lead so we won the game and we’ve got six points from two games.

“We’re not going to lose sight of how we were in the first hour though, which was outstanding and how we want our England teams to play."

On substitutions

“I’m quite comfortable in playing all of the players in the squad and that’s all we were doing, managing energy levels and legs. It was tactical as well.

“It was warmer today, so to see us dominate for an hour and then see it out until the end, it’s all credit to the lads who showed a lot of heart and pride.

“Overall, we deserved the three points.

“I’m pleased with the performance, there’s no doubt about that."

On their time in India so far

“We’ve absolutely loved being in Kolkata, the support and the people aropund the training ground and the hotel.

“We’re going to do some community work on Thursday and it’s really important that the players give something back.

“We’ve come here and it’s important we show a little bit of respect and it’s important that we learn a bit about the part of the world that we’ve come to."

Tashan Oakley-Boothe

“There was no nervousness at the end, but we’ll work on the training pitch and watch the game back and go from there.

“It was a good team performance today but our next target is just to win the next game, which is Iraq.

“We just want the fans to keep going and cheering us on and hopefully we’ll be successful."

Angel Gomes

“I think I had a bit of an impact on the game and we coped well in tough conditions.

“As a team we stuck to the game plan and we’re happy to get the three points and move onto the next game which is Iraq.

“It’s up to the manager [to pick the team] and whatever he says, I agree on because we trust the manager and we know he’ll make the right decision.

“There’s a few similarities as to how [Manchester] United play and England play but when I’m here, we focus on our own identity and style and try to stick to that.

“The supporters are loud and they’ve been very good to us.”

By FA Staff

'Some outstanding football'