England U20s battled to a well-earned draw against an efficient Switzerland side on Monday evening.
Kaylen Hinds, of Wolfsburg, came as close to anyone to breaking the deadlock early in the second half when, after Jay DaSilva’s brilliant dribble, he shot against the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.
But following last Thursday’s 3-0 win over Holland at Telford, England were unable to maintain their winning run under Keith Downing’s leadership which, across two age groups, had reached nine games.
With nine changes from the side that defeated the Netherlands last Thursday, there were also only two survivors from the starting line-up Downing named when beating Portugal in Georgia in July to win the U19s Euros.
And England had the better of the opening quarter with Keinan Davis, one of three Aston Villa players starting, seeing his shot saved.
However, Switzerland came back into the game and shortly before half time Janjicic Vasilije and then Manzambi Neftali both shot into Aaron Ramsdale’s side-netting.
England (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (Bournemouth), James Justin (Luton), Lloyd Kelly (Bristol City), Easah Suliman (Aston Villa), Jay DaSilva (Charlton, on loan from Chelsea), Ronaldo Vieira (Leeds), Josh DaSilva (Arsenal), Jacob Maddox (Chelsea), Kaylen Hinds (Wolfsburg), Andre Green (Villa) – Davis (Villa).
Substitutes: Isaac Buckley-Ricketts (FC Twente, loan from Manchester City) for Maddox 62, Chris Willock (Benfica) for Green 62, Demeaco Duhaney (Manchester City) for Justin 62, Sam Field (West Bromwich Albion) for Josh DaSilva 75, Tayo Edun (Fulham) for Vieira 75, Marcus Edwards (Tottenham Hotspur) for Hinds 76
Subs not used: Nathan Trott (West Ham), Darnell Johnson (Leicester)
Head coach: Keith Downing
Switzerland (4-2-3-1): Racioppi (Lyon) – Elia (FC Thun), Julian (Winterthur) (sub: Yves (FC Basel), 29), Cedric (Grasshoppers), Linus (FC Neuchatel Xamax) – Mats (FC Aarau), Charles (Grasshoppers) – Neftali (FC Basel), Roberto (Grasshoppers), Dereck (FC Basel) – Vasilije (Hamburger).
Substitutes: Philipp (RB Leipzig), Sadik (Grasshoppers), Tobias (Winterthur), Robin (Winterthur), Fabian (FC Zurich), Boris (St Gallen), Pedro (Young Boys). Booked: Cedric.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
