England 3 Italy 1: Under-20s seal England’s first World Cup final place since 1966 with Dominic Solanke double
Paul Simpson's side produce stunning second half fightback with goals from Dominic Solanke and Amedola Lookman sending them through to face Venezuela on Sunday
ENGLAND are into their first World Cup Final since 1966 after a stunning second half comeback against Italy set-up an historic clash with Venezuela.
Two goals form Dominic Solanke and a strike from Ademola Lookman fired the Under-20s from a goal down to a 3-1 victory over the Azzurri in South Korea.
Paul Simpson’s side could not have got off to a worse start in Jeonju as they fell behind inside two minutes.
Juventus youngster Riccardo Orsolini, who spent last season on loan at Ascoli, bagged his fifth goal of the tournament from the edge of the area to break the deadlock.
England cut a frustrated outfit for the rest of the half as they struggled to break through the resolute Italian backline.
But it was the introduction of Liverpool youngster Sheyi Ojo that changed the course of the game as the playmaker produced a super sub performance to help his side into the history books.
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He immediately went close twice to equalising following his introduction ten minutes after the restart.
And his magic dust spread amongst his team-mates as they began to pile the pressure on their opponents and beat them into submission.
Liverpool new-boy Solanke showed the Kop faithful exactly what they can expect of him as drew England level on 66 minutes – reacting quickest to slot home after the goalkeeper had pushed clear an Ojo cross.
It was another Merseyside-based player who then turned the scoreline on its head just over ten minutes later.
Ojo was the architect again as he weaved and crossed from the right and caused panic inside the Italian box.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin went up for the ball with a handful of defenders around him, but although he was unable to make a clear connection, it fell kindly for Everton’s Lookman to slam home from close-range.
The dream was back on and the Three Lions were determined not to let their hard work go to waste – and they ensured their deserved victory in style in the closing stages.
Solanke was the man again as he collected the ball in acres of space 30 yards out and let rip with a low drive that the goalkeeper could only palm into the net to spark wild celebrations.
No England side have ever reached the final of the U20 edition of this competition, but this group look bang on course to go one better than that lift the trophy for the first time.