As a result of Jarell Quansah’s heroics at the back for Liverpool, England has advanced to the U20 World Cup’s round of 16.
The Young Lions won the U19 Euros a year ago, securing their spot in the U20 World Cup in the process.
The majority of the team for this summer’s tournament in Argentina is made up of manager Ian Foster’s U19 team from 2022 because he moved up an age category.
One of the individuals selected for the World Cup is Quansah, a 20-year-old who has started each of England’s first three matches.
It was a simple for them to advance to the knockout stages after triumphs over Tunisia (1-0) and Uruguay (3-2) in their first two games.
But when England faced Iraq in their Group E finale on Sunday night, Foster kept the most of his starting lineup.
They may not have anticipated how difficult it would be, since the bottom-placed Iraq team held 43 percent of the ball and had 10 shots at goal, five of which were on target.
In the first half, Liam Delap’s penalty attempt was saved and Sam Edozie’s effort was disallowed for offside, but Teddy Sharman-Lowe, the replacement goalie, made a crucial save in the second half.
In extra time, there was a chance to clinch all three points, but Daniel Jebbison’s shot could only strike the bar.
The Young Lions were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw, but are through to the last 16 as winners of Group E – and will face Italy on Wednesday night.
Quansah is likely to start that tie again, having been central to England keeping two clean sheets from a possible three so far at the tournament.
It
is not only the centre-back who Liverpool will be keeping an eye on in Foster’s squad, of course, with midfielder Alex Scott a known target.
Scott, the 19-year-old Bristol City talent, started both of the wins over Tunisia and Uruguay, assisting Darko Gyabi’s eventual winner in the latter.
There will no doubt be other players of interest out in Argentina, too, with Cesare Casadei, the Italy and Chelsea midfielder who spent this season on loan at Reading, the current top scorer with four
