England U21 v Portugal U21

England Under 21 Starting Eleven

Hart
Cranie, Steven Taylor, Mancienne, Andrew Taylor
Huddlestone, Muamba, Noble, Milner
Adam Johnson, Agbonlahor

Substitutes: Heaton, O'Hara, Stearman, Cattermole, Lennon, Kightly, Campbell.

Substitutes Used: England left it reasonably late to start making changes here. In the 55th minute a change was forced as Cattermole was brought on to show Stuart Pearce what he's got; he replaced the injured Muamba and instantly started making an impact. In the 76th minute Fraizer Campbell was brought on to replace Agbonlahor and then in the 86th minute of the match the third and final change came as Kightly was brought on to the field in place of Adam Johnson.

Portugal Under 21 Starting Eleven

Rui Patricio
Bruno Pereirinha, Vasco Fernandes, Nuno Andre, Goncalo Brandao
Fernandes, Veloso, Paulo Machado, Vieirinha
Vaz Te, Bruno Gama

Substitutes: Ricardo Batista, Helder Barbosa, Miguel Lopes, Daniel Carrico, Stelvio Cruz, Candeias, Joao Moreira.

Substitutes Used: A half-time substitution marked the first tactical change for Portugal as Joao Moreira came on to replace Bruno Gama. The second Portugal change came in the 59th minute as Candeias came on for Vieirinha, and twelve minutes later in the 71st minute Stelvio Cruz replaced Paulo Machado.

Always I was expecting an England win from this game; I did consider that Portugal may cause a slight threat, without Nani in the side however they're a lot less effective and their forward force is therefore incredibly restricted. No one in the Portugal team ever looked likely of scoring here and the majority of the possession went very much England's way. This is an Under 21 team that plays with a lot of confidence; the England Under-21 team is nothing like the full national squad, this is a team that plays with a lot of belief and an incredible amount of passion also. Joe Hart is excellent in goal, the back four hold strong, and with Gabriel Agbonlahor up front chances are always going to be created. A lot of balls were played up towards Agbonlahor in this game, occasionally he found himself to be offside but many times he was away and running happily with the ball. Milner also was allowed to see a lot of the ball on the wing, he played some fantastic balls into the box and had a brilliant match also.

It was no surprise when James Milner comfortably slotted home a penalty, he played well throughout the match and more than deserved this goal he scored in the 44th minute of the match. Just before half time this was exactly what he needed, he kept his composure and easily hit the ball home to send England into the lead. Portugal could have taken the lead earlier were it not for a fine save from the hand of Joe Hart, it wasn't to be for Portugal however and as the half-time whistle came they found themselves to be 1-0 down. It was a fairly even 45 minutes of football; England were the liveliest though and good value for their lead.

As the second half rolled into action confidence was clearly high in the England camp, the team was playing with plenty of belief and creating many more chances. Agbonglahor was still central to the success of England and his work-rate was simply magnificent. In the 56th minute a slight disaster hit for England however in that Muamba had to leave the field through injury. He could barely walk and Cattermole was therefore called into action to take his place. Cattermole did the position proud and having played an excellent half will definitely be a Stuart Pearce consideration for the next Under-21 game that England must play.

In the 63rd minute Agbonglahor secured the victory for England when his pace found him in acres of space ahead of the back four for the umpteenth time of the game and he was able to run from roughly the halfway line right to the goal mouth and slide it past Portugal's Rui Patricio. The ball took a slight deflection off the hand of Rui Patricio, it found its way nicely into the back of the net however and Agbonglahor was quickly off to celebrate. England now led the game 2-0 and it looked as though there was no way back for the Portuguese Under 21s. Portugal's Under 21 team aren't bad, not as great as the senior squad however and certainly lacking in the talent of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fraizer Campbell could and perhaps should have made it three when he came on towards the end, he didn't quite manage it however and despite a decent 25 minutes of action the Tottenham Hotspur man didn't manage to get himself on the scoresheet. The game finished 2-0, England Under-21s are through to the 2009 European Under-21 Championship play-offs, and I'm sure that they shall be very pleased with their achievements here at the Wembley Stadium.

Full credit to all 28 players that played in this game, it was a decent match of football and England ultimately finished the game as winners. It wasn't always a completely clear cut game, had England not scored their penalty just before half-time then it could have been a completely different story; the penalty was scored however and Portugal now look to be going crashing out of the tournament. Were they to qualify then it was thought that Nani would be able to come back into the team and add further strength to the Portuguese Under 21s, it's probably not to be for them now however and unless three of four results go their way in the next set of games then Portugal will be out of the tournament. It's quite similar to the situation that England found themselves in during qualification for Euro 2008; ultimately all the results went England's way in the end however and they still managed to blow it with a defeat against Croatia... I'm sure Portugal won't be so likely to screw it up with the results do go their way however and I wish this Portugal Under-21 team all the best of luck with their qualification process. England full team aren't always particularly worth watching in their matches, this England Under-21 team is a lot more entertaining to watch however and I'm very proud to have watched this game and witnessed the England win.

Final Score: England Under-21s 2 - 0 Portugal Under-21s

Date: 05/09/08
Home Team: England
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Booked: Muamba, Taylor, Paulo Machado, Cattermole.
Goals: Milner 44', Agbonlahor 63'.
Attendance: 20 000