England Under 20s 1-2 Mexico: Duncan Watmore scores but hopes of reaching Toulon final ended with defeat

England beaten by Mexico 2-1 in Toulon tournament on Wednesday
Defeat means Aidy Boothroyd’s side can not reach the Toulon final
Sunderland striker Duncan Watmore gave England the lead
Goals from Marco Bueno and Martin Zuniga clinched win for Mexicans

Sam Cunningham for the Daily Mail

Published:
18:42 GMT, 3 June 2015

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Updated:
20:58 GMT, 3 June 2015

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England’s chances of making the Toulon Tournament final were cruelly extinguished as Mexico came from behind to beat them.

Martin Zuniga’s stunner from the edge of the box ended manager Aidy Boothroyd’s 10-game unbeaten run since he took charge of England Under 20s and crushed their chances of wining the competition. ‘They’re the fine lines,’ Boothroyd admitted afterwards.

The victory moved Mexico three points clear of England in their group with one game remaining meaning either the North American side or Morocco will top the table and head to Sunday’s final. Boothroyd’s boys are still able to finish second in their group with victory against China in their last match, but they paid a hefty price for missing a host of early chances.

Duncan Watmore races ahead to nod home past the Mexico goalkeeper to give England the lead

Mexico goalkeeper Gibran Lajud attempts to reach the ball but is beaten by the England forward

Sunderland striker Watmore (right) is congratulated by teammates after scoring for England against Mexico

MATCH FACTS

ENGLAND XI: Pickford, Iorfa (Wilson, 78), Hause, Stephens, Odubajo, Reed, Swift (Robinson, 62), Grimes, Watmore (Aarons, 62), Akpom, Gray (Baker, 62).

Scorer: Watmore, 15.

MEXICO XI: Lajud, Guzman, Lopez, Silva, Solorio, Espericueta, Cisneros, Escamilla, Hernandez, Bueno, Zuniga.

Scorer: Bueno, 44, Zuniga, 70.

‘That’s what happens,’ Boothroyd added. ‘You have to take those chances. There’s no point throwing teacups around, those days are over. We have a bit more thought about us now.’

The England team were caught out by an extra verse of the national anthem ahead of kick off — the players having a chuckle after shaking off only for it to start up again — but it was they who caught out the opposition with an early goal. And Duncan Watmore who caught out Mexico goalkeeper Manuel Lajud with his rapid pace.

Only 15 minutes were on the clock when Watmore sprinted to get on the end of a ball over the top by John Swift and bravely flung his head at the ball as Lajud raced to beat him to it. But Watmore got there first and nodded the ball past Lajud and in. It was the second goal of the tournament for Watmore, who had scored against Morocco the first time he had ever pulled on an England jersey in their opening match of the tournament.

Mexico’s Martin Zuniga celebrates after giving his side the lead against England with ten minutes remaining

Marco Bueno climbs above England’s Moses Odubajo to head the ball home for Mexico and level the scores

Bueno celebrates after equalising for Mexico against England just four minutes into the second half

England’s Jack Stephens leaves the field of play following the young Lions’ defeat to Mexico on Wednesday

England should already have been ahead after six minutes, when Chuba Akpom got in behind the Mexico defence and, with just the goalkeeper to beat, aimed for the bottom right corner only for Lajud to dive and push the ball away. Akpom, having scored in the first two matches of the tournament, came close again 20 minutes later. Swift found him with a deep cross from the left and the Arsenal striker took a touch before unleashing a half-volley which narrowly missed the right of goal.

Mexico’s best chance of the first half came from a long range effort in the 29th minute. Daniel Hernandez struck a left-foot shot from 25 yards and it flashed past the top left corner.

Martin Zuniga went for an audacious scissor kick shortly afterwards, finding himself with plenty of space in the box and the ball dropping kindly, but the effort was closer to the sprawling mountain ranges of Garlaban watching over proceedings in the distance than the goal.

England were, however, punished for missing those clearcut chances when Mexico equalised four minutes after the break. Daniel Hernandez crossed from the left and Marco Bueno headed in to beat Jordan Pickford via the crossbar.

England and Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom sees an effort on goal saved down low by Lajud

England’s Demarai Gray of Birmingham City controls the ball under pressure from Jonathan Espericueta

They should have been clear of Mexico by then, another good chance passing them by two minutes before the leveller as Demarai Gray passed into the box from the right, Swift hit a first-time shot on target which was saved and then Akpom was unable to force the ball over the line.

Just after the hour mark — with 20 minutes remaining of the shorter 40-minute halves — Boothroyd made three changes, taking off the goalscorer, Gray and Swift and throwing on Callum Robinson, Rolando Aarons and Lewis Baker.

The move was aimed at quashing the relentless, growing Mexico pressure, but it did not work and on 70 minutes Zuniga smashed in a second. The forward took one touch to steady himself on the edge of the box before leathering the ball into the right of goal aided by a slight deflection.

‘We’re here to be tested,’ Boothroyd said. ‘Although we went ahead and had chances to score more, we came up against a very good Mexico side. They were better than us. One or two of ours had an off day and you can’t do that against a side like this.

‘The plan all the way along was to go unbeaten and to win the tournament. That was set by the players. The next best thing is to come third now and that’s what we’ll try to do.

‘We’ve got hopefully two games left, if we come second. We’ve had a good run since I took charge, played some good teams — the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Germans to name three — we’ve had some really stern tests and managed to come through. This is just another one of those tests and we’ve got to make sure we finish strongly.’