Dominic Solanke believes a confident England have what it takes to
win the Under-20 World Cup and follow in the famous footsteps of the
heroes of 1966.
Paul Simpson’s side came from behind to beat Italy 3-1 in Thursday’s semifinal to set up Sunday’s showdown with Venezuela in Suwon, South Korea.
They are the first England side to reach a world final since Bobby Moore lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley 51 years ago, but Solanke feels he and his teammates can bring the silverware home.
“It’s our time,” Solanke, who is set to join Liverpool from Chelsea on July 1, said. “Everyone will be rooting for us back home so hopefully we can make them proud.
“The determination we have is what drives us on. We know that even if we’re losing we can bring it back. The disappointment we had in the U19 Euros last year [losing in the semifinal], we know that feeling, so we want to go and win this time.
“There have been no special words from the manager, he’s just told us to focus on the next game, as he always does. There’s one more game that we need to go and win and if we do it right we’ll be champions.
“We’ve seen some of Venezuela’s games and we know what a good team they are. It’s down to the last two now, so you’re never going to have an easy final.”
Solanke’s double against Italy took his tally for the tournament to four, one behind Italy’s Riccardo Orsolini in the battle for the Golden Shoe.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero are among the accolade’s former winners, but Solanke insists a team triumph comes before individual honours.
“I haven’t thought about being the top goal scorer, I’ve just been focusing on winning. But that would be a really good achievement for me and I would love to do that,” he added.
“After that win over Italy we’re all confident we can now go on and win on Sunday. We went 1-0 down early on, but we kept going and to get the 3-1 win showed that we are ready for anything.
“We were calm at half-time. We knew we had had a good amount of possession and that the game wasn’t over, despite being 1-0 down. We knew that if we carried on playing the way we were we would get chances.”
Paul Simpson’s side came from behind to beat Italy 3-1 in Thursday’s semifinal to set up Sunday’s showdown with Venezuela in Suwon, South Korea.
They are the first England side to reach a world final since Bobby Moore lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley 51 years ago, but Solanke feels he and his teammates can bring the silverware home.
“It’s our time,” Solanke, who is set to join Liverpool from Chelsea on July 1, said. “Everyone will be rooting for us back home so hopefully we can make them proud.
“The determination we have is what drives us on. We know that even if we’re losing we can bring it back. The disappointment we had in the U19 Euros last year [losing in the semifinal], we know that feeling, so we want to go and win this time.
“There have been no special words from the manager, he’s just told us to focus on the next game, as he always does. There’s one more game that we need to go and win and if we do it right we’ll be champions.
“We’ve seen some of Venezuela’s games and we know what a good team they are. It’s down to the last two now, so you’re never going to have an easy final.”
Solanke’s double against Italy took his tally for the tournament to four, one behind Italy’s Riccardo Orsolini in the battle for the Golden Shoe.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero are among the accolade’s former winners, but Solanke insists a team triumph comes before individual honours.
“I haven’t thought about being the top goal scorer, I’ve just been focusing on winning. But that would be a really good achievement for me and I would love to do that,” he added.
“After that win over Italy we’re all confident we can now go on and win on Sunday. We went 1-0 down early on, but we kept going and to get the 3-1 win showed that we are ready for anything.
“We were calm at half-time. We knew we had had a good amount of possession and that the game wasn’t over, despite being 1-0 down. We knew that if we carried on playing the way we were we would get chances.”
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