Report: England MU19s 1-0 Portugal

England men’s under-19s signed off the March international window unbeaten, defeating Portugal 1-0 at the Deeside Stadium owing to Chris Rigg’s early strike.

The victory ensured our Young Lions booked their spot at June’s finals in Romania, having recorded victory over Wales in their inaugural test, before picking up a point against Turkiye last time around.

England drew the first blood with nine minutes on the clock. An opportunity cropped up for Rigg after Mikey Moore’s byline delivery found the Sunderland man, who arrived late to open his account.

Will Antwi’s side went in search of a quick second. Tyler Dibling and Moore both continued to look industrious down the right flank, with the latter setting up Josh Acheampong whose header cleared the upright.

Portugal came under siege once more, as they looked to withstand a barrage of chances. Rigg continued to play through the midfield line, finding Tyrique George who advanced forward before picking out Shumaira Mheuka, with our front man unable to turn the ball home.

The visitors’ attacks came in waves, and they almost pulled level on 43 minutes when Diogo Sousa took aim from the edge of the penalty area, forcing Tommy Setford into a one-handed stop – his first of the evening.

Portugal started the second period with impetus. Gabriel Silva broke in behind the Young Lions’ backline, who recovered well to deny Keyan Valera from unleashing a strike following a whipped delivery.

At the other end, the Young Lions pushed for a second, looking to knock the wind out of the visitors’ sails. Moore stood up a delivery to Achaempong who, like he had done all evening, rose above his marker, but the Cobham defender sent his header over the woodwork.

Moore then intercepted an errant pass, skipping past a few defenders before the ball fell kindly to George, but his strike from 18 yards was always rising.

Eduardo Felicissimo came inches away from reducing the arrears moments later. The midfielder tried his luck from range, rattling the woodwork before Valera skewed the follow-up.

With both nations continuing to trade chances, George was next to let fly. The Chelsea winger shifted the ball onto his preferred foot, curling one towards goal, with his effort narrowly escaping the top corner.

Moore was next to test the visitors’ rearguard, looking to flick his effort over Goncalo Ribeiro who was on hand to meet his strike equally.

Portugal piled on late pressure with Tiago Freitas and Valera both testing Setford, but Antwi’s team held on to wrap up their qualification campaign in style.

England: 1 Tommy Setford (Arsenal), 2 Triston Rowe (Aston Villa), 4 Lewis Miley (Newcastle United), 5 Josh Acheampong (Chelsea), 7 Tyler Dibling (Southampton), 8 Chris Rigg (Sunderland), 11 Tyrique George (Chelsea), 14 Mikey Moore (Tottenham Hotspur), 18 Zach Abbott (Nottingham Forest), 19 Shumaira Mheuka (Chelsea), 20 Stephen Mfuni (Manchester City)

Substitutes: 10 Josh King (Fulham) for Rigg 79, 15 Kadan Young (Royal Antwerp, loan from Aston Villa) for Mheuka 87, 6 Kiano Dyer (Chelsea) for Dibling 90

Substitutes not used: 13 Finlay Herrick (West Ham United), 9 Ethan Wheatley (Walsall, loan from Manchester United), 12 Harrison Murray-Campbell (Chelsea), 16 Lewis Orford (West Ham United), 17 Caleb Kporha (Crystal Palace)

Head coach: Will Antwi

Goals: Rigg 9