Arsenal striker Zak Ansah bagged his second goal in three games for England’s Under 16’s this evening as they retained the SkySports Victory Shield with a 2-1 win over Scotland.
England claim the trophy after Ansah’s strike gave the Three Lions a win over Wales on match day one before Blair Turgott and Matthias Fanimo efforts saw Northern Ireland comfortably beaten. But tonight a resilient and impressive Scotland stood in Kenny Swain’s way of another title.
Their prowess was confirmed when captain Jack Grimmer put the Scots’ in front in the 25th minute. Yet a determined England claimed parity just 100 seconds later when Ansah took full advantage of a defensive mixup to collect Campbell’s back pass and coolly finish with his left foot. 1-1 and game on.
Zak led the England charge after scoring and almost picked out Blair Turgott after a superb run down and cross down the left hand side but Scotland stood firm. Despite his excellence, Swain pulled off the young Gunner in place of Everton’s Hallam Hope who failed to impress.
After more knocking on the door, West Ham’s Blair Turgott pulled off a beautiful volley to win the fixture on the hour mark. Queens Park Rangers winger Raheem Sterling turned in another fantastic performance highlighting just why a handful of Premier League outfits are after him and with Arsenal sending representatives to the game, Sterling will no doubt be consistently linked with the club.
As the final whistle blew, England claimed the notable trophy once more. Zak follows in the foot steps of fellow striker Benik Afobe who led the England charge to the title last year.
Article By – J.Sanderson & Abdi Ali
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Good for him, hopefully he will continue to develop nicely
Hope we sign this Raheem Sterling-kid. He seems very talented.
Zak capitilised on miss-kicked clearance, not a back pass mate. Great finish though. This kid has composure in front of goal and very good potential.
I didn’t bother with the second half when i noticed he’d hooked Ansah but it looked like the kid Sterling had been taken off too. He has obvious skill and talent but in my eyes he had quite a poor game. Against NI he shined and caught the eye big time, but today you could see he tried far too hard to impress. Kept hold of the ball far too long and should learn the pass and move game instead of trying to be an individual. That’s what i thought while watching him tonight. I was thinking – damn, this kid needs Arsenal nurturing. :)
Raheem Sterling looks to be on his way.
Maybe, Sean. He’s impressive but I don’t see him leaving QPR so easy. He’s come through their system and QPR will probably give him a chance. Having seen the mistake John Bostock made I think a lot of young English players are not so quick to jump ship.
If Bostock moves here, we can salvage his career
Haha yeah. But I don’t rate him ahead of Lansbury, Ramsey for example. Maybe he’ll pick something up now he’s joined at Brentford by Szczesny and Murphy.
Out of all the young England U16’s players who played in this years Sky Sports Victory Sheild tournament, Matthias Fanimo of West Ham United impressed me the most.
Fanimo and Sterling have been brilliant. Ansah and Turgott have shown they’re good finishers as well.
I believe the Sterling thing has a great chance of being true.
my friend plays for QPR u16s with raheem sterling and all these rumours with arsenal liverpool and man city are all true according to him, raheem has been training with QPR first team, thats how good he is, QPR promised him his first team debu as soon as he turns 15
I have to disagree on this one JS. I rate bostock ahead of Lansbury. And I don’t think he ruined his career, it’s a bit early to say that!
Technically he is better than Lansbury. Except Wilshere, I don’t see any other english players with such potential
Bostock is very overrated, he aint even Tottenham’s best promising talent, that honor goes to Ryan Mason. He is good physical talent with good shot but nothing else.
I thought Sterling was awful last night! Same with Henshall!
I think he made 1 accurate pass in 40 minutes! And that was a 5 yard ball backwards to the full back.
Is just knocking it to the byline and running a skill? He never looks for a pass, rarely makes a good cross, doesn’t seem a goal threat and could be so easily taken out of a game!
Ansah looks a good finisher, same with Turgott, both pretty average when on the ball though. But Fanimo is a class above everyone in this competition! Pace, Skill, End Product, Goal Threat, Creative. Real talent!
Him and Wilshere will have a fight for England’s number 10 position in a few years!
Mason is nothing special really, I don’t even think he’ll be a premier league player.
Have a look at Bostock again supergunner, I saw him play against italy and portugal -17, he was the best player on the pitch by some distance, marshalled the midfield. great technique, very continental. He is the only english player of his age with Wilshere, with outstanding technique
mason is a good penalty taker I’ll give him that
sharpovic
I personally agree with you about John Bostock because him and Jack Wilshere are both great talents, but if he can live the right way and keep his head on his shoulders Manchester United’s attacking midfielder Ravel Morrison, will be better than both of them IMO.
kentpaul, what are you on mate? wilshere is starting to deliver in the 1st team, granted only friendlies, but injury has held him back. morrison is good, i watched a match when he played liverpool, he was v good, but that doesn’t make him a potential world beater, and i think wishere is on the road to becoming that. morrison has a long way to go, nothing shown at a higher level yet, unlike jack.
Bostock is very overrated imo when i watched in the Euro U-17s and in the Youth Cup. Wilshere outshined him both times.
Sharpovic – With all due respect mate, there’s a reason Lansbury is beginning to make a real name for himself at Championship level right now whereas i’ve barely heard anything about Bostock’s exploits at Brentford (League One).
ASHGOON – I agree. Morrison is a great talent but he has to do it at a higher level to really prove himself. I don’t think he’s even appeared at Reserve level yet.
EyeBall Paul – You say Fanimo will fight it out with Wilshere for England’s number 10 spot in a few years? Okay, now i know ur a Hammer but that’s a bit bold. Obviously, you could never say never but he’s currently light years from JW’s level right now (and i’m being completely objective there – i promise). Fanimo is impressive but like my point about Morrison above, he needs to do it at a higher level to really prove his worth which i believe he’s still a good few years away from doing.
Just slightly off subject but on the subject of this batch of West Ham kids (Turgood, Powell, Fanimo, etc), anyone else notice they’re the kids in Green Street? You know, the scene where they put Elijah Wood in goal, and the kids score past him for fun.
One thing i’ll predict now simply because of the blatant higher level of the English kids’ technical ability coming through up and down the country at age 19 downwards, they will be a real force in about a decades time. They’ll probably be in the top 3 FIFA rankings and may even win a European Championships or even the World Cup. I seriously believe that as long as they have the correct guidance/management.