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ARSENAL: Gibbs on song but England fail to hit high note

/noticias.info/ Arsenal.com's International Watch reports back to base on those who have temporarily swapped the red of Arsenal for the colours of their national sides. Read on for the latest call-ups...

Kieran Gibbs, Fran Merida
Uefa Under-19 Championships, Czech Republic 2-0 England, Germany 2-1 Spain, July 15
A fine performance from Arsenal youngster Kieran Gibbs could not prevent England slipping to a 2-0 defeat against host nation the Czech Republic in the opening fixture of the Uefa Under-19 Championships.

The Gunners’ man was given the freedom of an attacking midfield role and looked bright in the early stages, orchestrating many of the Three Lions’ forward raids. However as the Czechs began to gain a foothold, England were forced into a long-ball game to utilise the pace of strikers Daniel Sturridge and Freddie Sears. The visitors finished the half strongly, with Gibbs again the hub of creativity, but at the break the scores were level.

England pressed early in the second half but failed to seriously test the goalkeeper and paid the ultimate penalty on 54 minutes. Tottenham’s Daniel Button, who had had a torrid time between the sticks for the visitors, let leave of his senses and charged from his box to head a ball clear. He missed. Tomas Necid applied a simple finish into an empty net and England were behind. Five minutes later they were two down with Necid, who plays his club’s home games at the stadium, crashing home after a corner.

Gibbs continued to look the man most likely for England and sent a sumptuous curling effort goalwards, after some tidy skill in the left channel, only to see it flicked behind for a corner.

Two late dismissals for the Czechs failed to have any impact on the score and England now turn their attention to their other Group A opponents, Italy and Greece, who drew their opening encounter.

Elsewhere in the tournament, Fran Merida withdrew late on from the Spain side that went down 2-1 to the hotly-tipped Germans. Fran will hope to be fit for his country’s remaining two fixtures against Bulgaria and Hungary. notas_de_prensa_archivo