Gomes starts from bench, scores wondrous free kick

Highly-rated Manchester United winger Angel Gomes stamped his class 14 minutes after coming off the bench by swerving in a wondrous free kick to round off a 4-0 win for England over Chile in the Group F opener of the FIFA U-17 World Cup at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan here on Sunday.

Gomes was conspicuous by his absence from England's starting XI but once he replaced Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 67th minute, the United U-18s skipper was all over the pitch lifting England's already high standards of play by another notch.

Gomes stood over the free kick his team earned after striker Rhian Brewster was fouled just outside the area by Chile goalkeeper Julio Borquez.

While Chile reeled in the aftermath of Borquez being given marching orders for his folly, England basked in the superb curling effort of Gomes which nestled into the top left corner of the net. England increased their margin to 4-0 and the match ended with that scoreline.

Later at the post-match press conference, coach Steve Cooper was asked why Gomes was not handed a start.

"We have 21 players that we feel could play the level we want them to play. Tournament football is all about utilising th squad which showed today with the changes we made. This was a good example of using 14 of the 21 players we got," Cooper said.

Gomes came into the tournament on the back of good form scoring in both UEFA Youth League fixtures against Basel and CSKA Moscow.

His effort in the win over Basel came from the penalty spot and he followed it up with two late spot-kicks to earn a dramatic 4-3 triumph over Arsenal in the Under-18 Premier League Cup.

Gomes, who made his senior debut in last season's English Premier League game against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, travelled with the England team and was also seen in training.

England only reached their inaugural FIFA U-17 World Cup a decade ago, with India 2017 representing the Young Lions' fourth outing on the global stage at this age level.

Their debut at Korea 2007 saw a side including Danny Welbeck reach the quarter-finals where they were well beaten by Germany.

At Mexico 2011, the Germans once more dispatched their English counterparts, who had Raheem Sterling amongst their number. Last time out, at Chile 2015, Neil Dewsnip's side failed to reach the knockout stages.

--IANS

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