Report: England MU18s 2-1 Czechia

England men’s under-18s made a winning start on their trip to Spain after a 2-1 victory over Czechia on Wednesday afternoon.

Tom Curtis’ side played the first of three games in the U18 Super Cup at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia. 

And with the new 2024 England kit making its first appearance in an international game, the Young Lions made a bright start by controlling possession.

They took a deserved lead after 17 minutes too, when Sammy Amo-Ameyaw opening the scoring with a curling left-footer into the top corner after the Southampton forward had cut inside from the right. 

England continued to press and they doubled their advantage just after the half-hour mark when Tyrique George’s choppy run and finish made it 2-0 to secure a half-time lead.

Czechia emerged after the break with renewed vigour and pulled a goal back in the 59th minute via a direct free-kick to set up an interesting end to the game.

But England played out the game, while utilising their full quota of substitutes, to keep Czechia at bay and secure the win.

England will be back in action on Friday afternoon (12pm) when they play Germany in their second match of the week before wrapping up their trip against the Netherlands on Monday 25 March.

England: 1 Jack Thompson (Derby County), 2 Leo Black (Tottenham Hotspur), 3 Ishé Samuels Smith (Chelsea), 4 Reiss Russell-Denny (Chelsea), 5 Josh Acheampong (Chelsea), 6 Harrison Murray-Campbell (Chelsea), 7 Samuel Amo-Ameyaw (Southampton), 8 Michael Golding (Chelsea) (c), 9 Leon Chiwome (Wolverhampton Wanderers), 10 Tyler Dibling (Southampton), 11 Tyrique George (Chelsea)

Substitutes: 12 Tristan Rowe (Aston Villa) for Chiwome 61, 18 Lewis Orford (West Ham United) for Black 61, 19 Jayden Danns (Liverpool) for Golding 61, 21 Jamaldeen Jimoh (Aston Villa) for Acheampong 61, 14 Jayden Meghoma (Southampton) for George 61, 17 Trey Nyoni (Liverpool) for Dibling 72, 20 Joel Ndala (Manchester City) for Amo-Ameyaw 72, 15 Amara Nallo (Liverpool) for Russell-Denny 77, 16 Kiano Dyer (Chelsea) for Murray-Campbell 77

Substitutes not used: 13 Finlay Herrick (West Ham United), 22 Matthew Young (Darlington, loan from Sunderland)

Head coach: Tom Curtis

Goals: Samuel Amo-Ameyaw (Southampton) 17, Tyrique George 35