Hope and glory

Greetings from sunny Budapest! And apologies for the lack of a post yesterday, but I was off enjoying myself!
On Sunday evening I returned to my hotel just as the England U17s were kicking their World Championship campaign in Mexico against Rwanda and so I felt it my duty to support the boys in front of the hotel bar’s television.

Like most people, I rarely get to see lads of that age playing, but I must admit I was impressed with the standard of play from both sides, but in particular the England boys.

England won the game by two goals without reply and the scorers – Hallam Hope and Raheem Sterling – were the pick of the bunch for me along with skipper and central defender Nathaniel Chalobah.

Sierra Leone born Chalobah is a Chelsea reserve and led by example putting his body on the line for the cause in a John Terry-esque manner.

Everton winger Sterling scored a beautiful goal, curling it home from outside of the box on the left. The ball crept just inside the far post and left the keeper with no chance.

Hope looks to be a real prospect as well and plays for the red half of Liverpool. His opener came immediately after Rwanda had seen a long range effort come down off the bar. The ball was pumped up field and Hope used his strength to shrug off a defender before dinking over the keeper who had one to ground.

In a nice touch, Hope then removed his shin pad and pointed it towards the camera to reveal he had written: Happy Fathers Day. It brought a smile to my face, but it was also an indication that this young man is apparently so confident in his own ability, that he prepares his goal scoring celebrations before the game has even kicked off.

If anyone is interested, the next game is against Canada tomorrow night and followed by the final group game against current leaders Ukraine at the weekend.