Giorgio Rasulo and England Under-16s have made it through to the final of the Montaigu Tournament while Dele Alli and the Under-17s miss out on Euro qualification.
Rasulo and his fellow countrymen drew 1-1 with Holland in their first group game but a 3-1 victory over Chile last Thursday set up a pivotal clash with Germany yesterday afternoon. Kenny Swain’s Young Lions, though, battled to a 1-1 draw with the Germans, a result which sees them through to Monday’s final against Turkey.
The young Dons striker has featured in all three of the Under-16s’ games, netting twice against Chile in the side’s only victory so far. Rasulo started that match against the Chileans but has had to make an impact from the bench in the other two fixtures.
Rasulo will now be pushing to start in Monday's final, where the Young Lions will be looking to take the Montaigu Tournament crown for the only the fifth time since its inaugural season in 1976.
Elsewhere, Alli and England Under-17s missed out on qualification for the upcoming Under-17s European Championship, despite an impressive 2-1 victory over Slovenia.
The Young Lions finished level on points with both Russia and Portugal at the top of Group 6, but missed out in a three-way tie break which saw the Russians through to the finals.
Despite beating Portugal in their first game, a 2-1 defeat to Russia on Monday meant the Under-16s would have to rely on other results going into the final set of games this past Thursday. England did do their bit, overcoming their Slovenian opponents courtesy of goals from Charlie Colkett and Bryn Morris, but scorelines elsewhere meant the former winners would not be travelling to the Slovakia-based finals in May.
Alli made appearances in all three of the qualifiers, starting on two occasions while coming off the bench in one.
