Belgian reshuffle pays off

UEFA European Under-17 Championship hosts Belgium came from behind to hold England 1-1 on Group B Matchday 2 and coach Bob Browayes pointed to the half-time introduction of Kevin Kis, who soon helped create the equaliser, as the turning point in what England manager John Peacock said was "a close encounter". Meanwhile Netherlands coach Albert Stuivenberg's side beat Iceland 3-0 to go top but looks to have lost double goalscorer Daley Blind to a twisted ankle. Iceland’s Lúkas Kostic is in good heart even though his team cannot reach the semi-finals.

BELGIUM 1-1 ENGLAND
Bob Browayes, Belgium coach
We started the first half with two good chances. Then England were getting more and more into the game, we gave them too much space in midfield. There was not enough pressure on their brilliant midfield players. I think we were happy that it was only 1-0 at half-time, and it was a very interesting situation for us that we were able to score at the start of the second half. That gave us a lot of confidence, we put a lot more pressure on. We are still in the running. That makes me very happy. We can put [Kis] in the centre or on the wing, we put him on the wing to put pressure on the midfield players. I know he has a good cross, he is a left winger, so we changed our way of playing and it worked.

John Peacock, England manager
We had a bit of a shaky start but having come through that I thought we played very well in the last 20 to 25 minutes of the first period. But goals turn games, and the goal early in the second half just took a bit of impetus out of the game as far as we are concerned and obviously Belgium were on the ascendancy, we were on the back foot. I felt we were a bit stretched in the last 15 to 20 minutes but it was a very close encounter.

NETHERLANDS 3-0 ICELAND
Albert Stuivenberg, Netherlands coach
Our main goal was to win the match. We knew it would be difficult today as the pitch was not favourable to our way of playing and also the way Iceland played, a physically strong team with a lot of long balls. So I am happy with the result, the main thing. I was not surprised by Iceland as I saw them against England, they were tough opponents. [Blind] is an important player for us, but I am not happy as he is injured and it doesn’t look very good, he twisted his ankle, we have to wait and see.

Lúkas Kostic, Iceland coach
Compared to the [2-0 loss against England] we were much better. It was not a special game but we played much better and we were unlucky with the goals. They were strange goals, the Netherlands didn't create a lot of chances but they scored cheaply. But that is football and my boys fought for 80 minutes and tried to compete. It was a step up from my team, and I know they will give a tough game [against Belgium] on Monday. It was [striker Kolbeinn Sigthórsson's] first game after injury, but he played very well.