England through as Dutch falter

England advanced to the quarter-finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship with a 2-0 victory that all but eliminates their opponents, the Netherlands.

Dominated possession
Having made hard work of beating Finland 3-2 in their opening match, England looked more composed and dominated long periods of possession. The Dutch side, who needed a victory after their 4-4 draw with hosts Denmark on Saturday, offered little in attack and were limited to a handful of half-chances.

Rooney strike
England took the lead eight minutes before the interval, when Everton FC striker Wayne Rooney beat his marker twice before drilling a superb shot beyond keeper Theo Brack and into the far corner. Rooney's fine solo effort was the highlight of a first half that also saw Mark Smyth go close when his powerful drive was palmed behind by Brack.

Borrowdale impresses
As expected, England centre-back Chris Hogg failed to recover from a shin injury in time to play, but Gary Borrowdale filled his position more than adequately alongside captain David Raven. The Dutch eventually created their first real chance after 34 minutes, but Resham Sardar volleyed over after good work by the diminutive Richard Blonk.

Long on target
Stacy Long effectively killed the tie off when he extended England's advantage 13 minutes into the second period. Lee Croft cut inside from the right, raced to the by-line and when his cross-shot was blocked, Long was on hand to slam the ball beyond Brack from ten metres. The Dutch performance improved in the second half, with substitute Admir Haznadar looking lively in attack, but Ruud Kaiser's side were well beaten at the final whistle.

'More assured'
England coach Dick Bate was pleased with his side's qualification for the last eight and the manner in which they had secured the victory. "We played very well and I was pleased with the way we handled the Dutch," he said. "They are an awkward side to play against, both tactically and technically, but we made it difficult for them to play their game. We were much more assured and focused than in the Finland match, where we were untidy and casual. It sometimes takes a team a game to adjust to the tournament and we certainly got into it today."

'Challenge is over'
Kaiser was disappointed with the result but paid tribute to the victors and admitted that he had virtually resigned himself to the fact that the Dutch would not progress. "England were by far the better team and they deserved to win," he said. "They won everything in midfield and we had hardly any chances at all. A mixture of the wind and England's pressure caused us some problems and we never got in the game and could not support our forward players. I feel like our challenge for the title is over."

Mathematical chance
The Dutch are now on the verge of elimination from the competition after Denmark's remarkable 6-0 win against Finland in the other Group A match today. England top the section with six points with Denmark second on four points, meaning that the Dutch must defeat Finland by a heavy margin on Wednesday and hope that England can do them a favour and beat Denmark to have any mathematical chance of progress.