Young Chelsea full back Reece James got the Internet all hot and bothered with a bit of tekkers on Tuesday as England took on Portugal in the annual Toulon Tournament. In the second-half, James went on a bit of a dribbling adventure, eluding two players in his own half and sitting down a couple others with a great spin move (though his cross-field switch was then cut out).
Reece James ♂️ pic.twitter.com/tZkZ00x3Wn
— Oscar ~Sarri~In~ (@CFC_Odoi) June 4, 2019
So that’s cool.
Unfortunately, as evidenced by the scorebox in the top left corner of the video above, England were losing 3-1 by then to Portugal, and while the Three Lions would get one back through Arsenal’s Joe Willock (whom we might remember missing a couple good chances in the Europa League final), they were unable to complete the comeback.
Combined with a 2-1 loss to Japan on Saturday, England have failed to qualify for the knockout rounds of the competition, ending their bid to win it for the fourth year running.
England had won the 2016, 2017, and 2018 editions over France, Ivory Coast, and Mexico, respectively, with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Lewis Baker, Jake Clarke-Salter, and Tammy Abraham, and several others playing starring roles. This year’s group included Reece James (his second tournament, after impressing in 2017 already), Academy Player of the Year Conor Gallagher, and Trevoh Chalobah, who captained the side. All three had started yesterday’s game, but unfortunately the result did not go as we had hoped.
It was a great run. Here’s to the next one.
If you cared to provide analysis on the Golden Year in 2017, you should care to get stuck into the issues plaguing England's youth age groups now. There's plenty of mileage in a discussion about coaching and squad selection/usage to kick things off. https://t.co/AQnkvjXiCJ
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) June 4, 2019