Four Chelsea youth on the pitch as England defends Toulon Tournament title
By George Perry
Young Blues were nearly one-third of the Young Lions squad that defeated Ivory Coast in the Toulon Tournament finals. Chelsea’s Reece James won the Young Player award for his performance across the competition.
England won the Toulon Tournament in successive years for the third time in the competition’s history. The first two back-to-back titles were separated by only one year: 1990 and 1991, then 1993 and 1994. They then struggled for 22 years before breaking the drought last year and following it up with a win yesterday.
Chelsea had five players on England’s squad, and four were on the pitch yesterday for the final against Ivory Coast. Reece James and Josh Grant played the entire match for the Young Lions. Ike Ugbo and Tariq Uwakwe came on near the hour mark with England up 1-0.
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Much of the match’s outcome turned on penalty kicks. Ivory Coast saved an England penalty kick late in the first half with the Young Lions up 1-0. The scoreline remained there until the 90′ when Jose Grant Grant conceded a penalty kick. Ivory Coast converted the opportunity, forcing a shoot-out because there is no extra time in the Toulon Tournament.
Ike Ugbo was Chelsea’s only player in the shoot-out. He took England’s first penalty kick, and his teammates followed his lead as England went 5-for-5.
"England have a reputation for not being successful in international penalty competitions and that needs to change… We have worked so hard all week at taking penalty kicks at the end of every training session. The fact our boys stood up and scored, I promise you it’s not arrogance, that’s great preparation. – Neil Dewsnip, Daily Mail"
England finished the tournament undefeated, outscoring their opponents 15-3. A 7-1 win over Cuba accounted for much of that margin. The victory is especially remarkable given the age and inexperience of this side compared to last year’s.
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The Chelsea contingent embodies the difference. Last year, Nathaniel Chalobah, Lewis Baker and Ruben Loftus-Cheek played in the tournament for England. All three already had played at the senior level, with Baker and Loftus-Cheek already having first team experience at Chelsea while Chalobah was already a veteran loanee. Among this year’s squad, though, only Ike Ugbo has played above the U21 level, featuring in Chelsea’s Premier League 2 (U23) squad.