Five Nigerians Feature, Lookman Benched As England Lose To Italy At U19 Euros

Federico Dimarco grabbed a brace as Italy defeated England 2-1 in the semifinal of the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship on Thursday afternoon at the Carl-Benz Stadium, Mannheim.

The Young Lions had been favourites to go through to the showpiece game after racking up three wins against France, Holland and Croatia in the group stage.

Onomah and Chelsea trio Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke made the starting line-up, Sheyi Ojo was introduced in the 58th minute while Charlton Athletic striker Ademola Lookman remained on the bench.

England halved the deficit in the 85th minute when an attempted clearance hit the shoulder of Picchi and ended inside the net, after a corner taken by the lively Liverpool winger Ojo.

Tomori gave away a penalty in the 27th minute when he brought down Andrea Favilla.

Despite their loss to the Italians, England have qualified for the 2017 Fifa U20 World Cup in South Korea.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : Twitter.com