England beat Venezuela to win the U20 World Cup as Dominic Calvert-Lewin scores the only goal on the game
Venezuela 0 England 1: Newcastle United's Freddie Woodman saved a penalty late in the second half as England clung on for glory
Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Newcastle’s goalkeeper Freddie Woodman were the heroes as England beat Venezuela 1-0 to win the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in South Korea.
It is the first time England have ever won the Under-20 World Cup and the first time since 1966 that the country has been involved in a Fifa World Cup final.
Paul Simpson’s side showed absolutely no sign of nerves as Calvert-Lewin scored a fine opening goal to give them the lead.
And Woodman then made a vital penalty save to deny the impressive Adalberto Peñaranda in the second-half, as England won the tournament in South Korea.
After a slow start the game was lit up by an audacious long-range effort after 16 minutes from Ronaldo Lucena, whose swerving, dipping free-kick from all of 40 yards clipped the outside of a post.
Ademola Lookman brought a decent save from Wuilker Farinez before Calvert-Lewin wrote his name into the history books with what proved to be the winning goal.
The Everton forward contested a long, diagonal ball behind the Venezuela defence and saw his initial effort well saved before tapping home the rebound from close range.
Another free-kick brought another moment of panic for England just before half-time as Adalberto Penaranda curled an effort narrowly wide.
Tottenham midfielder Josh Onomah saw a 30-yard effort strike the underside of the Venezuela crossbar early in the second half as England pushed for a second goal.
However, the South Americans were becoming increasing more dangerous and were given a golden opportunity to get back into the match when Penaranda went down following a clash of knees with Jake Clarke-Salter.
With 17 minutes to play, the referee pointed to the spot before immediately referring the decision to the video assistant referee. The penalty award stood but Woodman's strong palm kept out Penaranda's spot-kick, despite diving the wrong way.
A frantic finale saw England hang on to lift the trophy, surpassing their previous best at the Under-20 World Cup which was a third place finish in 1993.
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