Monday, 24th June, 2013
England Under-20 coach Peter Taylor was left disappointed with his side’s defending in their 2-2 World Cup draw against Iraq, but believes Group E remains open for all teams in Turkey.
England were perhaps unlucky not to get all three points from their Under-20 World Cup opener in Antalya last night, when they squandered a two-goal lead.
The misery was compounded in the 93rd minute, when Ali Adnan skipped past some tired England challenges to fire in Iraq’s dramatic equaliser.
Chile, meanwhile, came from behind to snatch a 2-1 win over Egypt to top the group, but Taylor remains optimistic over his side’s chances to make the knockout stages.
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"We’ve had one team get a result, one team lose and then you’ve got two teams drawing", he told a press conference broadcast by FATV. "The group is still very open and we can definitely do better.
"It’s still a tough group. For me, [Iraq] are very capable of getting results against Egypt or Chile, which makes it a very good group."
The draw means England’s Under-20 side extended their winless record in this competition to 15 games, but they can take heart from their performances until Iraq’s first goal.
Conor Coady, who boasts two first-team appearances for Liverpool, opened the scoring for England with Middlesbrough man Luke Williams doubling the tally.
However, Iraq fought back through a penalty from Ali Faez on 75 minutes with Adnan doing the late honours, as England’s defence cracked.
"We might have been a touch tired, in getting used to the heat for example", Taylor added. "But defensively we can do better than that.
"When tiredness gets in the body, it gets in the brain as well, so you end up making the wrong decisions.
"We knew about Iraq, about their wide players, their striker and their midfielders, so that’s why we’re a touch disappointed that we didn’t win."
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