Jamie Shackleton makes England Under-20s debut - but Young Lions crash out of Toulon Tournament
Jamie Shackleton made his England Under-20 debut but could not prevent the Young Lions’ early exit from the Toulon Tournament after a 3-2 defeat to Portugal.
The Leeds United midfielder was handed a starting place for the second game of the competition last night but was substituted 14 minutes from time with Paul Simpson’s heading for a surprise elimination.
England were bidding to win the Toulon Tournament for a fourth year running but were in trouble after losing their opening game to Japan on Saturday.
The Lions opened the scoring against Portugal through Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah but trailed 3-1 at the interval after a run of quick concessions. Joe Willock’s 86th-minute effort failed to avert defeat.
England have one group fixture remaining against Chile on Friday. Shackleton will then depart for a short holiday before Leeds report back for pre-season training in the last week of this month.
United full-back Tom Pearce, who played in the defeat to Japan, was an unused substitute last night.