England have it all to do at Junior World Cup

ENGLAND Under-21 manager Andy Halliday admitted his team face an uphill struggle to qualify for the last eight after a 1-0 defeat by co-hosts Malaysia in their opening game of the Junior World Cup.

In front of a partisan 4,500 crowd in Johore, England struggled to impose themselves during the first half and it was no surprise when Faizal Saari scored the only goal from a penalty corner on 29 minutes.

Simon Faulkner, son of 1988 Olympic gold medallist David Faulkner, thought he had equalised just three minutes later but his penalty corner was saved on the line.

And despite a spirited second-half display, the English failed to convert any of their four corners, leaving Halliday to rue what might have been.

And with high-flying Korea and an impressive-looking Spain side still to play, Halliday's team know that one more defeat would all but end their chances of finishing in the top two of Group C.

"I think this team can beat anyone on their day," said Halliday.

"We pushed Spain very close in last year's Europeans, but the reality is we now need to beat two sides, both of whom are ranked above us at a senior level and we have a very young side.

"We deserved to beat Malaysia but we didn't make the most of our corners and our circle penetration play was poor."

Next up for England is their showdown with Spain on Tuesday followed by Group C whipping-boys USA on Thursday before the crunch match against Korea on Friday.