Cauley Woodrow made a dream start to his England U20s debut on Wednesday evening, taking just three minutes to open his account with a goal against Korea Republic.
The Fulham striker put the Three Lions ahead in Aubagne, as Gareth Southgate’s side went in search of a place in the final round of games in the Toulon Tournament.
But a second-half equaliser from the Koreans denied England the victory, despite Woodrow’s best efforts of later seeing a goal ruled out for offside and a miraculous late save from goalkeeper Kim Dong Jun to keep out his looping header.
“It was nice for me to get a goal today,” admitted the 19-year-old.
“Our main aim was to get a win obviously, going into Friday’s game, but it wasn’t to be.
“I didn’t think we played as well as we could in the first half, but after that we created a lot more chances.
“In the last 20 minutes, we had a lot of chances and were unlucky not to put one away.
“But as long as we’re creating chances and players are getting in the right areas to score then the goals will come.”
Woodrow felt his late header had crossed the line and should have proved to be England’s winner and also questioned the offside decision against him.
But with England’s fate in their own hands, knowing that a win or draw against Colombia on Friday will be enough to take them into Sunday’s third or fourth play-off against either France or Portugal, the former Luton Town youngster is optimistic.
He claimed: “Goal line technology was needed!
“But if it wasn’t in then it was a great save by the goalie and credit to him.
“Friday’s game is now obviously massive as we need to get the points and get into the play-off.
“For us, our main aim now is to recover and get prepared for Friday’s game.”
