Young Fulham starlets Aaron Loupalo-Bi, Lemar Gordon and Chibuzo Nwoko made their England under-18s debuts this afternoon as Neil Ryan’s side fought back from 2-0 to draw their first fixture at the Lisbon International Tournament against Norway.
Striker Loupalo-Bi led the line for the start for the Young Lions after scoring 21 goals in 29 games as he won the Premier League U18 golden boot. England were competitive in what was an even contest but Norway added to their slender half-time with a second shortly after half-time. They halved their arrears thanks to Millwall’s Robin Esse on 63 minutes and Ealing-born winger Gordon replaced the goalscorer immediately afterwards. Midfielder Nwoko was introduced off the bench with twelve minutes to go and added more dynamism to the English engine.
Ryan’s side kept plugging away and earned a deserved shared of the spoils two minutes in added time when substitute Rio Kyerematen fired an unstoppable effort into the top corner to make his eighteenth birthday in some style. England take on Australia in their second time on Sunday morning before finishing their tournament against hosts Portugal on Tuesday evening.
