Germany U17 3-2 England U17: Hosts win friendly tournament in Duisburg with perfect record | OneFootball

Germany U17 are the winners of their home friendly tournament in Duisburg as they followed up their victories over Venezuela and Israel with a comeback win against England.

Germany took an early lead with a well-taken strike from Marko Soldic in the 18th minute. The Nürnberg midfielder already played eight times in 2. Bundesliga at the age of 16.

The visitors drew level with the slice of luck as both captains were involved in the goal. Reggie Watson calmly scored a penalty-kick after the referee wrongly interpreted Ben Nwachukwu’s excellent tackle as a foul on Oscar Johnson.

It was all about sheer quality linkup play when England took the lead early after the restart, though. Mylo Bernard provided the finishing touch from Olly Houlihan’s cutback before nearly injuring himself during his knee slide celebration.

The hosts responded immediately with Union Berlin's gem Linus Güther scoring another brilliant goal after some good work on the left flank from Milo Barde.

Germany then took the lead with a composed finish from Niko Ilicevic, who will only be eligible to play for Eintracht Frankfurt in Bundesliga when he turns 16 at the end of the month. Ilicevic also scored the injury-time winner against Israel from the spot. 

Fellow 15-year-old attacker Shevin-Heinz Matondo provided the assist days after scoring on his debut. Germany finished top of their home tournament – Four Nations Cup – with a perfect record from three games.

Germany will face Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Northern Ireland in the second round of the U17 Euros qualifying campaign in November. The 2023 Euros and World Cup winners failed to progress from their group in last season's competition.