Arsenal’s Max Dowman helps England u17s to 2 wins | OneFootball

Max Dowman appeared as a substitute in the England u17s’ second win of the current break, hopefully putting him in good shape to start Arsenal’s upcoming FA Youth Cup match.

Photo by Tullio Puglia – The FA/The FA via Getty Images

Arsenal youth midfielder Max Dowman has been away with the England u17s over the last week, with the team facing off against the Netherlands in a couple of friendly fixtures.

The England u17s are preparing for the Elite Round of u17 Euro qualifiers in March, which also offer the opportunity to qualify for the u17 World Cup. England face Israel on March 19th, Slovenia on March 22nd, and Northern Ireland on March 25th in their three qualification games.

It could be a big year for the team if they successfully qualify for both tournaments, with the Euros in May and the World Cup in November.

Photo via Arsenal.com

Given the importance of those qualifiers, the England hierarchy organised a couple of preparatory friendlies against the Netherlands last week, and the team made a strong start with a 3-2 win last Thursday.

Dowman started the match, and though he didn’t get on the scoresheet, he was heavily involved in two of his team’s three goals.

With England 2-1 down in the 49th minute, Dowman laid the ball off to Chinaza Nwosu to score an equaliser from the edge of the area. 18 minutes later, a Dowman shot fell to Louis Page for a simple finish on the rebound.

Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter

For the second game of the break, Dowman was initially named on the bench, coming on in the 62nd minute. England were already 3-0 up and cruising by that point, and the second-half substitutes helped to make it 4-0 before full-time.

With Dowman only playing 28 minutes of the second game, he should be relatively well-rested on his return to Arsenal, which is good news.

The Gunners face Manchester United in the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals on Friday, with the match to be played at the Emirates Stadium. Dowman has been one of the standout performers in the Arsenal youth teams this season, so he won’t want to miss the game.