Spain down Mali to set up England showdown

Spain have qualified for the finals of the 2017 Under-17 FIFA World Cup, after defeating 2015 runners-up Mali 3-1 at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium in India.

"Mali, Mali" rent the air whenever they took a free kick or when forwards Lassana N'Diaye and Hadji Drame threatened to score. Spain came close to scoring for the second time as a centre from the left wing by Mohammed Moukhliss was allowed to reach Ruiz who, however, shot wide on-the-run from close range. The striker attempted a volley which was saved by Mali goalkeeper Youssouf Koita.

Lassana Ndiaye cut the arrears a couple of minutes later but Jonas Komla's men were, despite considerable effort, unable to force another.

It was more of missed opportunities by both the sides early in the second half as Torres shot in the 58th minute went over the bar while Mali defenders were more alert, keeping the ball away from danger. The ball, however, hit the side netting. Mali stuck to its game plan of taking shots from outside the box while Spain was happy to press on the counter.

The European side led 2-0 at half-time thanks to a penalty and a slide-rule finish from captain Abel Ruiz. And the inevitable happened in the 19th minute. After several attempts on goal from both teams, Gelabert was fouled in the box when his deft turn drew a foul from Abdoulaye Diaby to give Spain a penalty.

Mali pushed forward and tried to exploit the large gap in Spain's midfield.

But Spain doubled their lead in the 43rd minute.

In the second minute itself, Spain had made their attacking intent clear.

The credit for the first look at Mali's goal went to Ruiz, who raced down the right flank, rode a tackle and pulled the ball back and across the goalmouth. The followup header was not on target and Spain restarted its attack. "But I think the replays should not be shown on the big screen, it might influence the decision of the referee and also the crowd reaction from it can also bring out a decision from the referee." .

Spain then sealed the deal in the 71st minute after Ferran Torres leaped above the Mali defence to make it 3-0 in what proved to be a fruitful end to a smart move. The victory by Spain after staving off a late fight-back by the African age group champions has, thus, piloted them into a summit clash against England at Kolkata on October 28.

Steve Cooper's youngsters now have a magnificent opportunity to write their name into the history books by becoming the first England team to lift the Under-17 World Cup.