England slump to Germans

England were knocked out of the Under-17s World Cup at the quarter-final stage yesterday after they were thrashed 4-1 by Germany at the Goyang Stadium in South Korea.

It was not until the second half that the game sparked into life, with Sebastian Rudy giving Germany a 50th-minute lead with a well-taken goal from the edge of the area with the outside of his boot.

Germany doubled their advantage five minutes later, Richard Sukuta-Pusa's low shot somehow finding its way through the crowded penalty area and into the bottom corner.

Rhys Murphy gave England hope in the 65th minute when he dispossessed Nils Teixeira and fired beyond Rene Vollath.

But the game was put beyond doubt with two further goals in the final 15 minutes. First, Dennis Dowidat turned well before lashing a ferocious shot home and then German skipper Toni Kroos took advantage of some slack defending to round things off four minutes from time.

England's day soured even further in the 88th minute when Ashley Chambers was sent off for a rash tackle on Mario Erb.

l Fiji and the Solomon Islands progressed to the last four of the first stage of the Oceania region's World Cup qualifiers on Saturday. Fiji beat Tahiti 4-0 while the Solomon Islands beat Vanuatu 2-0.