Tottenham’s Alfie Devine starred as England reached the knockout stage of the Below-20 Globe Cup soon after a three-two win more than Uruguay.
Devine — whom The Athletic is tracking as component of the series My Football Journey: The Road to 2026 — set up Chelsea loanee Bashir Humphreys’ 22nd-minute opener in La Plata, Argentina, prior to lashing a second himself in initially-half stoppage time.
Franco Gonzalez halved the deficit for Uruguay in the 49th minute but Leeds United’s Darko Gyabi restored England’s benefit in added time.
Even though Matias Abaldo struck once more for Uruguay just prior to the complete-time whistle, that proved as well tiny, as well late.
“It is enormous for us to win,” Devine mentioned soon after the game. “We knew the crowd wouldn’t be on our side and I consider absolutely everyone dug actually deep and I consider we utilised it as an benefit to motivate us even a lot more. Every person did superbly.
“(The crowd) motivated us a lot more. Playing in front of a crowd like this, you know you are going to get it. I consider we dealt with it actually properly.”
Ian Foster’s side, who final played at the tournament when they won it in 2017, major Group E and have reached the final 16 with a game to spare.
England will play Iraq in their final group game on Sunday.
The side that finishes major in Group E is set to face the second-location side in Group D — presently Brazil — on May possibly 31.
Devine: ‘World Cup 2026? It is the ‘why not?’ factor’
Devine was an academy player at Liverpool who was released when he was 11, prior to joining Wigan Athletic.
Soon after impressing for the beneath-23s, he was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £300,000 in July 2020 when Wigan went into administration.
Capped for England’s beneath-16s and beneath-19s, Jose Mourinho gave Devine his senior debut for Spurs in the third round of the FA Cup against Marine in January 2021. He scored inside minutes.
“Every time I watch back the Marine target, it nevertheless feels a bit weird,” he told The Athletic. “For the week soon after, I couldn’t think it. I didn’t consider I’d come on at half-time. I was really nervous, I’ll admit that.
“I was in year seven when I was released by Liverpool. The hardest component was worrying about what my mates have been going to say. Feeling embarrassed about it when you shouldn’t. I didn’t want to go to college for the reason that people today would ask, ‘Why are not you at Liverpool any longer?’. You do not want to say you got released. But it is not actually a undesirable factor, lots of major pros have been released from clubs at an early age.”
“Everyone’s dream is to turn into a Premier League player and that is what I’m searching forward to now. When I’ve accomplished that, that is when you can appear at other stuff.
“I certainly consider about England. My initially game was with the beneath-16s against Scotland… pulling on that shirt, the feeling you get is remarkable.”
And Globe Cup 2026? “It’s the ‘why not?’ element. You take each and every day as it comes, stuff like that you appear forward to, but the bits in among, if you do not get these ideal, you will by no means realize it.”
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Alfie Devine, My Football Journey: ‘There’s no one particular greater to appear up to than Harry Kane’
My Football Journey: The Road to 2026
My Football Journey: The Road to 2026 is a series following some of the most thrilling young footballers in the globe through a important moment in their careers.
It will stick to the highs, the setbacks, and the really hard function they and their clubs are placing in, and show how unique their journeys are as they dream of creating it to the 2026 Globe Cup.
Study a lot more beneath about the hugely-rated youngsters — identified for us with the assistance of the scouts who function for Football Manager — as they function towards the Holy Grail of a location at the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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Introducing My Football Journey – tracking seven young stars on the path to the 2026 Globe Cup
(Photo: Getty Pictures)