Fresher legs can help Portugal see off England

European Under-19 Championship final
Eurosport 1, 5pm Saturday

England's Under-19s have had a great time at the European Championship but they may fall at the final hurdle when facing Portugal in Gori.

Keith Downing's England side have won all four of their matches and are the top scorers in the tournament with eight goals.

However, they produced their least convincing performance when defeating the Czech Republic 1-0 in Wednesday's semi-final in Tbilisi.

Substitute Lukas Nmecha came up with an injury-time winner to see England through to the final but it was hard on the Czechs, who improved after the break and won the shot count 18 to 13.

England seemed to tire in the second half and are unlikely to be any fresher for their fifth match in 13 days.

Portugal started the tournament a day earlier and were able to take their foot off the gas for their final group match against Sweden (a 2-2 draw), having sealed qualification with victories in the previous two games against Georgia (1-0) and Czech Republic (2-1).

The Iberians were impressive in their 1-0 semi-final victory over Holland and might have won by a wider margin had they made the most of their opportunities.

Unlike England, they got stronger as the match went on and their extra energy could give them the edge in a close contest.

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