KOLKATA: They have emerged as the front-runners to lift the FIFA U-17 World Cup with two convincing wins, and England's star player Angel Gomes today likened their style of play to none other than EPL giants Manchester United.
"There are a few similarities as to how (Manchester) United play and England play," Gomes said here.
England have already sealed a last-16 berth with a match to spare, following two successive wins against Chile and Mexico.
"But when I'm here, we focus on our own identity and style and try to stick to that." The 17-year-old is one of the most highly-rated youth prospects at Old Trafford and he showed it with a jaw-dropping free-kick conversion to seal a 4-0 rout of Chile.
Cousin of former United winger Luis Nani, Gomes had replaced Wayne Rooney in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace to become the youngest player for the Red Devils in the English Premier League last season.
In both their wins, Gomes has started off the bench, but he backed chief coach Steve Cooper's decision.
"It's up to the manager (to pick the team) and whatever he says, I agree on because we trust the manager and we know he'll make the right decision.
"I think I had a bit of an impact on the game and we coped well in tough conditions. The supporters are loud and they've been very good to us." He further said their focus is now on Iraq as a third win or even a draw will be enough to top Group F and play the pre-quarterfinals here.
"As a team, we stuck to the game plan and we're happy to get the three points and move onto the next game which is Iraq." English defender Tashan Oakley-Boothe hoped that they would continue their rampaging form and hailed the crowd support at the Salt Lake Stadium on both their match days.
"It was a good team performance today but our next target is just to win the next game, which is Iraq.
"We just want the fans to keep going and cheering us on and hopefully we'll be successful." England's previous U-17 World Cup outing in Chile ended on a sour note, as they were knocked out in the group stage.