Man Utd and Swansea starlets react to Wales first U17 Euros win
BUDAÖRS, HUNGARY - 23 MAY 2023: Goal scorers Wales' Gabriele Biancheri and Wales' Iwan Morgan during the 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group A fixture between Cymru & Poland at the Budaörsi Városi Stadion, Budaörs, Hungry. (Pic by John Smith/FAW)
Gabriele Biancheri and Iwan Morgan were delighted after helping Wales achieve their first ever win at the U17 European Championship.
Late goals from the duo helped Craig Knight’s side round of their first U17 Euros campaign on a high note with a 3-0 win against Group A table-toppers Poland.
Biancheri headed Wales ahead before Morgan bagged himself a brace, with a pair of brilliant finishes, having come off the bench.
“I’m buzzing for the lads,” a delighted Biancheri said after the match. “We worked really hard during this tournament. Things haven’t gone our way but we wanted to end on a high and what better way is there to do that than win 3-0 against top of the group.
“Knighty told us before the game to give it our all and end this tournament on a high because this will be the last time we are with each other for a while.
“We knew the result would come, we just had to be patient and trust in ourselves. We worked our butts off out there for each other and it was a deserved result today.”
Heading into Cymru’s final game, Morgan had recorded the most shots at the tournament (eight) without scoring a goal.
Having struck the woodwork early against both Hungary and the Republic of Ireland, the Swansea City youngster remained confident he would notch his first Euros goal.
“I knew my luck was going to come somewhere. I’m just delighted for the boys because we’ve worked really hard over the last god knows how many months to get to this stage.
“To score those two goals meant everything to me. I think it topped off a really good tournament for myself and the team.
“In football, you’re not always going to start. It’s about how you impact and how you help others.
“I don’t want to bring down others when they’ve got to try and focus on playing the full 90. So if my job was to come off the bench and try and make an impact then that’s what I’ve got to do.”
Wales adopted a new formation from their opening two games, switching from a back four to a five-at-the-back system.
This provided them more defensive stability against a Polish side who had scored 15 times in their last three games.
“We tried to match Poland up and it worked to perfection,” Biancheri noted. “The defence was solid and then we caught them on the counter a couple of times, like with Iwan’s goal. It was a quality game to be a part of.”
“The game plan the coaches set was perfect,” Morgan added. “They knew what we had to do to try and get a result and we have done that.
“Fair play to Knighty and the staff, they’ve done one hell of a job on this game, and in the other two games, to try and get a result. Today we got the result and I think they deserve it as well.”
