Lewis Baker of England (C) celebrates his side’s first goal during the Toulon Tournament match between Paraguay and England at Stade Antoinr Baptiste on May 25, 2016 in Six-Fours-Les-Plages, France.
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The defeat was Japan’s third in four group games, with their only win being a 2-1 win against Guinea.
Gareth Southgate’s under-21 side beat the host nation 2-1 in the final to record a fifth win in five games and clinch a first success in this competition since 1994.
“When you have a situation like we have, you’ve got to make sure you take advantage of it and I thought the players were exceptional today, but also for the whole two weeks”.
The Chelsea man sprang the offside trap before nodding over Florian Escales and into the goal to register his fourth goal of the tournament and seal the top scorer accolade in the process.
Goalkeper Jordan Pickford rescued England when he foiled Roli Peirera Da Sa in the 37th minute.
Blues club-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek then doubled the lead with a composed finish from 15 yards, as although Abdou Diallo’s close-range finish gave France some hope late on, England held on to triumph. Again, the Three Lions keeper was equal to it though.
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James Ward-Prowse became the first England captain to lift the trophy since Jamie Redknapp 22 years previously as his side capped a memorable 10 days at the youth tournament.
