U19 Euros- Lansbury on the spot for England + Vela the hero for Mexico

The 2009 UEFA European u-19 Championships in Ukraine continued today, with four Arsenal youngsters involved in the tournament.

In Group A, Henri Lansbury lead by example by stroking home a penalty for England in their 2-2 draw with Ukraine. Lansbury was one of two Arsenal youngsters to start, with Gavin Hoyte also lining up, whilst Rhys Murphy was a second-half substitute.

After going behind with just two minutes on the clock when Petrov struck, England forced their way back into proceedings after they were awarded a penalty following a foul on Danny Welbeck in the area.

Lansbury, the captain and heartbeat of the side, stepped up to take it and finished with aplomb.

Everton’s Dan Gosling put the Three Lions ahead in the second period, but Petrov scored again to ensure that it ended honours even.

In Group B Fran Mérida returned from suspension and was impressive throughout, but was unable to prevent Spain from slipping to a 2-1 defeat to Serbia in their second group game. Joselu opened the scoring for Spain, but a brace from Milanović leaves Mérida’s side with three points from their opening two games, with Serbia on top with four points, France third with two points and Turkey rock bottom with just a solitary point.

Arsenal striker Carlos Vela returned from injury to score the winning penalty in Mexico’s Gold Cup semi-final clash with Costa Rica last night.

After a 1-1 draw following extra-time, penalties ensued and, with Ledezma’s penalty being saved, it was left to Carlos to convert to send Mexico into the Final, which he did.

Mexico will now play USA in the Final. You can see Carlos’ winning penalty here.

Determined Miquel looking to build on solid start

After a stunning first campaign at the club, Spanish centre-back Ignasi Miquel will be hoping that he doesn’t suffer a bout of ’second season syndrome’ this time around.

2008/2009 was certainly memorable for ‘Iggy’. A former Barcelona youngster, he was plucked from UD Cornella and went straight into Steve Gatting’s under-16 side.

After an impressive showing at the Zinedine Zidane Tournament in Cannes, Ignasi was slowly integrated into Steve Bould’s under-18s, being named among the substitutes for the trip to Ipswich, although he didn’t make his debut until the home defeat against Norwich at a rain-soaked London Colney in the final game before the winter break.

An injury picked up against the Canaries kept him out of action until March, but he made his comeback away to Chelsea and started five consecutive matches as he kept the now departed Anton Blackwood out of the side.

Three more appearances followed as Ignasi displayed his fantastic aerial ability as well as his well-honed technical skills. At 1.93 m, he is a giant at youth level and, to put things into perspective, is 1cm taller than Nicklas Bendtner.

But the highlight of Ignasi’s innaugral season at the club came in the final week of the campaign, as he made his debut for the Reserves, playing in the double header against West Brom. Partnered by Kyle Bartley on both occasions, Ignasi recovered after a brief lapse in concentration and caught the eyes of many on-lookers.

Now his aim is to get back in Neil Banfield’s plans on a regular basis. He will be primarily involved with the u-18s this term, but has already benefited from an injury to Bartley which enabled him to line up against Lincoln City on Monday night.

Now officially a first-year scholar, Ignasi knows that he cannot rest on his laurels and must prove that he can be consistent at a competitive level.

The early signs are certainly promising, but, with two new centre-backs recently snapped up in Martin Angha and Sead Hajrovic, Ignasi won’t have things all his own way.