Young Dons keeper just 90 minutes away from glory
Joe Bursik is poised to play in a European Championship final with England after he helped the national U-17 team to victory against Turkey today.
The home-grown AFC Wimbledon talent was finally beaten after three successive clean sheets in the tournament, but it mattered little as the young Lions triumphed 2-1 in Croatia to earn a spot in Friday's final.
On a hot evening in Zapresic, first-half goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jadon Sancho secured a hard-fought win with Kerem Kesgin scoring what turned out to be Turkey’s consolation on the stroke of half-time.
Joe could do little to stop Turkey’s goal with Kesgin hammering home from the edge of the area to make England sweat, but Steve Cooper’s men dug deep to earn a place in the final against either Spain or Germany.
England: 1 Josef Bursik (AFC Wimbledon), 2 Timothy Eyoma (Tottenham Hotspur), 3 Lewis Gibson (Newcastle United), 4 George McEachran (Chelsea), 5 Marc Guehi (capt; Chelsea), 6 Jonathan Panzo (Chelsea), 7 Phil Foden (Manchester City), 8 Tashan Oakley-Boothe (Tottenham Hotspur), 9 Rhian Brewster (Liverpool), 10 Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), 11 Jadon Sancho (Manchester City).
Substitutes used: 15 Alex Denny (Everton) for Oakley-Boothe 26, 16 Daniel Loader (Reading) for Hudson-Odoi 69, 18 Emile Smith-Rowe (Arsenal) for Foden 76.
Pic credit: TheFA.com