Phil Foden & Jadon Sancho Dropped for England Under-19s Game for Lateness

Manchester City starlet Phil Foden and ex-teammate Jadon Sancho, now with Borussia Dortmund, were both surprise omissions from the England Under-19s team during Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Latvia.

England won the game 3-0 to secure a place in the final tournament this summer, with the junior Lions looking to retain the title after emerging victorious in 2017 - a number of the younger players involved in that win have remained with the team.

Foden and Sancho were both members of the England side that recently tasted victory at the Under-17 World Cup and have made the step up to Under-19 level since. Foden was awarded the Golden Ball as best player for his performances in that tournament. Sancho, meanwhile, was actually recalled by Dortmund after the group stage to report for first-team duty in Germany.

Foden has also since taken his first-team bow at City and together they are considered two of the country's brightest young talents. Therefore, news that both remained unused substitutes against Latvia came as something of a shock until it was reported that disciplinary action was behind it.

The Daily Telegraph has revealed that the pair had been late for a training session in the build up to the game and were subsequently informed by coach Paul Simpson that they would not be playing as a result of that.

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Sancho had come off the bench to score in the 4-1 win against Hungary a few days earlier. Foden didn't make it onto the pitch for that one, but the 17-year-old might have been hoping for at least game time against Latvia until his lateness ruled him out of selection.

As it was, England were fired to victory by goals from Chelsea's Mason Mount, Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah and Sheffield Wednesday's George Hirst.

Whether Foden or Sancho will feature in the final qualifier against Macedonia, now a dead rubber, remains to be seen. But what it clear is that strong discipline and good timekeeping is being drilled into England's next generation, no matter how talented players are.