U17 World Cup Final: Spain coach Santiago Denia 'heartbroken' by Phil Foden and Co.

Spain were dealt a 2-5 blow by England in the final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday. La Rojita's head coach Santiago Denia was a dejected man after the game but had positive words for the lads who worked their socks off throughout the tournament.

"I am heartbroken. I am very proud of the players, proud of the work in the past 2 years. The efforts go beyond the performance of the final. We won the Euros and are the runner-up in the World Cup. I'm very proud of the team," said Denia, who also identified Manchester City starlet Phil Foden as the player that threatened his team the most.

"England utilised the left wing with Foden cutting in from the right. We had prepared the game not only for the wings but also for the central midfielders. We knew they have good players not only on the wings but overall. Foden was cutting inside and created problems," said Denia. "He is a great player and has a great future ahead. We tried to defend against him as a team. He played great."

Spain had plenty of chances to score and they could have netted more goals. Sergio Gomez (10', 31') scored twice in the first half and at half-time, La Rojita were leading 2-1

"Our forwards played very well for first 40 minutes scoring two goals. England played well overall. They made adjustments perfectly. The message at half-time was to stay forward. They are a very good side and played better than us. Congratulations to them."

Spain stayed true to their football philosophy in the final but Denia stated that the winning side was physically superior to his team.

"I believe that both are very good teams. In the Euros, it was a tie actually. England have improved a lot [since U-17 European Championship final defeat]. I believe they outplayed us physically today."

Sergio Gomez scored a brace in the first half to put Spain ahead in the final but a second-half rout saw England come back to win the final 5-2 and clinch the U-17 World Cup trophy.