While he's away with the England Under-20 squad for the 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup, James Ward-Prowse is blogging exclusively for saintsfc.co.uk.
England made it two draws from as many games last night, as they came from behind to record a 1-1 scoreline against Chile. Ward-Prowse and his teammates now face a vital game against Egypt in Bursa this Sunday, and the midfielder took time out of his preparations to email over his latest report:
The games are coming thick and fast now for us – two games in four days followed by another one this coming Saturday. This is what international tournament football is all about!
Having had a recovery day on Monday, it wasn't long before the lads picked the spirits up within the camp following us dropping points against Iraq. It's important that we picked ourselves up because – unlike league football in a season where you'd have a week to get over it – we had a couple of days to get in the right frame of mind for facing Chile.
Tuesday was an important day for us in terms of preparation because, although we were still recovering from the game, we also did a light session working on the things we didn't do so well against Iraq.
In the morning we did some pre-habilitation work poolside, followed by some extra stretching for those who had played. By playing tournament football, the importance of recovery is even greater for me now.
Having finished training, we headed back to the hotel to rest up. On the Wednesday, again every one awoke focused and ready for the game. We had all prepared ourselves for the different conditions we would face as the later kick off against Iraq was bearable, but the earlier kick off against Chile was going to be tough physically.
As the game edged closer, the manager named the starting XI and I was pleased to have kept my place in the team. There is a real competition for places so I was happy I was able to keep my place.
Having then analysed the opposition, we made our way to the stadium. Kick off time had finally arrived and that moment of walking out of the tunnel came round again. I really can't describe the feelings and emotions that go through your head walking out and playing for England!
Me in action against Chile last night
In the first half we started off slowly and they soon went 1-0 up through winning a penalty. We re-grouped at half time with the manager letting us know that we would get back into the game, and we did make it 1-1 midway through the second half.
We were unlucky not to win the game but we were pleased with our improvements from the first game - we've been a group that's improved day-by-day. As soon as we got back to the hotel, we had our recovery session where we did a gentle bike session, ice baths and some pool work.
The following morning we were up at 6.30am and off to the airport to make our way to Bursa for our final group game against Egypt. It was slightly strange as we shared a plane with Egypt – but we were in higher spirits as they had just lost to Iraq!
A bit of rest time followed in the afternoon once we arrived, and we had a gentle recovery session in the evening where we played a bit of head tennis and some light stretching. Focus turns immediately to Egypt this Saturday as it's a must-win game!
England Under-20s are next in action on Saturday evening when they take on Egypt at 7pm BST. Keep checking saintsfc.co.uk over the coming days for more of James's blogs direct from Turkey.
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