ONE of the stars of the last England under-20 team to reach a World Cup semi-final has hailed the "amazing achievement" of Lewis Cook and his colleagues who have gone one better and made the final.

Steve Watson played every minute of the Young Lions' run to the last-four in Australia 24 years ago before forging a highly successful Premier League career with Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Everton.

And he has been especially impressed with the current team's progress – which continued yesterday with a wonderful 3-1 semi-final victory over Italy – given the ultra-competitive nature of today's international game.

Diminutive Cherries midfielder Cook will be the first man since Bobby Moore in 1966 to captain an England side in a World Cup final, when Paul Simpson's team play Venezuela on Sunday.

Crucially, Watson believes Cook is at the perfect club to thrive when he returns from South Korea, unlike some of his England team-mates, who are likely to have their first-team opportunities restricted by big-money imports.

Watson told the Daily Echo: "Our team came through together from the under-16s and had a really good camaraderie.

"Quite a few of us are still in contact with each other now because of that tournament. I saw Darren Caskey, who was our captain, a few weeks ago and we were talking about it.

"Alan Thompson is one of my best mates, and I speak to David Unsworth all the time."

"There is wider pool of players now, so hats off to the lads because it must be more difficult to gel as a group.

"Far more thought goes into it now and we certainly didn’t have any sport science. The kids in every team will have been well coached from a far younger age than we were.

"The competition is probably much harder now, so reaching the final is an absolutely amazing achievement."

The 1993 tournament was played during the English season and Watson was alarmed to return to Newcastle to discover boss Kevin Keegan had signed Barry Venison to fill his right-back spot.

Nevertheless, he has no fears for Cook on that count. Moreover, the Geordie, whose England team lost the 1993 semi-final to Ghana, expects the Cherries player's career to take off on the back of his success in the Far East.

"It is great to see players like Lewis Cook succeeding and doing well," said Watson.

"When I was that age we lost a lot of kids of that height and stature because coaches said they were too small, which is barmy when you look at the game now.

"The most gifted and naturally talented player in the world, Lionel Messi, is proof of that.

"I think the rule changes have helped that type of player because you cannot kick them off the ball any more! The game is far more tailored to those smaller, technical players."

Cook's fellow history makers in Korea are primarily drawn from the Premier League's elite band of clubs. Nine of the team that started against Italy are attached to one of Chelsea, Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool or Tottenham – Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman the other exception.

Everton pair Ademola Lookman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are the only players, besides Cook, who could be considered close to cracking the first-team at their club side.

"You do have a bit of extra confidence knowing you are going to the tournament having played first-team football – and you just hope you can bring that to bear on everyone else," continued Watson, who made his first Newcastle appearance aged 16.

"The time away actually hindered me with my club, because I returned to a team that was flying. I had never been further than Spain before so I came back and I was really starting again.

"But the young lads now will be used to the travelling and they will be looked after physically.

"Whether or not these England players kick on and have careers at the top of the game when they come home probably depends on the club they go back to.

"Playing somewhere like Manchester City or Chelsea, no matter how good you are, they will probably always buy ahead of you.

"If you are a parent or an agent with the best interests of a young player at heart, and not just after a pay packet, you would be sending them to clubs like Everton and Bournemouth.

"Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall are people who believe in the way they play. And that way lends itself to players of any age or size. Bournemouth is a club where you have a much better chance of making it in the first team than you would at a lot of Premier League sides."