Lee Elam lifts World Cup with England Veterans in Thailand

The annual tournament, which is held in Thailand, made its comeback for the 15th edition of the competition from 5-10 June and Eccleshill United boss Lee Elam played a starring role for the Three Lions, as England lifted the trophy after beating Iran 1-0 in the final last Saturday.

Paul Bell’s team once again flew the flag for their country at the competition – finishing top of a group that included Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand, before facing Australia in the semi-finals and Iran in the final to be victorious.

Three minutes into the second half, Rob Pell scored the only goal of what was a tight finale, when he directed Elam’s cross into the back of Iran’s net – the first goal that England’s opposition, full of ex- professionals, had conceded in the whole tournament.

Elam, who was voted England’s players’ player of the tournament, spoke about his trip to Thailand in glowing terms, saying: “I’ve obviously been a few times now, but this tournament was up there with one of the best experiences I’ve had; obviously winning the competition played a massive part in making this trip so special too.”

He added: “Thailand as a country is special, the people are great and we are always made to feel welcome when we play there. It’s almost as if we get a different experience each time we go to play this tournament, which is always a positive.”

Lee Elam holds a pennant before England's match with Indonesia (Image: Lee Elam)

The weather in Thailand is often unpredictable and Elam admitted that it was challenging to play in the varying conditions at points.

He said: “It was the rainy season whilst we were out there, but we were quite lucky with the weather on that front as it only rained heavily on one occasion when we were there. It rained when we played New Zealand in the group stage, and that made the pitch quite heavy and difficult to play on. The biggest challenge is the humidity; you certainly feel it on your lungs, and it makes it tough to get your breathing pattern regulated. You certainly need a short rest after a couple of sprints,” Elam joked.

Reflecting on his side’s performances throughout the tournament, Elam said: “The standard was strong this year, but we started very well – winning our first game 4-0 against Indonesia. That gave us a lot of confidence ahead of the last two group games. The New Zealand game was tight but we edged that 1-0, and then Thailand weren’t as good as we expected in all honesty; we were anticipating a much stronger challenge; that game was 4-1 in the end.

Elam added: “From then on, as we moved into the knockout stages, we were very confident because we always felt that we had a strong squad this year, with the addition of some new faces. You take a 25-man squad to the tournament, so we managed plenty of rotation in the group games, which allowed us to go into the Australia game in a good shape. That was a tough game, and then moving into the final it’s anybody’s match really. We played a strong final match; we defended well and then took our opportunity.”

Reflecting on his match-winning assist in this year’s final, Elam said: “It was an old-style English goal. We’d been playing the ball around on the floor for a while, but our keeper spotted me with a diagonal long ball. I was able to collect the ball on my favoured left-wing spot; I cut in, crossed the ball and thankfully Rob managed to score.”

Giving an insight into his playing style, Elam joked: “I’ve always been a traditional winger – someone who likes to beat their man and cross the ball. A young George Best they say.”

Eccleshill’s boss confirmed that his own players return for pre-season on June 23, whilst he also thanked Smith and Butler Accountants for sponsoring his England Veterans' Thailand trip.

The England squad prepare for one of their five matches across the tournament, with Lee Elam bottom left (Image: Submitted)