READING FC goalkeeper Luke Southwood is a World Cup winner.

The talented goalkeeper was part of the England squad which made history by beating Venezuela to win the Under 20 World Cup final in South Korea yesterday.

Their 1-0 victory over the South Americans saw England crowned champions of the world for the first time at any age level since Alf Ramsey's side of 1966.

Their stunning success was even hailed as a 'fantastic achievement' by Sir Geoff Hurst whose hat-trick helped England defeat West Germany 4-2 in that final at Wembley 51 years ago.

Southwood has been a regular member of Paul Simpson's squad for the past year and was among the 21 players who travelled for this summer's tournament.

England topped their group during the pool stages before wins over Costa Rica and Mexico set up a semi-final clash with Italy.

The Young Lions did not disappoint and secured a 3-1 victory to reach the final.

Southwood was named on the bench for the match as back-up to Newcastle's Freddie Woodman.

Woodman went on to play a pivotal role in the result by saving a late Adalberto Penaranda penalty after Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin had fired England ahead.

Reading Chronicle:

Reading FC goalkeeper Luke Southwood.

"We don't need any more songs talking about 50 years of hurt,” beamed Simpson in reference to the song Three Lions.

“Let's enjoy what we have done, it is a wonderful achievement from them. We are the world champions at Under 20 level which isn't easy.

“This will be an incredible experience for them to take forward whatever they go on to do.

“They will remember this for the rest of their lives and get confidence from this and hopefully the whole of the country can enjoy their achievements."

Meanwhile, Chris Gunter gained his 79th cap for Wales during last night's 1-1 draw away to Serbia in a World Cup qualifier.

It was the Reading full-back's 58th match for club and country this season and the 27-year-old is now third on Wales' all-time appearance list, with just 13 fewer caps than Neville Southall.

Chris Coleman's men took the lead in Belgrade thanks to Aaron Ramsey's 'Panenka' penalty only to concede an Aleksandar Mitrovic equaliser 17 minutes from time.

The draw leaves Welsh hopes to reaching the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia hanging by a thread as they are third in Group D, four points adrift of Serbia and Republic of Ireland with four games remaining.

Royals Under 23 youngsters Zak Jules and Jordan Holsgrove helped Scotland to a 3-0 win over Czech Republic to secure the bronze medal in the Toulon Tournament.

Defender Jules, 20, started the match while midfielder Holsgrove, 17, came on after 40 minutes to help Scot Gemmill's side to victory in the third-placed play-off thanks to strikes from Ryan Hardie and Craig Wighton plus an own goal.

Reading striker Deniss Rakels played the second-half of Latvia's 3-0 defeat to a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal on Friday night, leaving them bottom of their World Cup qualifying group.

Fellow Royals Adrian Popa (Romania) and Anssi Jaakkola (Finland) are also on international duty with their countries.