National under-19 football team: England squad
Goalkeepers: Ellery Balcombe (Brentford), Jamie Cumming (Chelsea)
Defenders: Trevoh Chalobah (Ipswich Town, on loan from Chelsea), Nathan Ferguson (West Bromwich Albion), Ed Francis (Almere City, on loan from Manchester City), Tariq Lamptey (Chelsea), Dujon Sterling (Coventry City, on loan from Chelsea), Japhet Tanganga (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Tom Bayliss (Coventry City), Elliot Embleton (Sunderland), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Nya Kirby (Crystal Palace), Adam Lewis (Liverpool), Max Sanders (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marcus Tavernier (Middlesbrough), Kelland Watts (Newcastle United)
Forwards: Ben Brereton (Nottingham Forest), Niall Ennis (Wolverhampton Wanderers), George Hirst (OH Leuven), Ben Morris (Ipswich Town)
England 2018 Euro U19 expectations
The Three Lions kick off their Euro U19 campaign with a game against Turkey U19 today at 17:30. They enter the tournament as the defending champions, having defeated Portugal U19 in last year’s final in Georgia. England has won the title a total of 10 times, but last years was the first one since 1993.
Trevoh Chalobah, Dujon Sterling and Ben Brereton were all part of last year’s title-winning squad and they bring some much-needed experience to the team. There are also three newcomers – Tom Bayliss, Kelland Watts and Max Sanders are all players who’ll make their England U19 debuts whenever they enter the pitch. It’s a squad which has every chance of repeating 2017’s success. Although coach Paul Simpson would love for it to happen, for him gaining some precious experience is the main objective.
“We’re going to Finland to try and win, but the main objective for this group of players is tournament experience,”
“We ideally want to achieve at least a semi-final spot or better as it will guarantee our place in next year’s U20s World Cup and this group is more than capable of that.”
That U20 World Cup will be held in Poland next summer and is a competition Paul Simpson won last time around. England beat Venezuela in the 2017 final with a goal from Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whereas Dominic Solanke won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. It was England’s first ever U20 World Cup victory.
The 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Finland comes at the right time for the English youngsters after the senior team’s impressive performance at the World Cup in Russia.
“They all want to play for England. There is a huge buzz around England at the moment, especially because of what the senior team have done in Russia, and it’s now up to us to go and continue that positive feeling.”
It is not the ideal time to have the competition in the midst of pre-season preparations, as clubs are forced into constantly deciding what’s better for a particular player’s development, staying with the club or playing in an international tournament.
“It’s bitterly disappointing that, once again, this tournament is scheduled outside a FIFA window which forces clubs to make such difficult decisions.”
“We understand the dilemmas the clubs face around release of players during this particular time of the season and it’s our view, and that of several other countries, that UEFA should take this into account when scheduling tournaments of this magnitude.”
Not all clubs are eager to let their players go. Nevertheless, the ones who are in Finland will certainly give their best.
2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
The 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship started yesterday and will finish on July 29. The final stage consists of eight teams divided into two groups.
Group A
Portugal U19
Italy U19
Finland U19
Norway U19
Group B
England U19
France U19
Turkey U19
Ukraine U19
The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals and also earn automatic 2019 World Cup U19 berths.
