An Impossible Man

[CFuller]

***

 

Though England Under-19s had failed to qualify for the European Championship, some of their players would still have a major tournament to look forward to in 2017.

 

Back in 2016, England had gone all the way to the Semi Finals of the Under-19s Euros in Germany. The Young Lions - then managed by Adrian Boothroyd - were eventually beaten 2-1 by Italy. That run had earned them a place at the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup - a global tournament for the best Under-20s national teams.

 

This was the 11th time that England had qualified for this bi-annual competition since its inception in 1977. They had only ever got as far as the Semi Finals - way back in 1981 and 1993, when it had been known as the FIFA World Youth Championship. England managed to pick up 3rd place - and the bronze medal - on the latter occasion, but they hadn't come remotely close to replicating that success since.

 

The 2017 U20 World Cup would be held in South Korea. Although the tournament was traditionally held in June/July, the Korean hosts opted to move the start of this event to mid-May, so that it wouldn't clash with the country's rainy season. This year's finals would therefore be played between 20 May and 11 June.

 

The U20 World Cup had a format very similar to that of the senior UEFA European Championship. The 23 qualified teams and the host nation would be drawn into six groups of four teams. The top two teams in each group, along with the four best third-placed sides, would then advance to the Last 16.

 

2015 champions Serbia would not be defending their title, as they had failed to qualify for the Under-19s Euros the following year. Also noticeably absent were five-time winners Brazil, who had missed out on qualification for just the third time in the competition's history.

 

The draw took place early in April, about seven weeks before the tournament was scheduled to begin:

 

2017 FIFA U20 World Cup Group Stage draw

GROUP A: Italy, Mali, New Zealand, South Korea (hosts)

GROUP B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Uzbekistan

GROUP C: Australia, Canada, Croatia, Ivory Coast

GROUP D: Argentina, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu

GROUP E: Colombia, Mexico, Portugal, Zambia

GROUP F: Chile, Germany, Iran, United States

 

Truth be told, England could have ended up in a much more difficult group. Paraguay seemed to be their only serious rivals for the Group B leadership on paper. Neither Trinidad & Tobago nor Uzbekistan boasted any particularly noteworthy talents, although their unknown quantities at least had the potential to surprise.

 

Particularly studious England fans would note that this Group B bore a striking resemblance to the Group B that the Three Lions had wound up in at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The only difference here was that the Uzbeks had taken Sweden's place.

 

England would be based in the south-eastern coastal city of Changwon for the entirety of the Group Stage. They would initially face Paraguay on 21 May, and then Trinidad & Tobago on 24 May, before meeting Uzbekistan on 27 May.

 

England Under-19s head coach Matthew Wells was placed in charge of the Under-20s for this World Cup. His right-hand men Ledley King and Frank Lampard would also be heading to South Korea, as would goalkeeping coach Mark Beeney.

 

Manager Mark Catterall had long decided that he would not be attending these finals, as he wanted to concentrate on the senior team as well as the upcoming UEFA European Under-21s Championship. However, he did pick the 21-man squad who would strive to bring the U20 World Cup home.

 

ENGLAND UNDER-20s squad - for 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup

NAME                      POSITIONS           D.O.B. (AGE)     CLUB            HEIGHT WEIGHT     VALUE
Harry Lewis               GK                  20/12/1997 (19)  Southampton     6'3"   12st 1lb   £450K   
Will Mannion              GK                  05/05/1998 (18)  Hull            6'2"   12st 8lbs  £210K   
Freddie Woodman           GK                  04/03/1997 (20)  Kilmarnock      6'1"   10st 12lbs £850K   
Kyle Walker-Peters        D (RL)              13/04/1997 (20)  Preston         5'6"   9st 12lbs  £3.7M   
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson D (LC), DM          02/02/1997 (20)  Wolves          5'11"  11st 13lbs £4.8M   
Dael Fry                  D (C)               30/08/1997 (19)  Middlesbrough   6'5"   11st 4lbs  £525K   
Axel Tuanzebe             D (C)               14/11/1997 (19)  Man Utd         6'0"   12st 1lb   £850K   
James Bree                D/WB (R), M (RC)    11/12/1997 (19)  Aston Villa     6'0"   11st 9lbs  £600K   
Josh Tymon                D/WB (L)            22/05/1999 (17)  Hull            5'8"   10st 1lb   £400K   
Lewis Cook                DM, M (C)           03/02/1997 (20)  Celtic          5'9"   10st 12lbs £9.5M   
Tom Davies                DM, M (C)           30/06/1998 (18)  Everton         5'10"  11st 0lbs  £7.5M   
Sam Field                 DM, M/AM (C)        08/05/1998 (18)  Cardiff         5'10"  11st 6lbs  £4.8M   
Izzy Brown                M (RL), AM (RLC)    07/01/1997 (20)  Huddersfield    6'1"   12st 1lb   £8.5M   
Sheyi Ojo                 M (L), AM (RLC)     19/06/1997 (19)  Liverpool       6'1"   9st 12lbs  £5M     
Josh Sims                 M (L), AM (LC)      23/03/1997 (20)  Ipswich         5'5"   9st 8lbs   £7.75M  
Ovie Ejaria               M (C), AM (LC)      18/11/1997 (19)  AFC Wimbledon   6'0"   12st 1lb   £625K   
Joshua Onomah             M/AM (C)            27/04/1997 (20)  Tottenham       6'0"   12st 10lbs £8.25M  
Jonathan Leko             AM (RL), ST (C)     24/04/1999 (18)  West Brom       6'2"   10st 12lbs £950K   
Dominic Solanke           AM (RL), ST (C)     14/09/1997 (19)  Burnley         6'2"   12st 10lbs £3.2M   
Bright Enobakhare         AM (C), ST (C)      18/05/1998 (18)  Oxford          5'11"  11st 6lbs  £800K   
Stephy Mavididi           ST (C)              31/05/1998 (18)  Charlton        6'0"   11st 6lbs  £600K   

 

Catterall selected several players who'd already played for him and Wells at Under-19s level. Tom Davies - the highly-rated Everton midfielder who'd played in 11 Premier League games this season - was the pick of that particular bunch. Sam Field, Jonathan Leko, Will Mannion, Stephy Mavididi and Josh Tymon also earned promotions to the Under-20s.

 

There were also a handful of players who'd played for the Under-21s but would not be considered for the European Championship. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Joshua Onomah, Kyle Walker-Peters and Freddie Woodman had each picked up a couple of caps at that age level, while Dominic Solanke appeared on three occasions prior to Catterall's appointment.

 

Then there were those who were too old to represent the Under-19s, yet not quite good enough for the Under-21s. One player who fell into that category was Izzy Brown - the on-loan Chelsea winger whose nine goals and 11 assists were instrumental in helping Huddersfield Town win promotion to the Premier League. Another was midfielder Lewis Cook, who'd played at the back end of Celtic's Scottish Premiership-winning campaign after being loaned in from AFC Bournemouth.

 

Manchester United centre-back Axel Tuanzebe would captain the Young Lions in South Korea. The DR Congo-born defender had featured in six cup games for United this season and was hotly tipped to make his PL debut later in the year.

 

Another player of whom much was expected was attacking midfielder Onomah, who'd just turned 20. The Londoner made eight substitute appearances in the Premier League for title-chasing Tottenham this season.

[CFuller]

***

 

England were among the first teams to arrive in South Korea ahead of the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup. Mark Catterall was adamant that the Young Lions got as much time to prepare for the finals as possible if they were to go far.

 

Catterall wouldn't attend the tournament in person, but he would follow their progress back home and stay in regular communication with head coach Matthew Wells. He watched the first of their three group games from a hotel room in Sunderland, at midday on the final Sunday of the Premier League season. Once that match was finished, he would then travel to the Stadium of Light to witness the potential PL title decider between mid-table Sunderland and league leaders Tottenham Hotspur.

 

For England, a strong start in their opening Group B fixture was paramount. Paraguay represented arguably the biggest danger in their group, with a close-knit team full of players with plenty of potential. Almost all of them played their club football in South America - the only exception being centre-half Richard Friedenlieb, who was in Torino's development squad.

 

It was one of England's centre-backs who would rise to the occasion for the game's opening goal after only seven minutes. Middlesbrough defender Dael Fry towered above Paraguayan right-back Fabián Franco as he nodded Kyle Walker-Peters' free-kick into the net, giving the Young Lions an early lead.

 

Franco would help Paraguay to make amends just four minutes later. Franco's square pass to midfielder Gianlucca Fatecha was moved on to captain Yonathan Samaniego, who then found his strike partner Pedro Báez. Although he was surrounded by a host of white shirts in the England penalty area, Báez still got himself in enough space to fire his shot past a hesitant Freddie Woodman.

 

La Albirroja were level, but they were soon having to defend against another England set-piece. Hull City left-back Josh Tymon's 14th-minute corner delivery to Fry was headed just over the bar by the Teessider.

 

In the 21st minute, Tymon had a throw in deep in Paraguay's half. He threw the ball short to Stephy Mavididi, who swerved it through the penalty area. A quick-thinking Walker-Peters - one of two Tottenham players in the England team - ran onto the centre and lashed it past goalkeeper Marino Arzamendia to restore the Young Lions' advantage.

 

Four minutes after this excellent assist, it looked like Mavididi would double England's lead with a fine goal of his own. Midfielder Joshua Onomah - Tottenham's other Young Lion - played a weighted ball ahead of Mavididi, who beat Paraguayan centre-half Saúl Salcedo to the pass but then failed to drive an angled shot beyond Arzamendia.

 

Arzamendia displayed some alert goalkeeping in the 41st minute, catching another headed effort from the impressive Fry. At the other end of the pitch, Fry and his fellow England defenders - led by captain Axel Tuanzebe - did well to lessen the threat posed by Paraguay's three-pronged attack. The Young Lions went into the interval still 2-1 ahead.

 

The first few minutes of the second half saw a couple of missed opportunities from Mavididi. The Charlton Athletic striker headed wide from Walker-Peters' cross in the 48th minute, two minutes before finding himself in an even better position to make it 3-1. Holding midfielder Lewis Cook exploited a huge gap in the Paraguayan defence to find Mavididi in space, but the 18-year-old target man's strike flew inches over the crossbar.

 

Arzamendia' first save after the restart was from England's substitute forward Bright Enobakhare in the 53rd minute. He would also thwart midfielder Sam Field a minute later before doing the same to Onomah in the 59th. While England were certainly creating chances, they weren't being particularly clinical with them.

 

England's hearts would skip a beat in the 62nd minute, when Paraguay right-back Marcelo Arce - who replaced Franco at half-time - hit the bar with a header from Hernán Garcete's deep cross. The South Americans continued to put England under increasing pressure as time went on. Eventually, the stresses of having to lessen the impacts of three Paraguayan frontmen - Báez, Samaniego, and 17-year-old Fernando Romero - would prove too great for the Young Lions.

 

A 73rd-minute counter-attack saw La Albirroja stretch the English defence to breaking point. Romero got away from both Tymon and Fry to take a Fatecha through-ball down the right flank before crossing it into the six-yard box. That was where he found Samaniego, who volleyed in a breathtaking equaliser after getting ahead of Walker-Peters. Woodman was simply left stranded in the England goal.

 

The Young Lions attempted to move in front for a third time, but without success. Substitute midfielder Ovie Ejaria had a shot closed down by Paraguay defender Abel Paredes on 78 minutes. Three minutes after that, a right-wing cross from Enobakhare caused Arzamendia some panic before the Albirroja captain pushed it behind his byline.

 

In the 88th minute, though, Paraguay's troublesome trio went back on the offensive. After Garcete knocked the ball away from Onomah's feet, Romero squared the ball out left to Báez, who kept the English defence guessing by aiming a first-time cross to Samaniego on the right.

 

Samaniego had plenty of space to run into, but his final shot wasn't quite clinical enough, and Woodman made what would prove to be a vital fingertip save for England. The scoreline would remain at 2-2 until the referee called time on what had been a truly fascinating encounter.

 

When all was said and done, both Paraguay and England could be reasonably happy with a point apiece from their opening fixture. Mind you, Uzbekistan were ecstatic, having kicked off the tournament with a 1-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago. The White Wolves went straight to the top of Group B, while the Soca Warriors had to gee themselves up for what was likely to be a very difficult clash with England three days later.

 

21 May 2017: FIFA U20 World Cup Group B - at Changwon Stadium, Changwon

Paraguay U20s - 2 (Pedro Báez 11, Yonathan Samaniego 73)

England U20s - 2 (Dael Fry 7, Kyle Walker-Peters 21)

ENGLAND U20s LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Freddie Woodman; Kyle Walker-Peters, Axel Tuanzebe (Cameron Borthwick-Jackson), Dael Fry, Josh Tymon; Lewis Cook; Tom Davies, Sam Field (Ovie Ejaria); Joshua Onomah; Dominic Solanke (Bright Enobakhare), Stephy Mavididi.

[CFuller]

***

 

After watching England's opening game at the FIFA U20 World Cup, Mark Catterall set off for the Stadium of Light. The England manager was potentially about to see five of his senior players be crowned Premier League champions.

 

Tottenham Hotspur only needed a draw in their final game of the season at Sunderland to win the title. A defeat, however, would potentially open the door for Liverpool to steal the title, providing they defeated West Ham United at the London Stadium.

 

Only two of Catterall's England players - midfielder Eric Dier and striker Harry Kane - actually played in this season-ending match, though reserve right-back Kieran Trippier was a third English representative in the starting XI. Full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker were both serving suspensions, while midfielder Dele Alli was out with a minor injury. Regardless, Catterall was looking forward to witnessing what was sure to be a thrilling conclusion to the league campaign.

 

Tottenham's title hopes were thrown into disarray just 14 seconds after kick-off. Sunderland's former Spurs striker Jermain Defoe blasted an unstoppable effort into the top corner of Hugo Lloris' net, putting the hosts in front. Worse news was to follow for the travelling Londoners in the 19th minute, when news filtered through that Scotland left-back Kieran Tierney had given Liverpool the lead at West Ham, thus putting the Reds on pole position to snatch the trophy.

 

Three minutes later, however, it was advantage Tottenham again. Erik Lamela's byline delivery across the hosts' goalmouth found the feet of winter signing Gustavo Scarpa, and the young Brazilian attacking midfielder easily tucked the ball past Sunderland's homegrown goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Spurs were level, and as things stood, the title was theirs.

 

When Lamela was fouled by home defender Jason Denayer in the Sunderland area two minutes before half-time, referee Lee Mason awarded Tottenham a potentially decisive penalty. Kane duly powered his 30th goal of the season past Pickford, and it appeared that Spurs' 56-year wait to win the league championship was finally about to end.

 

Mind you, Sunderland weren't going to make things easy for the title chasers in the second half. The Black Cats put their visitors under significant pressure early on, though it wasn't until the 70th minute that they equalised through Defoe's close-range volley from a Fabio Borini cross.

 

The final 20 minutes were very tense for Spurs fans everywhere. Hearing Mason blow his final whistle before Sunderland could force in a late winning goal was music to their ears. For the first time since the era of Bill Nicholson and Danny Blanchflower, Tottenham Hotspur could call themselves the kings of English league football.

 

Manager Mauricio Pochettino was overcome by emotion at full-time. He had capped off Tottenham's final season at White Hart Lane by delivering the title that they had craved the most. Spurs were only the seventh different champions of the Premier League era, and French goalkeeper Lloris became their first captain to lift the trophy in its 25-season history.

 

As it transpired, Tottenham's coronation would have happened anyway, even if they had lost to Sunderland. Despite leading 2-0 at half-time in east London, Liverpool had inexplicably collapsed to a 3-2 defeat against West Ham, ending their fleeting hopes of glory. That result would actually see Jürgen Klopp's side - who had led the title race for all of three minutes on the final day - slip to 3rd place, behind bitter rivals Manchester United.

 

After their on-pitch celebrations, Tottenham's players got themselves showered and dressed, ready to resume their festivities elsewhere. Just as they were about to leave the ground, Kane and Alli were stopped by Catterall, who offered his congratulations to them in person.

 

"I felt like a proud dad watching you this afternoon, lads," Catterall beamed. "I'm so delighted for you both, and the other English lads as well."

 

Alli humbly admitted, "Thanks, but you shouldn't be congratulating me, really. I didn't play today. The guys you should be congrating are Harry, and Eric, and Kieran."

 

"You had a fantastic season, Dele! Yes, you might not have been on the pitch for that final game, but you can still call yourself a Premier League champion."

 

"Just like you."

 

"Yes, just like me. You alright, son? You don't look delighted."

 

Alli shrugged, "I guess... it'll just take a little while for it to sink in. I still can't believe it."

 

"Okay, but what about you, Harry?"

 

"Yeah, mate, I'm over the moon," Kane smiled. "I'm on top of the world, y'know, pleased as Punch, y'know, on cloud nine, y'know... I'm pleased as Punch, mate!"

 

"I get it, you're ecstatic, and you should be. I'm sure you're even prouder that you basically scored the goal that won the title."

 

"Yeah, y'know, that penalty was a big one. But I weren't nervous, y'know, I was cool as a cucumber, y'know, I was chilled, relaxed..."

 

"Harry, mate, you can stop now!" Alli laughed.

 

"Oh, alright... but, y'know, obviously, it's the best day of my life. Apart from when my daughter was born, obviously. And when I met my girlfriend Kate, obviously. Yeah, y'know, today's a good day."

 

Alli was now checking through the contacts on his phone. Noticing this, Catterall said to him, "I suppose the phone hasn't stopped ringing for you, has it?"

 

"Nah, it hasn't. I've had, like, 100 calls since full-time. I had my agent on the phone just before you came over. Apparently, BT Sport want me to do a commercial for them for next season."

 

"I'm not surprised. You two are like the David Beckham and Michael Owen of your generation. The ad men won't be able to get enough of you."

 

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna take BT up on their offer. My agent says they've already got Draymond Green and Maro Itoje lined up as well. I'm buzzing to work with them."

 

A bemused Kane asked, "What's a Maro Itoje?"

 

Catterall explained, "Maro Itoje plays rugby, but not proper rugby - the silly stop-start rugby that a lot of southern softies play."

 

Alli then dialled a number and murmured, "I'd better tell Josh the good news."

 

"Who's Josh?" Catterall asked, before suddenly realising who he was referring to. "You mean Josh Onomah? Erm, Dele, I don't think that's a..."

 

As Catterall was about to finish his sentence, a tired-sounding Joshua Onomah was heard saying down Alli's phone, "Er... hello?"

 

Alli called out joyfully, "Alright there, Josh? It's Dele!"

 

"Why you calling me, bruv? It's, like, half past three in the morning here!"

 

"We've won the league!"

 

"Er... sorry, mate, can you repeat that?"

 

"We won the Prem, Josh! We're the champions!"

 

The connection went quiet for a few seconds, before Onomah screamed, "OH MY GOD! SPURS WON THE LEAGUE! WE'VE WON THE F***ING LEAGUE!"

 

Another voice could then be heard in the background, yelling, "CAN YOU KEEP THE F***ING NOISE DOWN? PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!"

 

Kane and Alli smiled awkwardly as Catterall said, "I guess I'll be off, then. I should be halfway down the A1 by now. Jenny's gonna be livid when I get home."

 

"Yeah, meet you in a couple of weeks, gaffer," Alli nodded as Catterall walked into the car park.

 

"See you later, mate!" Kane called out. "And tell Luke that my penalty was for him!"

 

Alli said, "Luke's a Man United fan, ain't he?"

 

"Oh, right. Forgot."

[CFuller]

***

 

Three days after a hard-fought draw against Paraguay, England continued their quest to win the FIFA U20 World Cup with what was likely to be a rather less strenuous match. Trinidad & Tobago were low on confidence after losing their opening match to Uzbekistan, and the Caribbean minnows were on course to win Group B's wooden spoon.

 

The Young Lions pounced on the wounded Soca Warriors as soon as they got the chance. The match was barely a minute old when England were awarded a penalty. Trinbagonian striker Timothy Gay had bundled his opposite number Dominic Solanke over as players from both sides looked to reach a free-kick delivery from Sam Field.

 

Joshua Onomah stepped up to take the spot-kick, which he fired to T&T goalkeeper Kareem Williams' right. Williams dove the same way, but Onomah's effort was too clinical. 1-0 to England.

 

It was perhaps fair to say that Onomah was on a high, having recently celebrated his team Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League victory. Though the young midfielder's eight substitute appearances were not enough to qualify for a winner's medal, he was still enormously proud to have played a part in Mauricio Pochettino's title-winning team. He was now bidding for more success under another Tottenham coach - Matthew Wells, who combined his role as England Under-20s head coach with a prominent role in Spurs' Under-21s set-up.

 

Although Williams did well to save a couple of efforts from Field later on, he would be beaten again in the fifth minute, as Onomah transformed from scorer to creator. After his corner was cleared back towards him by full-back Kori Cupid, Onomah swung in a follow-up cross that was volleyed home at the near post by Liverpool forward Sheyi Ojo.

 

Onomah was in full flow, and he would tear the Soca Warriors apart once more after eight minutes. As T&T anchor man Akile Jones tried to close him down, Onomah quickly played the ball forward to Field, who then knocked it first time into the path of Solanke.

 

Williams needed to hold firm and stop Solanke's shot, but he could only parry it towards Izzy Brown at his right-hand post. The Huddersfield Town forward fired the ball against said post with his left foot, before nonchalantly stroked in the rebound with his right. The Young Lions had already taken a three-goal lead without needing to break much sweat.

 

That wasn't the end of the early English rout, mind you. Another Field free-kick caused the Soca Warriors even more issues in the 11th minute. England vice-captain Dael Fry nodded Field's latest set-piece on for Onomah to thrash in his second goal of the night!

 

Though they now had a four-goal cushion with loads of time remaining, the Young Lions still would not relent. Captain Axel Tuanzebe tried to get his name on the scoresheet in the 18th minute, when the Manchester United defender flicked another excellent Field free-kick goalwards. Tuanzebe's header was cleared off the line by Kareem Riley, but Trinidad & Tobago's respite was brief.

 

England were awarded yet another free-kick in a dangerous position after 24 minutes, when Cupid upended Ojo right on the edge of the Trinbagonians' penalty area. This time, Cardiff City loanee Field went straight for goal, curling it over the wall and beyond the reach of the diving Williams. With a little over a quarter of the game gone, England were leading by FIVE goals to nil!

 

Trinidad & Tobago were in complete disarray, and discipline was soon becoming a major issue for them. Both of their full-backs - Cupid on the left, and Mylz Barrington on the right - would join Lewis in the book just after the half-hour. Then, on 36 minutes, their defence was on the cusp of leaking a sixth goal.

 

Onomah was chasing a first-half treble for England, though a determined block from centre-half Dexter Thomas thwarted his hat-trick dream. The ball deflected towards Ojo, who would've joined Onomah on two goals had Williams not managed to catch his strike just in the nick of time.

 

Trinidad & Tobago finally got an opportunity to attack England in the 41st minute. The Young Lions struggled to clear their lines after a Lewis free-kick, and their own Mr Lewis - Southampton goalkeeper Harry - would soon be beaten by a lethal finish from 16-year-old Gay. The Soca Warriors had pulled one goal back with what would not only be their only shot of the first period, but also their only shot of the entire match.

 

England held a 5-1 lead at the interval, but they were still looking for ways to enhance their position. Onomah and Ojo came off at half-time, and a couple of wingers - Josh Sims and Jonathan Leko - were brought on in their places. The Young Lions' attackers would run at the T&T defence more regularly in the second half, with the aim of getting one of their cautioned players sent off.

 

Three Soca Warriors were already on yellow cards, and that number would become four when centre-back Kierron Mason upended Solanke in the first minute after the restart. England weren't quite on their best behaviour either; midfielder Ovie Ejaria would see yellow on 51 minutes following a push on T&T captain Isaiah Hudson.

 

After 60 minutes, England's ploy of drawing a Trinbagonian defender into a red card succeeded. Sims was tripped just outside the penalty area by Barrington, prompting the Malian referee to reach for his pocket. Barrington was off, and the Soca Warriors were now one man down as well as four goals down.

 

The Young Lions could now dictate terms as they saw fit. Before long, they were on the hunt for a sixth goal. An impressive low save from Williams kept Solanke off the scoresheet in the 62nd minute, but Sims would not be denied five minutes later. The Southampton left-winger, who'd just completed a season-long loan at Ipswich Town, latched onto a terrible clearance from Hudson and cut the ball into the far corner of the T&T net.

 

Left-back Josh Tymon then hit the post in the 75th minute before playing a key role in England's seventh goal barely a minute later. Tymon found Sims, who sliced open Trinidad & Tobago's offside trap with a cutting pass that was finished by Leko on the right wing.

 

Though England could've made the scoreline even more embarrassing for their Caribbean opponents, 7-1 was how it finished. The Young Lions had been completely dominant from start to finish.

 

England were now top of Group B, and level on four points with Paraguay, who'd also recorded an emphatic win in their second match - 4-0 against Uzbekistan. The Uzbeks were a single point behind the top two, while Trinidad & Tobago were out of the running.

 

Matthew Wells' Young Lions only needed a draw in their final group match against Uzbekistan to guarantee a top-two finish, and a place in the Last 16. A shock defeat would most likely see them drop out of the automatic qualification spots, in which case they would hope to sneak through as one of the four best 3rd-placed teams.

 

24 May 2017: FIFA U20 World Cup Group B - at Changwon Stadium, Changwon

England U20s - 7 (Joshua Onomah pen2,11, Sheyi Ojo 5, Izzy Brown 8, Sam Field 24, Josh Sims 67, Jonathan Leko 76)

Trinidad & Tobago U20s - 1 (Timothy Gay 41)

ENGLAND U20s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Harry Lewis; James Bree, Dael Fry, Axel Tuanzebe (Josh Tymon), Cameron Borthwick-Jackson; Sam Field, Ovie Ejaria; Sheyi Ojo (Jonathan Leko), Joshua Onomah (Josh Sims), Izzy Brown; Dominic Solanke. BOOKED: Ejaria 51.

[CFuller]

***

 

England went into their final FIFA U20 World Cup group game with Uzbekistan in the knowledge that they would almost certainly be continuing in the tournament. Only a sensational defeat to the Central Asians, and a similarly incredible turn of events in various other groups, would keep them out of the Last 16.

 

England could simply afford to grind out a draw and still qualify automatically... but Mark Catterall wouldn't be doing with that. Catterall had been following his youngsters' progress in South Korea from back home. In a video call on the eve of the Uzbekistan match, he warned the players that nothing less than a convincing victory - to keep them top of Group B - would be deemed acceptable in his eyes.

 

Spurred on by their manager, and additional words of motivation from head coach Matthew Wells, the Young Lions quickly roared into life. The match had barely even started when attacking midfielder Bright Enobakhare's low drive was frantically pushed behind by Uzbekistan goalkeeper Umid Xamraev.

 

That aside, England's first few attacks showed real signs of tension. Frontman Stephy Mavididi flicked no fewer than three headers off target in the opening ten minutes. West Bromwich Albion winger Jonathan Leko and Celtic midfielder Lewis Cook also missed opportunities to open the scoring.

 

England just needed to be a bit patient, and then the breakthrough would come. That moment arose after 20 minutes, when Sheyi Ojo deftly sidefooted a Cook cross ahead of Mavididi in the penalty area. This time, Mavididi was able to break clear of the Uzbekistan defence and curl a shot beyond a hesitant Xamraev.

 

Mavididi had got his long-awaited goal, but now it was Ojo who was struggling to get his shots on target. He had a gaping target to aim that when Leko flicked Kyle Walker-Peters' right-wing cross into his path in the 26th minute... but it was very much a case of 'Oh no' from Ojo. The Liverpool winger - who'd been tipped to become the next John Barnes at Anfield - headed Leko's flick-on inexplicably wide.

 

Another chance slipped away from Ojo in the 31st minute. He did the hard work by running onto a header from England captain Axel Tuanzebe and turning past Uzbek left-back Linar Juraev en route to the penalty area, but he then curled his strike over the bar.

 

England were now battering Uzbekistan with shots, at a rate of about one every other minute. When the first half was said and done, the Young Lions had registered no fewer than 24 shots. Most of them missed the target... but there was more than one exception.

 

In the 40th minute, Leko hit a long ball over the Uzbek defence, and Mavididi sauntered past centre-backs Maxmud Xamroev and Gennadiy Isqandarov before tapping it past the onrushing Xamraev. At 2-0, England finally had clear daylight between themselves and the White Wolves.

 

Ojo was on the hunt for a third England goal in the 42nd minute. Xamraev struggled to get to grips with the dynamic forward's swerving effort, which the nervy Uzbek keeper let slip from his gloves before eventually securing it at the second time of asking.

 

Unsurprisingly, England did build on their already comfortable lead, pulling three goals ahead just three minutes into the second period. Defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson intercepted a terrible pass from Uzbekistan winger Davron Ashurov and hoofed it halfway up the pitch towards Mavididi. Charlton Athletic's on-loan Arsenal striker then surged beyond his markers before slotting the goal that brought up his hat-trick.

 

Mavididi's night was done, and he was substituted to a standing ovation from most of the crowd. While he was milking the applause, Ashurov - who'd come on as a sub for Uzbekistan at half-time - was quietly hauled off after a disastrous three-minute cameo that had culminated in Mavididi's third goal.

 

The White Wolves made another curious substitution in the 57th minute. Xamraev seemed frazzled after facing all those first-half shots from England, but it still came as a surprise when the Uzbekistan coach took him out of the firing line and replaced him in goal with Shoxruxjon Raimov.

 

It'd been a very busy day for Xamraev, but things had been rather less hectic for England's goalkeeper Freddie Woodman. The Kilmarnock custodian only had to make a single save in the first half - from striker Jasur Yaxshiboev on 44 minutes. The same player would test him twice more in the 65th and 83rd minutes, but Woodman again prevailed on each occasion.

 

Yaxshiboev's last shot on target had come two minutes after England rubber-stamped victory with a fourth goal. It was Solanke who took the plaudits this time, as he ruthlessly tapped in a drilled centre from Ojo.

 

Much like when they had played Trinidad & Tobago, it had been plain sailing throughout for England. Uzbekistan had hardly given them much of a contest, and the final scoreline of 4-0 could easily have become even more lop-sided on another night.

 

A couple of emphatic wins had seen the Young Lions secure top spot in Group B - and, therefore, a theoretically 'easier' tie in the Last 16. They were joined in the knockout phase by Paraguay, who finished 2nd on goal difference after giving the Trinbagonians a 3-0 pasting. Uzbekistan were some way behind the top two and hadn't done enough to go through as one of the best 3rd-placed teams.

 

27 May 2017: FIFA U20 World Cup Group B - at Changwon Stadium, Changwon

Uzbekistan U20s - 0

England U20s - 4 (Stephy Mavididi 20,40,48, Dominic Solanke 81)

ENGLAND U20s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Freddie Woodman; Kyle Walker-Peters, Axel Tuanzebe, Dael Fry (Cameron Borthwick-Jackson), Josh Tymon; Lewis Cook, Tom Davies (Sam Field); Sheyi Ojo, Bright Enobakhare, Jonathan Leko; Stephy Mavididi (Dominic Solanke).

 

2017 FIFA U20 World Cup Group B (Final Standings)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    Q     England U20s           3     2     1     0     13    3     10    7
2.    Q     Paraguay U20s          3     2     1     0     9     2     7     7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Uzbekistan U20s        3     1     0     2     1     8     -7    3
4.          Trinidad & Tobago U20s 3     0     0     3     1     11    -10   0

 

2017 FIFA U20 World Cup Last 16 draw

Argentina (D1) vs Ivory Coast (C3)

Italy (A1) vs Colombia (E2)

Croatia (C2) vs United States (F2)

Germany (F1) vs Mexico (E3)

England (B1) vs South Africa (D2)

New Zealand (A3) vs Canada (C1)

Portugal (E1) vs Chile (F3)

Paraguay (B2) vs Mali (A2)

 

As a result of winning Group B, England's potential path towards overall World Cup glory now looked a lot smoother. Their reward for progressing to the Last 16 was a meeting with South Africa, who finished runners-up in Group D. Mind you, the Amajita did have the tournament's second-highest scorer in midfielder Luther Singh, who'd found the net four times.

 

If the Young Lions could get past South Africa, they would be in line for a very winnable Quarter Final against either Canada or New Zealand. After that, anything was possible for a team who'd provided the South Korean crowds with some enthralling and free-scoring football thus far.

 

What on Earth could possibly go wrong?

[CFuller]

***

 

From Changwon in the south-east of South Korea, England moved on to the north-eastern city of Gangneung to continue their FIFA U20 World Cup crusade.

 

Standing between the Young Lions and a place in the Quarter Finals were South Africa, who'd emerged as potential dark horses after the conclusion of the Group Stage. The Amajita had pushed the mighty Argentina close in a 3-2 defeat that bookended comfortable 4-0 victories over the United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu. However, very few expected them to seriously threaten England in the Last 16.

 

England started this tie as they intended to go on, attacking their South African opponents as early as the second minute. Josh Sims' left-wing delivery across the penalty area found right-winger Izzy Brown, who whipped a follow-up cross into the penalty area. The recipient of Brown's ball was Stephy Mavididi, who agonisingly headed it against the post.

 

Mavididi had scored a hat-trick in his last match against Uzbekistan, and he would have another chance to continue his fine form in the 13th minute. Brown slotted an incisive pass through the South African defence and to the Arsenal striker, whose vicious shot was awkwardly parried by goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto.

 

Two minutes later, Mavididi leapt above a couple of defenders to flick a Joshua Onomah cross goalwards. Mpoto had come off his line to try and punch the ball away, so he was left red-faced when Mavididi beat him to it, but relieved when the ball bounced inches wide.

 

Mpoto would redeem himself somewhat by saving another Mavididi attempt on 22 minutes. He also pushed away a first-time shot from England midfielder Tom Davies five minutes later. Even so, the offside flag had already been raised against Mavididi, and so any Davies goal wouldn't have been allowed to stand anyway.

 

England faced their first defensive test after captain Axel Tuanzebe scythed down South Africa striker Khanyisa Mayo in the 28th minute. Luther Singh - one of three attacking midfielders sitting just behind Mayo in the Amajita line-up - elected to take the free-kick. Singh was hoping to score his fifth goal of the tournament, but Onomah had other ideas, blocking his shot from within the England wall.

 

The Young Lions would narrowly survive another scare in the 41st minute. Vice-captain Dael Fry could only head a cross from South African left-back Achmat Ceres as far as midfielder Grant Margeman, who hammered it towards the target. Fry just about managed to divert Margeman's shot against the crossbar before his central defensive colleague Tuanzebe hacked it wide.

 

Both teams regrouped after a goalless first half, but it was South Africa who made the stronger restart. Three minutes after play resumed, Davies' foul on Singh conceded another threatening free-kick to the Amajita. Fortunately for Davies and his colleagues, Athenkosi Dlala's delivery was nodded off target by fellow midfielder Nkosana Mchunu.

 

England's first few attacks of the second half were similarly ineffective, with Brown and Tuanzebe both missing the target either side of the half-hour mark.

 

The sweltering South Korean heat quickly began to take its toll on both teams' fitness, but the Young Lions were looking particularly weary. That was clear in the 72nd minute, when Onomah fired his Tottenham Hotspur colleague Kyle Walker-Peters' cross against the post from close-range. The attacking midfielder would have normally been expected to clean up that sort of finish without any problems.

 

Meanwhile, Mavididi - who seemingly couldn't stop scoring against Uzbekistan - continued to waste gilt-edged chances. A dreadful miscue from Sims' centre in the 74th minute proved the final straw for the England management, who brought Mavididi off and sent Dominic Solanke on.

 

England had earlier brought on Lewis Cook for the tiring Sam Field, and they were soon having to think about making another change in midfield. Davies pulled up clutching his thigh and had to come off briefly for some treatment. While the Everton first-teamer later returned to the field, question marks remained about his fitness.

 

Come the 84th minute, England's defenders were really starting to run out of energy. Tuanzebe looked a spent force when Dlala lifted the ball over him and towards Nkululeko Gumede - a 16-year-old striker from Tottenham's youth academy. Gumede, known simply as 'Leko' to many of his Spurs colleagues, coasted through the offside trap and towards goal. However, the woodwork denied him what would surely have been a late winner for South Africa.

 

England somehow managed to hold out for the full 90 minutes and take the tie to extra-time. However, their manager Mark Catterall - watching on from St George's Park - now had a big decision to make with regards to his final substitution. Would he give the exhausted Tuanzebe a break and bring on Cameron Borthwick-Jackson to shore up the defence, or would he replace the injured Davies with Ovie Ejaria?

 

Catterall eventually came to a decision, and texted England's head coach Matthew Wells with the simple message, "Davies off, Ejaria on".

 

Catterall had gambled on Liverpool midfielder Ejaria - who'd just been relegated from League One whilst on loan at AFC Wimbledon - having the skills to dribble through a tiring South African backline and causing real problems. As it transpired, Ejaria would really struggle to make an impact against the increasingly stubborn underdogs.

 

England's only two scoring chances of the first additional half both went Sims' way. The Southampton winger hooked an ambitious shot wide in the 97th minute, though he fared slightly better five minutes later. Ejaria nicked the ball off Singh's feet deep in the South African half and played the ball across to Sims, whose punt was caught by Mpoto.

 

The second half would see a couple of narrow misses from the heads of Brown and Fry. The latter had been particularly brilliant at the back for England, but his colleague Tuanzebe? Not so much. Tuanzebe continued to labour through the match, and he was booked in the 114th minute for a foul on Shungu Dutiro that displayed all the hallmarks of defensive tiredness.

 

With the prospect of penalties looming, the Young Lions went all out in a bid to clinch the game as quickly as possible. In the 118th minute, Ejaria played a searching long ball to Solanke... but then the referee's assistant raised an offside flag against the Chelsea frontman. Another late free-kick had gone the way of South Africa.

 

Goalkeeper Mpoto hoisted the set-piece forward to Mchunu, who outmuscled Fry and headed it on to Liam Jordan. The Sporting CP attacking midfielder then spotted Gumede breaking from Tuanzebe and making a run for goal. Jordan sent the ball through to Gumede, who readied himself before lashing in a shot from 25 yards out.

 

Freddie Woodman hardly stood a chance of getting to that wonder strike. As the England and Newcastle United goalkeeper covered his face in despair, Gumede found himself surrounded by his ecstatic South African compatriots. The Amajita had clinched victory with very little time to spare.

 

South Africa had never previously reached the Quarter Finals of the FIFA U20 World Cup, or indeed any intercontinental competition sanctioned by world football's governing body. While they celebrated an historic win, England's youngsters were left to stew over yet another disappointing end to a major tournament.

 

1 June 2017: FIFA U20 World Cup Last 16 - at Gangneung Sports Complex, Gangneung

England U20s - 0

South Africa U20s - 1 (Nkululeko Gumede 118)

[after extra time]

ENGLAND U20s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Freddie Woodman; James Bree, Axel Tuanzebe, Dael Fry, Kyle Walker-Peters; Tom Davies (Ovie Ejaria), Sam Field (Lewis Cook); Izzy Brown, Joshua Onomah, Josh Sims; Stephy Mavididi (Dominic Solanke). BOOKED: Tuanzebe 114.

 

A despondent England squad flew out of South Korea the very next morning. So much had been expected of the Young Lions at this tournament, especially once the knockout phase draw had opened up for them. To exit before the business end was a crushing blow for Wells, not to mention a major setback for Catterall's 'remote management' approach.

 

The media reaction to England's exit was scathing, to say the least. Under the headline "P.S.Y." (standing for "Pretty S*** Youngsters"), The Sun quipped, "England were sensationally dumped out of the U20 World Cup, oppa Gangneung style. Leko Gumede's late screamer for South Africa ensured that the Young Lions would go down as 'one-hit blunders'."

 

An even more damning indictment came from the Daily Mail, who branded England's players as "CHOKERS". Their reporter wrote, "The boys from the 'Rainbow Nation' made our lion cubs look like Zippy, George and Bungle. Our attack might as well have been fronted by Rod, Jane and Freddy instead of Josh, Izzy and Stephy.

 

"And where was 'Geoffrey' Catterall? Probably at home in bed, watching the farce play out online as he tucked into the breakfast he made from the toaster he bought on his first day as England manager."

 

The Daily Telegraph noted, "There was perhaps an air of inevitability about England's early elimination. Their brightest prospects seemed to play with so much trepidation in this first knockout match in South Korea that one must wonder if they thought they were on the opposite side of the 38th parallel."

 

The Guardian were slightly more forgiving, simply asking, "Isn't it long overdue that England started to take major international tournaments seriously, instead of treating them like glorified holiday camps with the sideshow of a sporting competition attached?"

 

If it was any consolation for the England players, their conquerors went on to go all the way. South Africa comfortably dispatched Canada 4-0 in the Quarter Finals (with defender Moses Masuku scoring an unexpected hat-trick), and then edged out Paraguay 1-0 to set up a Final showdown with Germany.

 

Many had expected the Amajita dream to end at the very last opportunity in Seogwipo. However, a rather fortuitous 18th-minute opener from Dutiro was followed three minutes into the second half by another South African goal, from the head of Mayo. Berkay Özcan did get one goal back for Germany in the 68th minute, but it wasn't enough.

 

A shock 2-1 victory over the Germans saw South Africa become only the second African team to win the FIFA U20 World Cup, following Ghana's success in 2009. The chances of the Amajita starlets replicating that success at the highest level for Bafana Bafana was admittedly quite slim, but for now, the future was looking bright for South African football.

 

The next U20 World Cup would be staged in France in 2019. If England were to qualify for those finals, they would need to at least finish in the top five at the 2018 UEFA European Under-19s Championship.

[CFuller]

Chapter 9 - Lions' Pride

 

As England's Under-20s flew home from the FIFA U20 World Cup in South Korea following their early elimination, Mark Catterall observed the Under-21s team at St George's Park. The 23 players he had recently selected for the upcoming UEFA European Under-21s Championship in Poland were being put through their paces by head coach David Byrne.

 

While he was watching his Young Lions go through their training routines on that Friday afternoon, he was startled by the gruff Derbyshire accent of his boss - the Football Association chairman, Clark Gregory.

 

"Alright, Mark, me duck? We need to have words."

 

Minutes later, Catterall sat at the desk in his office, with Gregory and FA vice-chairwoman Connie Millstone opposite him. He knew exactly what they wanted to discuss.

 

"This is about... what happened in South Korea, isn't it?" he asked.

 

"You can read us like a book, Mark," Gregory said with a wry smile, before his voice deepened. "I'll cut to the chase. We're all very disappointed."

 

"So am I, to be frank with you. We really should've beaten South Africa."

 

"It's one thing going out of a major tournament to a horde of Vikings. It's another to lose to the bloody Zulus!"

 

Millstone interrupted, "Now, come on, Clark, you cannot say that in this day and age! And the South African football team aren't nicknamed 'the Zulus'; they're called Bafana."

 

"Bafana Bafana," Catterall pointed out.

 

"Yeah, that's what I said. Bafana."

 

Catterall sighed reluctantly and was about to explain the South African team's reduplicated nickname before Gregory interjected, "Look, Mark... at the end of the day, your boys cocked up big-time. Can you at least explain to us what the bloody hell happened yesterday?"

 

Catterall scratched his head and began, "We weren't clinical enough, for a start. We had about a dozen shots from inside the penalty area, but we were just so wasteful. Granted, the goalkeeper had to save quite a few of them, but some of those shots shouldn't have gone anywhere near him."

 

"Anything else?"

 

"And the lads seemed to be very tired out there. The defenders were a bit lethargic towards the end, and they were conceding fouls left, right and centre. The South Africans were in much better shape physically than our players, so I can't say I was too surprised when they did get that late winner."

 

"That's a b******s excuse, Mark!" Gregory exclaimed. "The team spent a fortnight in South Korea before they even got to kick a bloody ball! If this is your way of saying you need more time to get your teams up to scratch, then maybe we should send the seniors off to Russia right now to get them ready for next year's World Cup!"

 

Millstone said, "I think what Mark is trying to say is... that the development squads need to synergise with physical fitness experts more effectively to improve their conditioning going forward."

 

"Yeah, what she said," Catterall half-laughed.

 

"This is no laughing matter, Mark," Gregory replied bluntly. "This is the first major test we've had of 'remote management' in an international tournament, and it was a catastrophic failure, much like..."

 

"The Spice Girls' reunion?" Millstone suggested.

 

"I was going to say New Labour's immigration policy, but... that's a good metaphor as well."

 

Catterall nodded, "Okay, I get what you mean, even though your analogies are at least a decade out of date now. I'll take your criticism on board, make a few more tweaks to my plans, and then maybe the next big tournament with the Under-20s or the Under-19s will be more successful."

 

"I bloody well hope so, Mark. If not, then maybe this current crop of England youth players will be not so much the 'Golden Generation' as the 'Tin-Pot Generation'."

 

Millstone's eyes then lit up as she said, "Something's just come back into my head. Mark, we need to talk about Leko."

 

Catterall asked, "Jonathan? Why? He wasn't at the World Cup."

 

"No, not Jonathan Leko. I mean Leko Gumede - the guy who scored that winning goal for South Africa."

 

"Okay, what's the thing with him, then?"

 

Millstone hesitated as she said, "Well, perhaps I should've mentioned this before you selected your squad... but Leko's a British citizen."

 

"WHAT?!" Gregory sputtered. "He's... he's BRITISH?"

 

"Technically, yes. He was born and brought up in South Africa, though he's got a UK passport and has lived here since he was 14. His grandad was a big activist in the ANC during Apartheid. Grandpa Gumede was exiled to Manchester in the 1970s, and his son - Leko's dad - was born in this country before the family moved back to South Africa when Nelson Mandela was elected President."

 

"So you're saying Gumede could've played for England?"

 

"Yes. And come to think of it... I think Leko might be related to Natalie Gumede, the actress. You know the one? She was Kirsty Soames in 'Coronation Street'."

 

"WHY THE HELL didn't you tell Mark or I about this before he named the f***ing squad? Huh? Maybe if you had, we might not have been kicked out of the tournament by another Englishman!"

 

Catterall urged Gregory to calm down and then said, "Here's the thing; I wouldn't have picked Gumede anyway. As far as I can tell, the lad's only 16, and he's literally just broken into Tottenham Hotspur's Under-18s. He would've been nowhere near challenging someone like Dominic Solanke or Stephy Mavididi for a place in my England squad."

 

"But I take it you'll be considering him for England in the future?"

 

"No, Clark. As far as I'm concerned, Leko Gumede is South African. You can't say that Eric Dier is Portuguese just because he grew up in Portugal... and likewise, you can't say Tony Cascarino is Irish because his grandad happened to be born in County Mayo."

 

Millstone pointed out, "Erm, Mark, I think you can call Cascarino Irish."

 

"Anyway, I've got an England squad to finalise, so... could you please kindly leave me to it?"

 

"Yeah, sure," Millstone agreed.

 

"You can pick whoever you want for all I care, Mark," Gregory said. "Besides, it's only Malta away. It's not going to be your most important World Cup qualifier, is it?"

 

"No, but don't forget that we've got a friendly in Zagreb afterwards," Catterall stated. "You want to see us give Croatia a proper game, don't you?"

 

"Good point."

 

Millstone then said to Catterall, with a worried look on her face, "I've got a bad feeling about this. I had this dream the other night, where England were drawing 0-0 at half-time, and all the fans were having a go at you, saying that they wanted Sam Allardyce to take over."

 

"Don't worry, Connie," Catterall tried to reassure her. "I'm sure things won't be that bad against Croatia."

 

"Actually, I was dreaming about the Malta game."

 

ENGLAND squad - for matches vs Malta (A) and Croatia (A)

NAME                      POSITIONS           D.O.B. (AGE)     CLUB            CAPS  GOALS HEIGHT WEIGHT     VALUE
Jack Butland              GK                  10/03/1993 (24)  Stoke           4     0     6'5"   14st 9lbs  £17.5M  
Fraser Forster            GK                  17/03/1988 (29)  Southampton     8     0     6'7"   15st 8lbs  £12.5M  
Joe Hart                  GK                  19/04/1987 (30)  Torino          69    0     6'5"   12st 10lbs £14.75M 
Michael Keane             D (RC)              11/01/1993 (24)  Man City        4     0     6'1"   13st 0lbs  £26M    
John Stones               D (RC)              28/05/1994 (23)  Man City        15    0     6'2"   12st 1lb   £30M    
Eric Dier                 D (RC), DM, M (C)   15/01/1994 (23)  Tottenham       18    2     6'2"   13st 7lbs  £33M    
Gary Cahill               D (C)               19/12/1985 (31)  Chelsea         52    3     6'4"   13st 7lbs  £3.4M   
Chris Smalling            D (C)               22/11/1989 (27)  Man Utd         34    1     6'4"   14st 2lbs  £27.5M  
Nathaniel Clyne           D/WB (R)            05/04/1991 (26)  Liverpool       17    0     5'9"   10st 7lbs  £23.5M  
Kyle Walker               D/WB (R)            28/05/1990 (27)  Tottenham       24    0     6'0"   11st 9lbs  £26.5M  
Luke Shaw                 D/WB (L)            12/07/1995 (21)  Man Utd         11    0     6'1"   11st 11lbs £21.5M  
Danny Rose                D/WB/M (L)          02/07/1990 (26)  Tottenham       11    2     5'8"   11st 6lbs  £26M    
Jordan Henderson          DM, M (C)           17/06/1990 (26)  Liverpool       34    0     6'0"   10st 7lbs  £24M    
Jesse Lingard             M (RL), AM (RLC)    15/12/1992 (24)  Man Utd         1     0     5'6"   10st 3lbs  £30.5M  
Adam Lallana              M/AM (RLC)          10/05/1988 (29)  Liverpool       33    0     5'8"   11st 6lbs  £18M    
Dele Alli                 M/AM (C)            11/04/1996 (21)  Tottenham       19    3     6'1"   12st 1lb   £34.5M  
Ross Barkley              M/AM (C)            05/12/1993 (23)  Everton         22    2     6'2"   11st 13lbs £17M    
Jack Wilshere             M/AM (C)            01/01/1992 (25)  Bournemouth     39    4     5'9"   10st 3lbs  £20M    
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain   AM (RL)             15/08/1993 (23)  Arsenal         28    6     5'11"  11st 4lbs  £13.5M  
Harry Kane                ST (C)              28/07/1993 (23)  Tottenham       23    9     6'3"   13st 0lbs  £43.5M  
Daniel Sturridge          ST (C)              01/09/1989 (27)  Liverpool       27    11    6'0"   12st 6lbs  £33.5M  
Jamie Vardy               ST (C)              11/01/1987 (30)  Leicester       11    4     5'10"  12st 1lb   £14.25M 
Callum Wilson             ST (C)              27/02/1992 (25)  Bournemouth     4     2     5'11"  10st 7lbs  £29.5M  

 

Wayne Rooney's absence was the big headline story from Catterall's squad selection for the FIFA World Cup qualifier in Malta on 8 June, and the friendly international in Croatia five days later.

 

Rooney had twisted his knee late on in Manchester United's season, and although he recovered in time to be eligible for England selection, Catterall decided not to pick him. In his mind, Rooney needed to be given some more time to rest up, and also to contemplate his club future, before adding to his 122 caps.

 

Rooney's United team-mate Jesse Lingard was given an England recall, having recently worked his way back into the first-team picture. He benefitted from Catterall's decision to drop Mark Noble and send Nathan Redmond back into the Under-21s for the European Championship.

 

Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland was back in the England fold too. Butland had spent a year out of action after breaking his ankle in the Three Lions' away victory over Germany in March 2016, and after finally making a full recovery, he was able to play in Stoke's final eight matches of the Premier League season. The 24-year-old's comeback meant that Burnley custodian Tom Heaton had to vacate his spot in the squad.

 

Callum Wilson had missed the previous Three Lions squad due to a broken toe, but now the AFC Bournemouth hotshot was back to fitness and back in form. Wilson rounded off his first completed Premier League season with an impressive record of 18 goals - making the third-most prolific Englishman behind Harry Kane and Jermain Defoe - and 12 assists.

 

Wilson's Bournemouth team-mate Benik Afobe ended up with 17 goals and 11 assists. Ironically, though, Afobe would lose his England place to Wilson after tearing his hamstring in the Cherries' final match of the season - a 5-1 defeat at Burnley.

 

There were also recalls for two players who'd played big roles in the England team under Roy Hodgson. Everton midfielder Ross Barkley and Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy had not yet played under Catterall, having struggled for form at club level this season. However, they rediscovered their mojos just in time to break back into the team.

 

All five core English members of the Tottenham squad - Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker - retained their national team spots after triumphantly lifting the Premier League title. Walker had been a major doubt for the Malta and Croatia games after suffering a hernia in mid-May, but he recovered just in the nick of time. Had he been forced to withdraw, Crystal Palace's 27-year-old right-back Joel Ward would've been in line for a first England call-up.

 

ENGLAND UNDER-21s squad - for 2017 UEFA European Under-21s Championship

NAME                      POSITIONS           D.O.B. (AGE)     CLUB            CAPS  GOALS HEIGHT WEIGHT     VALUE
Angus Gunn                GK                  22/01/1996 (21)  Man City        3     0     6'5"   13st 12lbs £325K   
Luke McGee                GK                  02/09/1995 (21)  Peterborough    1     0     6'4"   12st 8lbs  £625K   
Jordan Pickford           GK                  07/03/1994 (23)  Sunderland      16    0     6'2"   12st 1lb   £475K   
Joe Gomez                 D (RLC)             23/05/1997 (20)  West Ham        10    0     6'2"   13st 7lbs  £13.5M  
Calum Chambers            D (RC)              20/01/1995 (22)  Middlesbrough   19    0     6'0"   11st 6lbs  £6M     
Mason Holgate             D (RC)              22/10/1996 (20)  Everton         3     0     5'11"  11st 13lbs £7.25M  
Dominic Iorfa             D (RC)              24/06/1995 (21)  Wolves          12    0     6'4"   12st 3lbs  £7M     
Ben Chilwell              D (LC), WB (L)      21/12/1996 (20)  Leicester       5     0     5'10"  11st 13lbs £5.25M  
Brendan Galloway          D (LC), DM          17/03/1996 (21)  West Brom       5     0     6'2"   13st 9lbs  £850K   
Rob Holding               D (C)               20/09/1995 (21)  Watford         7     0     6'2"   13st 0lbs  £6.25M  
Nathaniel Chalobah        D (C), DM, M (C)    12/12/1994 (22)  Chelsea         36    0     6'1"   11st 6lbs  £8M     
Matthew Targett           D/WB (L)            18/09/1995 (21)  Southampton     16    0     6'0"   12st 10lbs £8.75M  
Will Hughes               DM, M/AM (C)        17/04/1995 (22)  Derby           22    1     6'1"   11st 9lbs  £10.75M 
Ruben Loftus-Cheek        DM, M/AM (C)        23/01/1996 (21)  Chelsea         17    4     6'3"   13st 7lbs  £5M     
Patrick Roberts           M (RL), AM (RLC)    05/02/1997 (20)  Celtic          7     1     5'6"   9st 1lb    £8M     
Raheem Sterling           M (L), AM (RLC)     08/12/1994 (22)  Man City        14    3     5'7"   10st 12lbs £26.5M  
Demarai Gray              M/AM (RL)           28/06/1996 (20)  Leicester       3     0     5'10"  12st 3lbs  £12.25M 
Nathan Redmond            M/AM (RL), ST (C)   06/03/1994 (23)  Southampton     33    11    5'8"   11st 6lbs  £15.5M  
James Ward-Prowse         M/AM (RC)           01/11/1994 (22)  Southampton     27    6     5'8"   10st 5lbs  £11.5M  
John Swift                M/AM (C)            23/06/1995 (21)  Reading         8     1     6'0"   11st 13lbs £8.5M   
Tammy Abraham             AM (R), ST (C)      02/10/1997 (19)  Bristol City    8     3     6'4"   12st 10lbs £9.5M   
Marcus Rashford           AM (L), ST (C)      31/10/1997 (19)  Man Utd         7     5     5'11"  11st 6lbs  £31.5M  
Adam Armstrong            ST (C)              10/02/1997 (20)  Barnsley        2     0     5'8"   10st 12lbs £7M     

 

In addition to the 23 players selected for the finals squad, five players were placed on a 'standby' list and would potentially be called up in the event of any injuries. Those players were Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Kortney Hause, Vitesse midfielder Lewis Baker, Aston Villa winger Jack Grealish, Everton forward Ademola Lookman, and Brighton & Hove Albion striker Chuba Akpom.

 

Injury had ruled one of England's potential leading lights out of the finals. On-loan Chelsea midfielder Kasey Palmer damaged his Achilles tendon in Huddersfield Town's Championship victory at Nottingham Forest in April, thus ending his hopes of winning the Under-21s Euros until at least 2019.

 

Palmer aside, England had few significant fitness problems in the build-up to the tournament. Ruben Loftus-Cheek - another promising midfielder on Chelsea's books - was briefly a doubt after sustaining a hernia in training at the start of May, but he recovered just in time for the squad announcement.

 

Seven of these Young Lions went into this European Championship with previous experience of playing in the finals. Nathaniel Chalobah and Nathan Redmond were both veterans of the 2013 and 2015 tournaments, while Calum Chambers, Will Hughes, Loftus-Cheek, Matthew Targett and James Ward-Prowse had also played in the latter event.

 

Though he'd won 27 senior caps for England and graced the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016, this was winger Raheem Sterling's first - and final - opportunity to play at the Under-21s Euros. The likes of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and centre-back Rob Holding would also get only one shot at glory, but Demarai Gray and Marcus Rashford were among those young enough to still be eligible for the 2019 finals.

 

The issue of who would captain the Young Lions in Poland was still to be decided. Southampton midfielder Ward-Prowse had the armband at present, but his leadership skills had been called into question following his cynical red card against Switzerland in March.

 

Were Ward-Prowse to be stripped of the captaincy, the favourites to benefit were likely to be Chalobah and Chambers. As two of the most experienced players in the squad, they would immediately command respect from their peers.

 

There was, though, one rather surprising candidate to lead England - 19-year-old Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham. Abraham may have been the second-youngest player in the squad, but he had shown great maturity since making his Under-21s debut in September, and also whilst out on loan at Bristol City in the Championship.

[CFuller]

Quote

CAUTION: This post contains references to real-life events that some readers may find distressing.

***

 

The evening of 3 June 2017 would live long in the memory of many Britons, particularly those in and around London. Before 10:00pm, though, it seemed to be just another Saturday night in the United Kingdom.

 

At their home in Staffordshire, Mark and Jenny Catterall had spent the evening by the television while their son Luke was fast asleep upstairs. After watching Real Madrid defeat Barcelona 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League Final, they settled down again to view a DVD.

 

Mark and Jenny were watching "La La Land" - an Oscar-winning coming-of-age film starring Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris. No, wait, that's "Moonlight". They were watching "Moonlight". That's an easy mistake to make, though; just ask Warren Beatty.

 

Anyway, the Catteralls were about half an hour through the film when Mark's mobile phone vibrated. He was receiving a call from his assistant manager and best friend Michael Burke.

 

"Could you pause it for a sec, Jen?" Mark asked his wife, before answering the call. "What's up, Mick?"

 

"Hey, Catts," Michael said. "What are you doing right this moment?"

 

"Watching telly with the Mrs. Why'd you ask?"

 

"Turn on the f***ing news! There's been a major incident at London Bridge!"

 

Mark placed his right hand on his forehead and sighed. It had been less than two weeks since a suicide bomber attacked an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena, killing 22 innocent people. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - also known by its acronym ISIL - subsequently claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

If the London Bridge incident was another terrorist attack, as Mark suspected, it would be the third such event to take place in Britain in 2017. Back in March, more than 50 people had been mown down by a car just outside the Palace of Westminster, with four of them subsequently dying from their injuries. The attacker then abandoned his vehicle and fatally stabbed an armed police constable, before being shot dead by one of the officer's colleagues.

 

"It's not another of these f***ing ISIL attacks like Manchester, is it?" Mark groaned.

 

"I dunno. Apparently, some nutter drove onto the pavement and hit a load of pedestrians!"

 

"Sounds more like the Westminster attack to me."

 

"You're probably not wrong, Mark."

 

"Jesus wept. What is it with these f***ing lunatics?"

 

Jenny stopped the film and switched over to Sky News, which was showing footage of crowds fleeing from what had just occurred. Details were sketchy, but the presenter simply stated that the Metropolitan Police were "dealing with an incident at London Bridge".

 

The full story of the attack would soon emerge. At approximately 10:06pm, a white Renault van driving southbound across London Bridge at high speed mounted the pavement and knocked down multiple pedestrians, three of whom would subsequently die from their injuries.

 

The van then crashed on Borough High Street in Southwark, after which three men abandoned their vehicle and ran towards a pub, where they stabbed four people while reportedly shouting, "This is for Allah."

 

The attackers then ran across the nearby Borough Market, attacking several more people before eventually being shot dead by police officers. In all, the attack had gone on for approximately ten minutes. 11 people were left dead, including the three perpetrators, and 48 others were injured.

 

ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack, just like they had done for those previous incidents in Westminster and Manchester. 35 innocent people had been killed in terrorist attacks in the UK since the turn of the year.

 

After ending his phone call with Michael, Mark turned to Jenny and sighed, "Good grief! How many more times does this have to happen before the government do something?"

 

"I honestly don't know, Mark," Jenny sighed. "Hang on... what does this mean for tomorrow?"

 

Mark Catterall was scheduled to be managing England's Under-21s in a friendly match against Belgium at The Den in Bermondsey, south-east London the following afternoon.

 

"Well, I'm sure the FA will have to speak to the police about this," Mark said. "I suspect the match will go ahead, but there'll be an awful lot more security at the ground."

 

"Do you really have to go? More to the point, do you want to go?"

 

"Of course I want to go. It's a big game, Jen. You know the Under-21s have got a big tournament coming up in Poland, and I want to make sure the team's in the best possible shape before we head off there."

 

"I'm just concerned for your safety, especially after this."

 

"I'll be fine, love."

 

"Anyway, it's only the Under-21s! You could always leave that game to the head coach - David Gilmour?"

 

"His name's David Byrne. David Gilmour is the singer for Pink Floyd. And no, it's not only the Under-21s - they're the team directly below the seniors. I've got a duty to make sure that they do well so that I can feed the best players into the main England team in the future."

 

Jenny shrugged her shoulders and said reluctantly, "Okay, Mark, I guess that's fine." She then got up from her seat, stretched her legs, and told Mark, "I'm going to bed now."

 

"Hey, Jen, hang on! You aren't gonna finish 'Moonlight' with us?"

 

"You can carry on watching it without me if you want. I don't feel up to it. Not after tonight."

[CFuller]

***

 

In the wake of the second terrorist incident to take place in London in nearly three months, there were serious doubts over whether the following afternoon's sporting fixtures in the capital would go ahead. The Under-21s international friendly between England and Belgium - staged at The Den in Bermondsey - was one such fixture at risk.

 

After lengthy discussions between the Football Association and the Metropolitan Police, it was eventually decided that the match would indeed be played as scheduled, albeit with security measures drastically increased. Despite his wife's misgivings, England manager Mark Catterall travelled down from his home in Staffordshire to oversee the fixture with Under-21s head coach David Byrne.

 

There were 11 days to go until the start of the UEFA European Under-21s Championship. This was England's last home friendly before they would travel to Poland to finalise their preparations for the tournament.

 

Providing the opposition at Millwall's home stadium was a very strong Belgium team. Although the Red Devils had been drawn into a potentially nightmarish group with Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, they still fancied their chances of going deep into the tournament. Their squad contained six senior internationals, including Chelsea midfielder Charly Musonda, who'd scored on his full Belgium debut against England back in November.

 

As a mark of respect to the victims to the previous evening's atrocities on London Bridge, a minute's silence was held prior to kick-off. The England and Belgium teams, along with both sets of supporters, observed this moment of remembrance impeccably.

 

Once the match got underway, Belgium flew out of the traps, nearly firing themselves in front after just 34 seconds. Standard Liège forward Benito Raman dribbled past England defender Rob Holding and lashed in a shot that Jordan Pickford did very well to hold onto.

 

Another early Belgian attack was snuffed out in the second minute by Holding, who kicked off an incisive counter-attack for the Young Lions. Midfielder Will Hughes played a killer pass through the centre of the Red Devils' defence and to England's very own Red Devil - Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford. The 19-year-old half-volleyed it past goalkeeper Davy Roef from 20 yards out, and the hosts were already a goal up.

 

England tried to break away again in the 10th minute, with Rashford now playing the role of creator with a searching ball to strike partner Tammy Abraham. The Chelsea frontman - who'd finished his season-long loan at Bristol City with 24 Championship goals - breezed through an open channel, but he couldn't get his angled effort beyond Roef.

 

Although Rashford had a shot saved by Roef in the 14th minute, the Mancunian's next attempt two minutes later would end more successfully. Rashford started the move off by muscling the ball off Belgium defender Björn Engels and to Hughes, who found Patrick Roberts in space down the left flank. Rashford then made a run into the penalty area, where he nodded in Roberts' cross for 2-0.

 

The Young Lions' direct approach was already working wonders. Their long balls were bypassing Belgium's defenders and allowing Rashford and England's other attackers to make use of their exceptional pace.

 

Mind you, it wouldn't be long before Belgium managed to get their act together. In the 22nd minute, midfielder Samuel Bastien knocked the ball into England's penalty area and to winger Theo Bongonda, who drilled it across goal for KV Oostende striker Nany Dimata to comfortably finish.

 

The Young Lions nearly restored their two-goal lead within moments of the restart, as another defence-splitting pass from Hughes allowed Abraham to charge clear. However, Abraham's long wait for his fourth England Under-21s would carry on, as he struck the post when one-on-one with Roef.

 

Abraham may not have looked particularly hot, but his colleague Rashford was closing in on a second hat-trick in four Under-21s appearances. Several opportunities to bring up his third goal came and went in the latter part of the first half, with one particularly promising effort in the 34th minute being pushed away by Roef. That save had come shortly after Pickford had produced a big one at the other end to deny Raman a potential Belgium equaliser.

 

England remained 2-1 up at the interval, at which point Abraham was replaced with Newcastle United's Adam Armstrong. Like his predecessor, Armstrong had enjoyed a prolific season on loan in the Championship, finding the net 20 times for Barnsley.

 

The next big moment of Armstrong's career would come in the 53rd minute, when he sauntered through the Belgian backline to half-volley a Hughes pass home. Although Red Devils captain Wout Faes furiously protested for an offside call against Armstrong, the 20-year-old Geordie was given the all-clear to celebrate his first England Under-21s goal.

 

The Young Lions had a clear lead again at 3-1, and Belgian coach Johan Walen was soon resorting to bringing some of his best players off the bench to try and turn the match around. Shortly after his introduction in the 61st minute, Musonda dribbled through a large gap in the England half and pulled a disappointing shot wide. Musonda was later joined on the pitch by another senior international midfielder - Dennis Praet of Sampdoria.

 

The match went into a bit of a lull until the Red Devils roared back into life in the 80th minute. Musonda dribbled past England midfielders Nathaniel Chalobah and John Swift - both of whom had come through the Chelsea youth set-up with him - and then slipped the ball across the penalty box for Praet to tap it home. England's lead had been reduced to 3-2, and Belgium could not be written off just yet.

 

While the Young Lions' substitute goalkeeper Luke McGee had not covered himself in glory for that Praet, he did redeem himself by denying Belgium an equaliser in the 88th minute. Genk attacking midfielder Siebe Schrijvers attempted to fire the ball past McGee from 25 yards out, and the Tottenham Hotspur nervously parried the shot before gathering it at the second attempt.

 

Belgium made one last push in the penultimate minute. Playmaker Youri Tielemans - who'd already made well over 100 Belgian Pro League appearances for Anderlecht by the age of 20 - half-volleyed a cross to defender Siebe Horemans at the far post. Horemans could only head the cross over, and so England held firm for a 3-2 victory.

 

4 June 2017: Under-21s International - at The Den, London

England U21s - 3 (Marcus Rashford 2,16, Adam Armstrong 53)

Belgium U21s - 2 (Nany Dimata 22, Dennis Praet 80)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-4-2): Jordan Pickford (Luke McGee); Calum Chambers (Dominic Iorfa), Joe Gomez (Brendan Galloway), Rob Holding (Mason Holgate), Ben Chilwell (Matthew Targett); Nathan Redmond (Demarai Gray), James Ward-Prowse (Nathaniel Chalobah), Will Hughes (Ruben Loftus-Cheek), Patrick Roberts (Raheem Sterling); Tammy Abraham (Adam Armstrong), Marcus Rashford (John Swift).

[CFuller]

***

 

It was a quiet Monday afternoon at the Catterall house. Mark, Jenny and Luke were at the dinner table, discussing the day's activities, and Mark's plans for the coming weeks.

 

"How was school today, son?" Mark asked Luke.

 

"It was good," Luke said. "We had music class today. I played the piano."

 

"Oh, that sounds like it was fun!" Jenny smiled.

 

"It was fun. Mrs de Silva said that I was really good."

 

"You can play the piano? Wowee, that's amazing!"

 

"Oh lord, don't tell me we've gotta buy one of those things now!" Mark grumbled.

 

Jenny retorted, "At least we can afford one on your salary!" She then turned to Luke and asked, "So, Luke, do you like playing the piano? And do you want to do that more?"

 

"Much more!" he said excitedly.

 

"So I'm guessing Luke here wants to be the next Ray Charles, or the next Stevie Wonder."

 

"Or Nina Simone," Jenny added.

 

"Nina Simone weren't blind, love... and as far as I know, she weren't a boy either." That response seemed to rankle with Jenny, who barely raised a smile.

 

"Who's Stevie Wonder?" Luke asked.

 

Jenny sang, "Very superstitious, writing's on the wall..."

 

"Ah, I know who he is now. And who's that other one? Nina somebody?"

 

"Nina Simone was a plasticine cat," Mark sighed. "Then Aardman recycled her to make Wallace & Gromit."

 

Jenny whispered in Luke's ear, "Nan's got some of her albums. I might ask her to play one for you the next time we come visit her."

 

"Anyway..." Mark said, eager to change topic. "Luke, you do know that I'll be going away tomorrow, right?"

 

Luke nodded, "Yes. Mummy told me last night when she put me to bed."

 

"I'll be flying out with the England team from Birmingham to Malta tomorrow morning. We'll have a few days there, then we'll go to Croatia for about a week, and then I'll be joining the England Under-21s in Poland for their European Championship."

 

"How long will you be away for?"

 

"Ooh, that's a tough question. I think you're looking at about three weeks, maybe four if the Under-21s get to the Final."

 

"Four weeks?" Luke exclaimed, as Jenny rushed to put a comforting arm around him. "You can't go away for four weeks!"

 

"Well, sometimes I have to be away for a long time. This is my job now. Besides, I was in Azerbaijan for a fortnight last year. You didn't kick up a fuss then, did you?"

 

"Four weeks is too long! I hope England lose so you come home early!"

 

Mark shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOUNG MAN?"

 

"I HOPE YOU LOSE!"

 

"No, Luke, you don't mean that!" Jenny said, as she attempted to calm Luke down. It was to no avail, as Luke put his head down on the table and started to sob.

 

Mark growled, "Luke, son... you are nine years old now. You're becoming a big boy now. You mustn't throw tantrums when Daddy goes away."

 

"He's right, love," Jenny said softly. "You've gotta be extra good while Daddy's off on his travels."

 

As Luke slowly sat back upright, Jenny wiped some tears from his face. Luke then apologised, "Sorry, Daddy. But I will miss you a lot."

 

Mark let out a sigh and said, "I know, son. Sometimes I wish I don't have to be away from you and Mummy for this long either. But managing England's a big job, probably bigger than being the Prime Minister. When you get this far, you have to make some sacrifices."

 

"And it's not as if we can't talk to Daddy," Jenny added. "We have Skype, remember? We can use that, can't we?"

 

"I guess so," Luke said reluctantly.

 

"Good lad," Mark said. "And maybe Uncle Mick will pop round and pay you a visit once he comes back from Croatia. Should I ask him to do that?"

 

"Yes, please."

 

"Smashing. Now, Luke... do you promise to behave while I'm gone?"

 

"Yes. I promise to behave."

 

"Good, 'cos if you do, then maybe I'll bring you something back from Poland..."

 

Luke raised a smile as Mark got up from his chair asked Jenny, "Shall I put the radio back on?"

 

"Yes, please, if you wouldn't mind," came Jenny's reply.

 

Mark turned on the radio, and BBC Radio 1 blared out, with a bubbly young female voice saying, "This is BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat, with me, Kelly Koka - the missing link between Rita Ora and Dua Lipa.

 

"With just three days to go until the general election, we've been asking hundreds of Brits the biggest question of all: What colour should Brexit be? The results are in... and 36% of you want a Red, White & Blue Brexit, 19% would like a Black & White Brexit, 7% voted for Green Brexit, 4% went with Pink, 2% want Donald Trump Orange, and an overwhelming 81% of you said that there should be no Brexit at all."

 

Mark grumbled, "Someone at the Beeb wasn't paying attention in Maths class."

 

Koka continued, "And in other big breaking news, you'll never guess what England football superstar Raheem Sterling has been up to this morning! Visit the BBC Sport website for more info."

 

Mark then asked his wife, "So, Jen... you don't mind Absolute Radio, do you?"

[CFuller]

***

 

England were now into the second half of their qualifying campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. While things had gone very much to plan for Mark Catterall's side thus far, they could not yet take their foot off the accelerator. A five-point lead on 2nd-placed Slovenia could still be whittled down if they lost focus.

 

There would certainly not be any room for complacency in Mdina, where the Three Lions took on group whipping boys Malta on a mild Thursday evening. After all, the Knights' most recent home game had ended in a famous 1-0 shut-out of Scotland.

 

Catterall used this game to try out a new tactic. He experimented with a narrow 4-3-1-2 formation as he looked to make full use of his midfield talents. A 4-4-2 diamond had been tried out in some previous matches, but Catterall found that formation to be too conservative, and so he pushed the deepest-lying midfielder further forward instead.

 

In the absence of Wayne Rooney, vice-captain Jordan Henderson would lead England from midfield. Were Henderson to receive his fourth yellow card of the World Cup qualifying campaign here, he would have to miss another game through suspension - specifically, the home match against Scotland in September.

 

One of Henderson's Liverpool team-mates would get England off to a flying start in the second minute, although to be fair, Adam Lallana benefited from an enormous stroke of luck. Luke Shaw's cross into the Malta penalty area was intercepted by a header from defender Andrei Agius that only went as far as another Liverpool man - Daniel Sturridge.

 

Sturridge nodded the ball back into the box, where Knights midfielder Rodolfo Soares attempted to hoof it into touch. Much to the Brazilian-born debutant's horror, however, the clearance rebounded off his team-mate Rowen Muscat and towards the penalty spot. That was where Lallana popped up with a left-footed volley that left goalkeeper Andrew Hogg beaten.

 

This was Lallana's 34th England appearance since his debut in 2013, but he'd still been waiting for an international goal up until that point. The unbridled joy on the 29-year-old's face was clear to see as he sprinted towards some of the visiting England fans and then celebrated with his team-mates.

 

It seemed that the floodgates had blown wide open with that Lallana goal. In the 12th minute, England left-back Shaw exchanged passes with midfielder Dele Alli and then whipped in a cross towards the latter's Tottenham Hotspur colleague Harry Kane. Although Kane rose high above Maltese defender Joseph Zerafa to meet the cross, his header flew over the crossbar.

 

Kane's recent profligacy in a Three Lions jersey contrasted with the exceptional form Daniel Sturridge was showing. In the 24th minute, Sturridge got ahead of Agius to nod in a right-wing cross from Nathaniel Clyne at the far post and double his country's lead. This was the fourth successive World Cup qualifier in which Sturridge had found the net.

 

A consummate first-half performance from England continued in the 27th minute, when Dier set up a scoring chance for Kane via a delicate square pass from Lallana. Kane was only kept off the scoreboard by a strong parry from Hogg. About a minute after that, Malta midfielder Paul Fenech fired wide the Knights' first - and only - shooting attempt of the opening half.

 

The last thing Malta needed now was for their keeper to gift England a third goal. Much to the home fans' dismay, that was exactly what Hogg did after 32 minutes. After catching a deep cross from Clyne, he dropped the ball towards his feet in preparation for playing a short pass to Agius. However, he didn't bank on Sturridge cunningly closing him down at the earliest opportunity and stroking the ball into an unguarded net!

 

Hogg's goalkeeping looked suspect again in the 36th minute, when he spilled another Clyne cross at this near post. Kane tried to stroke the ball home from a tight angle, but he was outmuscled by Malta centre-back Jonathan Caruana, who pumped it clear and spared his keeper's blushes.

 

England remained 3-0 up at the interval, but Catterall was not quite satisfied with his midfielders' contributions. Ahead of the second period, he opted to substitute Alli and give Everton playmaker Ross Barkley his first international cap for a little over a year.

 

Goal number four looked on the cards for England in the 52nd minute. Zerafa's unconvincing clearance from a Henderson corner allowed Dier to take the ball forward again and drive in what he hoped would be the third goal of his Three Lions career. That wasn't to be the case, as Hogg punched his shot wide and kept the Knights' deficit down... for the time being.

 

In the 56th minute, England goalkeeper Joe Hart made what would prove to be his only save of the entire match - from a free-kick by Malta captain André Schembri, A minute later, his colleagues went up at the other end to crack the hosts' defence open yet again.

 

A first-class performance from Liverpool right-back Clyne continued when his latest delivery into the Maltese area was met by another uncomfortable headed interception from Agius. Kane nodded the ball down towards Sturridge, who volleyed it in for 4-0.

 

That was Sturridge's final contribution to this match. Having sealed his first England hat-trick, he was given the rest of the match off, with AFC Bournemouth's Callum Wilson taking his place up front.

 

Rather understandably, England didn't pose quite the same attacking threat without Sturridge as they had done while he was on the field. A rather lacklustre cameo from Wilson would only see him register one shot at goal, and that was a dismal header from Shaw's cross on 74 minutes.

 

While England largely kept their cool throughout a very easy match, one player did overstep the mark as far as Hungarian referee István Vad was concerned in the 79th minute. Dier was booked for a clumsy trip on Zerafa, and he would soon be substituted in favour of Jesse Lingard. This was the Manchester United midfielder's second senior cap for England; the first had been given to him in the reverse fixture at Wembley last September.

 

One of the few disappointing aspects of England's previous match against the Falcons was that they had failed to keep a clean sheet. They would put that right here, though Schembri did get very close to grabbing another late Maltese consolation goal in the 88th minute. Schembri got beyond Three Lions defender Michael Keane to run onto a through-ball from Fenech, which he pulled into the side netting.

 

Hart's goal would remain unbreached this time around, and a 4-0 away win maintained England's perfect record in the qualifiers. With only four matches remaining, the Three Lions were now seven points clear at the top of Group 6, following Slovenia's 0-0 draw with Scotland at Hampden Park. Meanwhile, Slovakia consolidated 3rd place by winning 2-0 in Lithuania.

 

Theoretically, England only needed to win two of their three remaining home games to secure 1st place in Group 6 - and qualification for the World Cup finals in Russia.

 

8 June 2017: FIFA World Cup UEFA Qualifying Group 6 - at Ta' Qali, Mdina

Malta - 0

England - 4 (Adam Lallana 2, Daniel Sturridge 24,32,57)

ENGLAND LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Joe Hart; Nathaniel Clyne, Chris Smalling, Michael Keane, Luke Shaw; Eric Dier (Jesse Lingard), Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli (Ross Barkley); Adam Lallana; Harry Kane, Daniel Sturridge (Callum Wilson). BOOKED: Dier 79.

 

2018 FIFA World Cup UEFA Qualifying Group 6 (After 6 rounds)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          England                6     6     0     0     20    3     17    18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Slovenia               6     3     2     1     6     2     4     11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Slovakia               6     3     0     3     6     6     0     9
4.          Scotland               6     2     1     3     4     7     -3    7
5.          Lithuania              6     1     1     4     1     6     -5    4
6.          Malta                  6     1     0     5     2     15    -13   3

 

ITV's Gabriel Clarke asked Catterall in the tunnel at the final whistle, "Six games played, and England are seven points clear of Slovenia. Is that qualification wrapped up?"

 

"No, no," Catterall replied, still as unflappable as ever. "I still won't let you jinx me, Gabriel."

 

The manager was then asked about Sturridge's hat-trick, of which he said, "Harry Kane didn't really pull his weight tonight, but Daniel Sturridge most definitely did. He's not had the best of seasons at Liverpool, but whenever he pulls on that England jersey, he turns into a completely different animal. He's a joy to manage when he's in such free-scoring form for England."

 

Clarke then asked, "And what do you say to rumours that the FA vice-chairwoman was predicting that you'd be drawing 0-0 at half-time?"

 

Catterall's assistant Michael Burke then popped over and laughed, "That's a load of rubbish, ain't it, Catts? Nobody in their right mind would even think that was possible! Not against Malta!"

[CFuller]

***

 

The UEFA European Under-21s Championship was now less than a week away. England had one more match to play before their competition would kick off in earnest against Bulgaria on 15 June.

 

The England team would be based in the southern Polish city of Kielce for the duration of the tournament. After spending a few days warming up at their training base, they were ready to take on the host nation in their final friendly fixture.

 

Poland were not expected to get into the business end of their own tournament, having been drawn in a group that included 2015 runners-up Portugal. Mind you, the Biało-czerwoni - the 'White and Reds' - did possess some quality players. Chief among them was the enthusiastic Sampdoria midfielder Karol Linetty, who'd represented the Poland senior team at UEFA Euro 2016.

 

Linetty's main job was to protect the defence from the full force of a potentially devastating English attack. In the third minute, though, Linetty was penalised for tripping John Swift deep in the Polish half. England captain James Ward-Prowse took the resulting free-kick, but he curled it safely into the hands of goalkeeper Leon Jankowski.

 

Visiting goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's first save, in the fifth minute, was also a comfortable one. Poland's Nantes striker Mariusz Stepinski did well to chest a cross from Denis Gojkoa and half-volley it towards goal, but Pickford gathered the ball relatively easily.

 

Both keepers would remain on high alert throughout the opening exchanges. Jankowski superbly tipped behind a 12th-minute shot from Swift after the England midfielder ran onto a superb weighted ball from Adam Armstrong. Four minutes after that, Pickford caught a long-distance drive from Polish left-winger Marcin Kaczmarczyk.

 

As the first half rolled on, Jankowski would find himself under increasing pressure in the Poland goal. After Linetty deflected away a cross from England left-back Matthew Targett in the 21st minute, Jankowski had to react quickly to a follow-up shot from midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah. Raheem Sterling retook possession for the Young Lions and whipped a cross into the six-yard box, where it rebounded off home defender Mateusz Wieteska and into the goalie's hands.

 

An impressive display from Jankowski continued two minutes later, when he scrambled behind an angled effort from Sterling. In the 33rd minute, though, he was beaten by a looping strike from Demarai Gray that - fortunately for the hosts - skimmed the crossbar and bounced behind.

 

The scoreline somehow remained goalless at half-time, prompting both sides to make mass changes in an attempt to turn the match in their favour. England brought on four substitutes, including striker Tammy Abraham, who took over the captaincy from Ward-Prowse. Abraham could've opened the scoring within three minutes, but his drive was comfortably retrieved by Jankowski.

 

Worryingly for England, Swift had picked up a knock very early in the first half. When the Reading playmaker was injured again in a tackle from Dominik Wydra after 52 minutes, he was taken off as a precaution. Derby County midfielder Will Hughes - who was in talks with West Ham United about a big-money move to the Premier League - came on in Swift's place.

 

The Biało-czerwoni seldom threatened England's goal in the second period, save for a 49th-minute Stepinski shot that was tipped wide by Pickford. Ten minutes after that, defender Jaroslaw Jach sent a free-kick harmlessly off course.

 

The danger that England posed from their own free-kicks was also minimals. A couple of poor set-pieces from Patrick Roberts went harmlessly off target in the 72nd and 75th minutes.

 

Between those misses from Roberts, the Young Lions brought on the in-form Marcus Rashford to partner captain Abraham up front. That change would pay dividends after 78 minutes. A low left-wing centre from Roberts found Rashford, who played a one-two with Abraham before blasting the ball beyond the reach of Poland's substitute goalkeeper Youn Czekanowicz.

 

The Young Lions didn't look back after that late opener. They would secure victory with a second goal deep into stoppage time, thanks to some more wonderful teamwork between their front two.

 

Hughes played the ball on to Rashford, who shrugged off Jach's presence and slotted a pass through a channel in the Polish defence. Abraham then snuck in from behind centre-half Arkadiusz Najemski to half-volley in his first goal for England Under-21s since October. The 19-year-old from Chelsea had made a very strong case to captain the Young Lions at the European Championship.

 

9 June 2017: Under-21s International - at Kolporter Arena, Kielce

Poland U21s - 0

England U21s - 2 (Marcus Rashford 78, Tammy Abraham 90+3)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford (Angus Gunn); Dominic Iorfa (Callum Chambers), Mason Holgate (Rob Holding), Joe Gomez (Brendan Galloway), Matthew Targett (Ben Chilwell); Nathaniel Chalobah (Marcus Rashford), James Ward-Prowse (Ruben Loftus-Cheek); Raheem Sterling (Nathan Redmond), John Swift (Will Hughes), Demarai Gray (Patrick Roberts); Adam Armstrong (Tammy Abraham).

 

Swift was assessed by the England medical team after that match and was found to have bruised his thigh. As this was only a minor injury, he would not have to pull out of the finals squad or miss any games. However, Swift was allowed to return home briefly before the tournament began, so that he could complete an £8.75million transfer from Reading to Middlesbrough.

[CFuller]

***

 

12 June 2017 - the evening before England's away friendly international against Croatia. Mark Catterall was at his team's training base in Zagreb, speaking on the phone to Under-21s head coach David Byrne, who was overseeing the Young Lions' preparations for the UEFA European Under-21s Championship.

 

"Alright, Dave, how are things?" Catterall asked.

 

"Couldn't be going much better, Catts, to be honest," Byrne replied. "The lads are raring to go on Thursday. They're looking sharp in training, and we've had no new injuries to report."

 

Catterall then enquired about the fitness of midfielder John Swift, to which Byrne responded, "Swifty's recovered very quickly from his thigh injury. He passed his medical at Middlesbrough without no problems, and now he's back with us and ready to play against Bulgaria."

 

"Great stuff," Catterall said. "And how are the players behaving, attitude-wise? No problems in the camp, I take it?"

 

"[Nathaniel] Chalobah's been on Twitter almost non-stop and [Raheem] Sterling's tried to chat up every young woman within three miles of the training ground. Apart from that, though, nothing major to report."

 

"Do you have a clearer idea on who should be captain?"

 

"I'm leaning towards either Nat or JWP [James Ward-Prowse], but Tammy [Abraham] has looked very professional in training. He's really impressed me."

 

"I can't disagree with that. I've certainly got a tough decision between those three."

 

"You're gonna have to think long and hard over it, Catts. It's a big call. Don't half-a*** it."

 

"I won't. Anyway, Dave, I've gotta go, but I'll see you on Wednesday."

 

"Yeah, see ya," Byrne said before Catterall hung up. The England manager then made his way into the meeting room, where all his players and coaching staff had gathered to discuss the upcoming match.

 

In the middle of the room, Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard was organising a selfie with his two club colleagues - Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling - as well as Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and AFC Bournemouth's Callum Wilson.

 

"Okay, lads!" Lingard called. "All together now! One... two... three..."

 

The quintet then cried in unison, "SQUAD!!"

 

After taking the selfie, Lingard smiled, "That was wicked, guys. This is going straight on Instagram!"

 

Catterall then stood in front of his players before calling out, "Okay, lads! Listen up!"

 

Everyone sat up to attention as Catterall - with Michael Burke standing to his right - declared, "Tomorrow's match may only be a friendly, but let me tell you now that it means so much more than that.

 

"Back in England, your compatriots have been united in grief, and divided by politics, over the last few weeks. Recent events in Manchester and London have really hit the country hard. And thanks to our daft lame duck of a Prime Minister, we are more polarised than ever before, between those on the left wing and those on the right."

 

"So we're gonna play in a diamond instead, right?" Oxlade-Chamberlain asked.

 

Burke laughed, "You're not so smart, Alex!"

 

"I was talking about Remainers and Brexiteers," Catterall clarified. "But I see that you lot are about as clued-up on politics as you are on East African bagpipe music, so I'll just get to the point."

 

Catterall then took a sip of water before continuing, "Britain needs a feel-good story, what with all these scary stories about terrorism, Brexit, 'Love Island', celebrities who think they're politicians... but you can give them a feel-good story.

 

"Croatia are one of the toughest teams to beat in European football," Burke said. "They're very well-oiled and have plenty of creativity in the midfield. If you can find a way past them on their own soil, then it'll make the doubters back home sit up and think, 'You know what. This England team might have a chance at next year's World Cup'."

 

"If we qualify for the World Cup," Catterall stressed.

 

"Of course."

 

Defensive coach Ray Wilkins then addressed the players, saying, "Luka Modric is a cracking little player in the Croatian midfield. Fortunately for you, he's done his calf in. Unfortunately, they've still got... this guy."

 

A video clip of the Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic was projected onto the wall behind Catterall and Burke.

 

"Rakitic is another cracking little player, even though he's about six-foot tall," Wilkins continued. "He don't get as much attention as a Xavi or an [Andrés] Iniesta, but he's a sophisticated playmaker. He's got a beautiful first touch and can play a killer pass through the defence... but he ain't too strong physically. Young Eric, you can take him out, can't you?"

 

"I don't see why I can't," ball-winning midfielder Eric Dier said confidently.

 

Wilkins continued, "On the wings, they'll have [Andrej] Kramaric and [Ivan] Perisic. Young Danny [Rose], you might have a handful with Perisic, 'cos the kid's great with both feet and can get past you just like that. It's important that you stand him off and not allow him to cut inside."

 

Burke then interjected with some advice for right-back Nathaniel Clyne, "As far as Kramaric goes, I don't think you'll have to worry about him too much, Clyney. He couldn't score to save his life at Leicester City, so there's no way he'll get past Safe Hands Hart over here!"

 

Just as Burke finished his sentence, he saw Joe Hart fumble at his phone before dropping it to the floor. Upon picking up the phone, he saw a large crack in the touchscreen.

 

Hart exclaimed, "Oh s***, I've only had this for, like, three months!"

 

"Three months - that's a good innings for a phone nowadays," Burke quipped. "But as long as you don't do that with the ball, we'll be golden."

 

"But that still leaves the big fella [Mario] Mandzukic up front," Wilkins said, before turning to defenders Gary Cahill and Michael Keane. "Young Gary, it's your job to mark him tightly and make sure he don't get no aerial service. Young Keane, you'll have to provide cover if either of the widemen cut inside. Got that, fellas?"

 

Cahill and Keane nodded before Catterall asked Harry Kane, "And Harry, I take it you know exactly what you've got to do tomorrow."

 

"Yeah, boss," Kane smiled. "I'm gonna go out there, y'know, get some goals, or at least help [Jamie] Vardy get some goals. And y'know, if me and Jamie can't get some goals, maybe Callum will go out there and get some goals instead. Is that right, mate?"

 

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Catterall replied.

 

Burke then asked the players, "So, lads, are you gonna go for it tomorrow? Are you gonna take the game to Croatia? Are you gonna make your country proud?"

 

Lingard stood up and called out, "All together now, everybody! One... two... three..."

 

"SQUAD!!!"

[CFuller]

***

 

England were a team who had a very mixed history when it came to playing in Croatia. Their first visit to Zagreb in 2006 ended in a 2-0 away defeat, thanks in part to a Gary Neville back-pass that struck a divot and bypassed goalkeeper Paul Robinson on its way into the net. The Three Lions got their revenge two years later, thrashing Croatia 4-1 after a sensational hat-trick from a then-teenaged Theo Walcott.

 

It had been nearly eight years since these countries last met, but Mark Catterall felt that this was the right time to test his England team out against a Croatia side who were roughly on a par to them.

 

Like his charges, the Vatreni had a well-rounded squad that was spearheaded by a few exceptional talents. Mario Mandzukic was their Harry Kane. Mateo Kovacic was their Jordan Henderson. Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic was the top-level advanced midfield playmaker that Jack Wilshere arguably could've become were it not for those pesky injuries.

 

Both teams were without their first-choice captains for this match. While England skipper Wayne Rooney was left out on the manager's terms, Croatia's Luka Modric had been forced out of contention after tearing his calf muscle playing for Real in April. That meant vice-captains Henderson and Rakitic would be donning the armbands for their respective countries.

 

Henderson showed his willingness to put his body on the line for England after six minutes, when he deflected behind a shot from Mandzukic. The Three Lions prepared themselves for an inswinging corner delivery from Kovacic, only for the 23-year-old to catch them out completely.

 

Instead of whipping his corner into the penalty area, Kovacic swung it long towards Hoffenheim forward Andrej Kramaric, who was about 40 yards from goal. As England's defence panicked about what to do, Kramaric controlled the delivery with his left foot, took it forward to the edge of the area, and then smashed in a shot with his right foot. A man who'd been a £7million bust for Leicester City three years earlier had stunned the country he used to call home.

 

England now knew that they had to exercise caution over any Kovacic set-piece. It was particularly worrying, then, when Henderson gave away a free-kick for an 11th-minute foul on Marcelo Brozovic that resulted in him being booked. Much to the away fans' relief, Kovacic didn't try any sneaky tricks this time around, instead blasting his free-kick harmlessly wide.

 

The referee would have to dish out a couple more yellow cards early on. The long-haired Croatian defender Domagoj Vida was cautioned in the 12th minute after banging into Jamie Vardy, while England centre-half Michael Keane tripped Mandzukic to join him in the book five minutes later.

 

Vida's partner in the centre of the Croatian defence was Dejan Lovren, who'd played a big role in securing UEFA Champions League football for Liverpool next season. He would also play a huge role in gifting England an equaliser out of nothing after 20 minutes.

 

After Keane dispossessed Mandzukic in the England half, Eric Dier scrambled the ball away. Lovren tried to nod the clearance long to his goalkeeper Danijel Subasic... but he horribly miscued his header, leaving Kane free to race clean through and hammer in his 10th goal for the Three Lions!

 

A shaky period for the Croatian defence continued a minute later, with right-back Sime Vrsaljko getting booked for a trip on Vardy. The Vatreni were rather more comfortable when they were attacking.

 

Midfielders Brozovic and Rakitic each had shots saved by Joe Hart in the 28th and 30th minutes respectively, with the latter going on to test England's goalkeeper again in the 38th. Rakitic found just enough space to blast a shot towards the target from 30 yards out, but a sublime fingertip save from Hart denied Croatia what would've been another breathtaking goal.

 

England's best opportunity to take the lead before half-time had come on 31 minutes. Wilshere weighted a delicate pass ahead of the runs of Tottenham Hotspur duo Dier and Kane. Dier got to the ball first, but he struck Subasic's right-hand post, and the two teams would remain locked at the interval.

 

Croatia switched to an ambitious narrow 4-3-3 formation for the second half. Fiorentina striker Nikola Kalinic - once of Blackburn Rovers - came on to accompany Juventus' Mandzukic and Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic up front. Kalinic would have no fewer than four shots at goal in the first few minutes after the restart, but two were blocked, one was parried by Hart, and the other found the side netting.

 

The Vatreni's three-pronged frontline was causing England's defence all manner of stress, so it was time for Catterall to rethink his own tactics. He also adopted a 4-3-3 variant, but with Dier dropping into a defensive midfield role, and a couple of inside-forwards accompanying Kane up front. This change would help the Three Lions become more compact at the back, but also better-placed to hit Croatia on the counter-attack whenever such opportunities arose.

 

The tactical switch worked as Catterall had intended it to. Rakitic was given less space in midfield to exploit, and in turn, Croatia's frontmen were left with fewer scoring opportunities. Mandzukic cut an increasingly frustrated figure up top, and he would be booked in the 66th minute after a coming-together between him and Wilshere.

 

With 20 minutes to go, Catterall made another bold move. Kane was given a well-earned rest, and AFC Bournemouth's Callum Wilson came on to lead the English attack. Before Wilson could get his first chance to strike, though, England would have some defending to do.

 

In the 72nd minute, Mandzukic leapt above a crowd of England defenders to meet Rakitic's free-kick with a header that bounced miles off target. Two minutes after that, Rakitic seriously rattled the visitors with another long-distance effort, but Hart was once again on hand to push the ball behind.

 

An England counter-attack in the 83rd minute ended with Wilson screwing wide an excellent lobbed pass from Wilshere. Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard did at least work the goalkeeper in the 85th minute, when his shot from Adam Lallana's cross was palmed away from the near post by Subasic.

 

This late surge from the Young Lions would finally produce a reward in the first few seconds of injury time. Substitute right-back Kyle Walker scampered after a long ball from his Tottenham colleague Dier and then cut inside, prompting the home players to desperately rush back into their box. Croatia's efforts were to no avail, as Walker's byline cross evaded their chequered shirts and was drilled in off the far post by Wilson.

 

England had already salvaged a couple of late wins away from home this season, in Slovenia and in Lithuania. However, coming from behind to win 2-1 in Croatia was a watershed moment. The Three Lions had sent out a firm message that they wanted to be regarded as one of Europe's leading teams again.

 

13 June 2017: International Friendly - at Maksimir, Zagreb

Croatia - 1 (Andrej Kramaric 6)

England - 2 (Harry Kane 20, Callum Wilson 90+1)

ENGLAND LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Joe Hart; Nathaniel Clyne (Kyle Walker), Gary Cahill, Michael Keane (John Stones), Danny Rose; Jordan Henderson (Dele Alli), Eric Dier; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Adam Lallana), Jack Wilshere, Jamie Vardy (Jesse Lingard); Harry Kane (Callum Wilson). BOOKED: Henderson 11, Keane 17, Lallana 88.

 

Mark Catterall's first year in charge of the England senior team had been an unqualified success. England had won nine out of ten matches, with their solitary blip being a 3-2 home defeat to a formidable Belgium team in November. They'd also delighted their supporters with 29 goals, and on only one occasion had they failed to score at least twice.

 

It was perhaps premature to say that Catterall had transformed the Three Lions into a footballing powerhouse again - after all, the proof would be in the pudding of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and subsequent major tournaments. Nevertheless, as the players left the England camp to begin their summer holidays, the early signs were looking extremely promising.

[CFuller]

Chapter 10 - Pole To Pole

 

A little more than an hour after watching his England team beat Croatia, manager Mark Catterall was on the next flight from Zagreb to Warsaw. He arrived in the Polish capital in the early hours of 14 June and then checked into a hotel for the night.

 

Catterall only got about six hours' sleep in Warsaw, not that it really mattered to this workaholic coach. By 9:00am, he was already back out on the road for a three-hour drive south to the England Under-21s team's training camp in Kielce. In less than a day-and-a-half, the Young Lions would be playing in their opening match of the UEFA European Under-21s Championship.

 

Head coach David Byrne had overseen training ever since England arrived in Poland a week earlier, and he regularly informed Catterall on the players' progress. It was also Byrne who welcomed the manager when he eventually arrived at the training ground just before midday.

 

"Alright there, Catts?" Byrne asked. "How was the drive?"

 

"Could've been better, Dave," Catterall nodded. "Mind you, there weren't much traffic around."

 

"I guess that's because all the Poles have buggered off to England now, ain't they?" Byrne laughed. Catterall looked at the coach blank-faced and rolled his eyes in disdain.

 

Byrne then coughed before breaking the awkward silence. "The players are in the canteen right now if you wanna have a word with them."

 

After a lengthy morning training session, all the England players were tucking into their food and 'bantering' with one another in the canteen. Once Catterall entered the room, they all fell silent.

 

"Afternoon, lads!" Catterall smiled. "I guess you'll all be putting up with me for the next week or two!"

 

There were a few laughs amongst the players, but Catterall immediately noticed that something wasn't quite right, specifically regarding the seating arrangements.

 

"Hang on, what's all this, eh?" he asked. "We've got mostly white players on one side of the canteen, and mostly black players on the other.

 

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK THIS IS? This is supposed to be an England football team in the 21st century, not f***ing apartheid South Africa!

 

"A tournament like this should be bringing you players together as a team. Instead, we've got all these little cliques - and cliques don't win tournaments. Teams do.

 

"I'd suggest that you spread out a bit more and get to know ALL of your team-mates. After all, you've already been playing, eating and sleeping with them for a week, and you've still got at least another week to go!"

 

At that point, several players moved tables, giving the England canteen a rather less segregated feel about it.

 

"That's better, lads," Catterall nodded. "I hope I don't have to bring you up on that again.

 

"Now... I'm sure you all want to know who'll be the captain against Bulgaria tomorrow. Some of you have been given opportunities to lead the team in recent matches, and I have to say that there have been some very strong candidates. But now, after thinking this over for a long time, I've come to a decision."

 

Incumbent captain James Ward-Prowse crossed his fingers and repeatedly whispered, "It's gonna be me, it's gonna be me..."

 

"Our captain for tomorrow, and for the tournament as a whole, will be... Kevin."

 

Several players looked awkwardly around the room, confused as to who 'Kevin' was, but others had a better idea.

 

"Oh... you mean Tammy, don't you, gaffer?" asked Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was in the same Chelsea team as Kevin Oghenetega Tamaraebi Bakumo-Abraham - the teenage striker commonly known as Tammy Abraham.

 

Abraham nervously pointed at himself and asked unbelievingly, "What? I'm captain? For real?"

 

Catterall nodded, "Yes, Kevin, you're the captain. You might be one of the youngest players in the team, but you've led by example whenever I've asked you to, and I'm sure that you can inspire your colleagues.

 

Abraham gasped delightfully, "Oh my days... I can't believe it!"

 

"You'd better believe it, Kevin," Catterall said. "Now everybody give our new captain Kevin a round of applause!"

 

Most of the players obliged to congratulate a beaming Abraham, but Ward-Prowse - infuriated at having the armband stripped from him - was not among them.

 

"It's a disgrace," the midfielder grumbled to his Southampton colleague Matthew Targett. "It should've been me or [Nathaniel] Chalobah. We've been in the team for ages, but he's just some spoilt Chelsea kid who's only been around for a year."

 

"For God's sake, Wardy, get a grip!" Targett muttered. "The gaffer's made his choice. Live with it."

 

Catterall then addressed his players again, saying, "Now, lads, I'm sure that David's been drilling this into your heads all week, but let me make this clear once again. This is not a jolly-up; this is going to be hard work.

 

"By all means have some fun during your downtime of an evening, but while you're under my watchful eye, I expect 100% commitment at all times. I won't tolerate any shirking while we're here, and if any of you kick up a fuss with me or David, you won't be playing.

 

"Frankly, we haven't pulled our weight in this competition for a long time. 2011 - out in the group. 2013 - out in the group. 2015 - out in the group.

 

"Some of you will have bad memories about 2015 and even 2013. This is a chance to push those memories aside, and prove that you can lead the next generation of England footballers into World Cups and European Championships. A strong tournament in the present can be a springboard to greater success in the future.

 

"We've got a difficult group, that's for sure. France and Italy are both incredibly strong, and Bulgaria won't be a piece of cake either. If you can get past those three, though, then anything is possible.

 

"I don't want you doubting for one second that you can win this championship. I have faith in your abilities, and so does David. The real question is: do you?"

[CFuller]

***

 

The first match in Group C of the 2017 UEFA European Under-21s Championship was played out in Starachowice on the evening of 14 June. France and Italy faced each other in one of the most eagerly-awaited contests of the entire competition.

 

It was France who took the lead after just two minutes via M'Baye Niang. However, the Azzurri retaliated through Federico Bernardeschi, who would later cancel out another French goal from Maxwel Cornet. The contest would eventually be decided just five minutes from time, when Pescara striker Alberto Cerri secured a priceless 3-2 win for Italy, putting them in a great position to reach the Semi Finals.

 

Less than 24 hours later, it was England's turn to show their championship credentials. The Young Lions opened their campaign in Rzeszów - a city situated in south-east Poland. Awaiting them were a Bulgaria team who were unlikely to be anything other than cannon fodder for the three giants in their group.

 

Bulgaria went into this game with nothing to lose. For England, it was absolutely vital that they didn't suffer defeat. Indeed, a draw would surely deal the Young Lions' qualification hopes a fateful blow, even before their clashes against the French and the Italians.

 

Tammy Abraham - at just 19 years of age - led England out onto the pitch as captain, but he wouldn't get much time to grace the field. Barely two minutes after kick-off, Abraham was the target of a vital saving tackle from Bulgarian defender Petko Hristov, just as the Chelsea striker was about to latch onto Raheem Sterling's through-ball.

 

Abraham went to ground, and he stayed down, clutching his heel. He was helped off the field by England team physio Derek Wright before being assessed on the touchline. The prognosis was not good, and within a couple of minutes, it was confirmed that he would not be returning to the action.

 

Abraham's swift exit meant an earlier-than-expected introduction to the game for Marcus Rashford. The captain's armband was passed on to Nathaniel Chalobah as the Young Lions tried to recompose themselves quickly.

 

England's first major scoring opportunity came from Raheem Sterling in the 16th minute. After collecting a pass from Middlesbrough's new attacking midfielder John Swift, Sterling ghosted past Bulgaria right-back Emin Ahmed and unleashed a shot that was safely caught by goalkeeper Georgi Kitanov.

 

The Young Lions remained frustrated in their early attempts to open the scoring. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Patrick Roberts each had shots blocked by Bulgarian defenders, while Kitanov tipped wide another hopeful effort from Sterling on 22 minutes.

 

Bulgaria held firm, and after 28 minutes, they stunned England with a clinical counter-attack. Midfielder Radoslav Tsonev tackled the ball off Swift and then moved it forward to Iliya Dimitrov, who teed up a lethal finish from Levski Sofia left-winger Aleks Borimirov. The underdogs were 1-0 to the good.

 

England's worst fears had been realised, and the mounting pressure appeared to be getting to Sterling when he pulled an awful shot into the side netting just before the half-hour. A little over two minutes later, though, the Manchester City forward was back to something resembling his best.

 

Left-back Ben Chilwell played a slide-rule pass to Sterling just as the latter was making a run into the Bulgarian penalty area. Sterling then raced clear of Andrea Hristov - the twin brother and centre-back partner of Petko - on his way towards the byline, where he squared a cross that was tapped in at the back post by his City colleague Roberts. Bulgaria's shock lead had lasted a mere seven minutes.

 

England pushed on late in the first half, with Everton defender Brendan Galloway and Sterling each missing chances to put them in the ascendancy. The scores would remain level at the interval, prompting Catterall to rethink his tactics.

 

Sterling and Roberts had both been playing as inside-forwards, and thus they would regularly cut in from out wide. Against a compact Bulgarian defence, England's attackers weren't getting enough space. Catterall's new plan was to play his Citizens duo as out-and-out wingers - Roberts on the left, and Sterling on the right - and force Bulgaria to stretch themselves out, thus opening up more space for Swift and Rashford to exploit.

 

The Young Lions gave their opponents a warning shot in the 47th minute, when Rashford forced Kitanov into a catch. Five minutes later, the Eastern Europeans' inability to defend a Roberts corner would prove costly. 17-year-old Atanas Kabov's poor clearance saw the ball end up at the feet of Chilwell, who squared it for Loftus-Cheek and then watched the Chelsea midfielder thunder a stunning shot into the top corner.

 

Loftus-Cheek's strike was the goal that opened the Bulgarian floodgates. When Roberts dribbled through acres of space up the left flank in the 54th minute, it was easy to predict that he would subsequently provide the cross that resulted in Rashford putting England 3-1 up. For a striker of Rashford's quality, the finish was as simple as shelling peas.

 

England were now carving Bulgaria up with almost embarrassing ease. In the 59th minute, Loftus-Cheek played a one-two with Roberts and then threaded the ball through to Rashford. The Manchester United teenager's shot slipped underneath Kitanov's despairing dive, and it was 4-1. Rashford had now scored 10 goals in 10 appearances for England Under-21s!

 

Mind you, England were nowhere near finished yet. Another silky passing move in the 62nd minute resulted in Swift breaking clear of Petko Hristov and prodding in a sublime ball from supersub Rashford. In the space of around 10 minutes, a level game had suddenly been transformed into an England rout.

 

With the Bulgarians already soundly beaten, England wisely opted to take things easy for the time that remained. Centre-back Mason Holgate flicked a header just wide of goal in the 68th minute, as did Galloway in the 87th, but there was no need to build on what was an emphatic enough lead.

 

England's 5-1 demolition of Bulgaria put them top of Group C, ahead of Italy on goal difference. Were the Young Lions to follow up their opening victory with another against France four days later, they would be brilliantly placed to survive their 'Group of Death' - and reach the Semi Finals of the European Under-21s Championship.

 

15 June 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Group C - at Hetmanska, Rzeszów

Bulgaria U21s - 1 (Aleks Borimirov 26)

England U21s - 5 (Patrick Roberts 33, Ruben Loftus-Cheek 52, Marcus Rashford 54,59, John Swift 62)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford; Dominic Iorfa, Mason Holgate, Brendan Galloway, Ben Chilwell; Nathaniel Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek (James Ward-Prowse); Patrick Roberts, John Swift (Will Hughes), Raheem Sterling; Tammy Abraham (Marcus Rashford).

[CFuller]

***

 

The UEFA European Under-21s Championship was now in full swing, and Group C was starting to take shape.

 

The second round of group fixtures on 19 June had started with Italy regaining top spot following a 4-0 thrashing of Bulgaria in Starachowice. Goals from Federico Bernardeschi, Andrea Petagna, Federico Chiesa and Daniele Rugani had moved the Azzurri on to six points, and qualification for the Semi Finals now looked almost certain.

 

England would go back level with Italy if they could follow up their own thrashing of Bulgaria by eliminating France in Rzeszów. Mind you, the Young Lions would be right up against it.

 

Although Les Bleus had collapsed to a late defeat when they played the Italians, they possessed a group of exceptional young players who were the envy of other European nations. The fact that Monaco's 18-year-old wonderkid Kylian Mbappé had been picked for the Under-20s Toulon Tournament instead of this competition was testament to how much strength in depth the French had.

 

The Young Lions' hopes of back-to-back victories had been dented by the absence of captain Tammy Abraham, who'd damaged his heel very early on against Bulgaria. Although the Chelsea striker recovered sufficiently to take his place on the bench for the France game, it was extremely unlikely that he would feature at any point.

 

With Abraham out, the England captaincy was handed to midfielder James Ward-Prowse, who was one of nine changes to the starting XI. Only goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and attacking midfielder John Swift would retain their places for successive matches.

 

Both teams started slowly, with the action not picking up until the 14th minute. That was when England defender Joe Gomez gave away a free-kick in a dangerous position after upending France striker Moussa Dembélé, who had just won the Scottish Premier League title - and the Golden Boot - with Celtic.

 

Stepping up to take the French free-kick was 21-year-old left-winger Thomas Lemar - another member of the exciting young Monaco side who'd stormed to the Ligue 1 title. Lemar was renowned for his prowess at set-pieces, and Pickford found that out when this opportunity was curled over the England wall and into his left-hand corner.

 

France may have taken the lead, but their captain Lucas was left walking a fine line two minutes later, when the Atlético Madrid centre-back was booked for pushing Marcus Rashford in the centre circle. England wouldn't get much further to the French goal in a one-sided first period.

 

Lemar was causing England problems again in the 26th minute, when his cross was headed wide by Udinese midfielder Séko Fofana. Nine minutes after that, Lemar put one of his dangerous free-kicks into the box. Ward-Prowse managed to intercept the delivery before his colleague Nathan Redmond scrambled it away from the feet of Lyon left-winger Maxwel Cornet, but England weren't out of the woods just yet.

 

Just seconds after that clearance from Redmond, Kurt Zouma pumped the ball back into the box. The English defenders had lost concentration, leaving Dembélé with a glorious opportunity to double Les Bleus' advantage to 2-0. Had Dembélé's shot been more clinical, or had Pickford not been in the right place at the right time, there would surely have been clear daylight between the teams.

 

The first period concluded with further French misses from Cornet, Dembélé and Lemar. England had a brief foray into Les Bleus' area as well, with Demarai Gray powering a header inches wide in the 41st minute after beating Lucas to a long ball from left-back Matthew Targett.

 

Mark Catterall made major changes to his England team's tactics before the second period. Though the Young Lions were struggling to contain France's attackers, Catterall sought to counter that by "flooding the midfield" - and switching to a narrow 4-3-1-2 formation. Vice-captain Nathaniel Chalobah came on to try and reassert England's control of the midfield, while the relatively quiet Rashford was given a strike partner in Adam Armstrong.

 

Rashford had a decent opportunity to draw England level within five minutes of the restart. As Calum Chambers sent the ball low and hard from the right flank into France's penalty area, Rashford got ahead of Nice centre-half Malang Sarr - the youngest French outfield squad member at just 18 - and pulled it just wide.

 

Armstrong's first crack at goal came after 57 minutes. The Newcastle United forward snuck behind France right-back Zouma to run onto a long ball from Targett, which he then took past Lucas before pulling the trigger. Unfortunately for him, Jérôme Prior just managed to get enough of a glove to the shot to divert it behind.

 

French fans were concerned to see Dembélé become increasingly profligate, as he missed the target twice in the 59th and 64th minutes. Those poor shots came either side of another very narrow escape for Les Bleus on 62 minutes. England skilfully worked the ball into the area, and a low shot from skipper Ward-Prowse clipped the inside of Prior's left-hand post and deflected across the goalmouth. Lucas then scrambled it away from a lurking Armstrong.

 

Shortly after that close shave, France brought on Watford striker M'Baye Niang to replace winger Jeff Reine-Adelaide. Niang had scored the opening goal of that 3-2 loss to Italy, but things wouldn't pan out quite so well for him here.

 

In the 75th minute, Niang's corner delivery into the England area was headed out by Ward-Prowse. Though Niang got to the rebound, he was quickly outmuscled by Chalobah before Rashford hit the ball long to Armstrong. As the French defenders struggled to get back, Armstrong raced through and won a corner off Prior's save. Ward-Prowse's corner wasn't the best, though it wouldn't be long before the Young Lions were attacking again.

 

Barely a minute later, Rashford slipped past defender Benjamin Mendy and connected with a lovely pass from Armstrong. Although Mendy forced him into a difficult angle, Rashford still found enough room to drive a fantastic shot over Prior and into the net.

 

France brought on another substitute after squandering their lead, with RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano taking Sarr's place. Not long after his introduction, Upamecano flicked a Niang corner to midfielder Olivier Ntcham, who lobbed it towards Lucas at the back post. Lucas then nodded the ball across goal to the other post, where Upamecano somehow headed a glorious opportunity over the crossbar.

 

Things wouldn't get any better for Upamecano in the opposite penalty area on 82 minutes. He was beaten to a Ward-Prowse corner by England centre-back Joe Gomez, who flicked home his first international goal at Under-21s level. It was a vital one, too, as the Young Lions had come back from 1-0 down to lead 2-1!

 

Gomez was putting in a heroic shift for England, and the West Ham United defender made another big contribution on 89 minutes by heading a Zouma cross out of the box. When Zouma's next attempted centre rebounded behind off Targett moments later, the French were given one last chance to salvage at least a draw.

 

It was Niang who once again took the corner for France. Upamecano was at the near post to try and steer a header towards goal, but Pickford made a comfortable catch, and England would maintain their 2-1 advantage.

 

Back-to-back wins for both England and Italy meant that their meeting on 23 June would determine the winner of Group C. Though first place would guarantee automatic qualification to the Semi Finals, the unlucky losers were highly likely to also go through as the best runners-up.

 

19 June 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Group C - at Hetmanska, Rzeszów

England U21s - 2 (Marcus Rashford 76, Joe Gomez 82)

France U21s - 1 (Thomas Lemar 14)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford; Calum Chambers, Joe Gomez, Rob Holding, Matthew Targett; Will Hughes, James Ward-Prowse; Nathan Redmond (Nathaniel Chalobah), John Swift (Raheem Sterling), Demarai Gray (Adam Armstrong); Marcus Rashford.

[CFuller]

***

 

After starting the 2017 UEFA European Championship in Rzeszów, England's Under-21s travelled about two hours north to Starachowice for their final game in Group C.

 

England and Italy had each won their opening two games and were all but through to the Semi Finals. Their meeting would merely decide who finished top of the table and earned automatic qualification, and who would have to wait on other results to see if they would go through as the best runners-up.

 

As both teams went into this match with identical records, a draw would keep them dead-level at the top of Group C. A draw would see both of them progress to the Semi Finals regardless of results in other groups, but - for logistical reasons - UEFA would still need to determine who finished 1st and 2nd one way or another. The likelihood was that the teams would be separated by their disciplinary records, or a penalty shoot-out, or possibly even a game of 'Rock Paper Scissors' between the two captains.

 

England had a real incentive to claim outright victory over Italy. The Azzurri had beaten them to top spot in their qualifying group, forcing the Young Lions to negotiate a tricky play-off against Serbia in order to qualify. Now it was time for them to get their own back.

 

With a likely Semi Final awaiting England in four or five days' time, manager Mark Catterall adopted a conservative tactical approach. He benched most of his key players, including Marcus Rashford and James Ward-Prowse, and instructed his starting XI to prioritise possession football over taking undue risks.

 

Jordan Pickford and John Swift continued their records of starting in every game, and the latter almost created a goal within 20 seconds of the kick-off. The Middlesbrough midfielder drew Italian defender Daniele Rugani out of position and then fed the ball through to Adam Armstrong, who lined up an early shot.

 

In the end, Armstrong's strike was superbly tipped behind by Azzurri captain Gianluigi Donnarumma. The 18-year-old AC Milan goalkeeper had recently replaced the legendary Gianluigi Buffon as first-choice goalkeeper for the senior Italy national team. Donnarumma had been temporarily dropped back into the Under-21s to give his country the best possible chance of winning this championship.

 

England's next opportunity was fired wide in the 14th minute by Calum Chambers, who was playing as a central midfielder instead of in defence. Two minutes later, Chambers' pass into the Italian penalty area was scooped over the crossbar by captain Tammy Abraham.

 

Italy started to come to life in the 24th minute, when playmaker Danilo Cataldi sought out Federico Dimarco on the left flank. The Inter Milan full-back aimed a cross into the penalty area, where striker Alberto Cerri leapt above both of England's centre-halves to try and nod it home. Much to the relief of both Brendan Galloway and Rob Holding, not to mention goalkeeper Pickford, the ball looped just over their goal.

 

The Young Lions then gave their opponents a couple of frights just before the half-hour. Ruben Loftus-Cheek's 27th-minute drive from an Armstrong centre was miraculously clawed behind by Donnarumma.

 

Two minutes after that, though, Donnarumma was caught out by an excellent long ball from Galloway. Armstrong broke through the Italian offside trap to try and nod the Everton defender's delivery past the onrushing keeper, but his header bounced against the post and was then knocked behind by Dimarco.

 

The subsequent corner from Swift was met by an unconvincing clearance from Azzurri midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini. Loftus-Cheek tried to power the loose ball into the goal, but his shot was always rising.

 

An off-target free-kick by Swift in the 38th minute proved to be England's last chance to move ahead before half-time. Though the deadlock remained unbroken, Catterall remained convinced that his team would eventually change that by scoring the goal that would effectively secure their Semi Final berth.

 

One player who didn't seem to share Catterall's belief was his own captain. Abraham appeared to be overawed by the occasion and barely troubled Donnarumma all afternoon. Italy striker Cerri was also having a nightmare at the other end, and he would be replaced six minutes into the second half by AFC Bournemouth's big January signing Andrea Petagna.

 

Italy's first few scoring chances of the break were largely wayward. Pellegrini couldn't hit the target with a long-distance volley on 59 minutes, and neither could Federico Bernardeschi from a free-kick four minutes later.

 

In fact, it was Azzurri right-back Davide Calabria who gave Pickford his first cause for concern in the 64th minute. Calabria's deep low cross appeared to be heading straight for the side netting, but England's number 1 wouldn't take any chances and pushed it behind the byline.

 

Pickford was rather fortunate that his misjudgement wouldn't prove costly. Bernardeschi's initial corner was headed behind by Chambers for another, which Abraham managed to confidently nod clear.

 

Italy's players were losing steam, and England would make the most of that in the 68th minute. Armstrong snuck behind Calabria almost unnoticed to break the Italian offside trap and slip Swift's through-ball beyond Donnarumma. A tidy finish from the Newcastle United prospect had all but sent the Young Lions through as Group C winners.

 

Azzurri coach Luigi Di Biagio's response to seeing his team fall behind was to bring on a couple of substitutes. After 71 minutes, one of them - Sassuolo forward Domenico Berardi - knocked an excellent long ball over the English defence and ahead of Petagna.

 

Petagna was joined in England's penalty area by Federico Chiesa. Instead of playing a square pass for his compatriot to finish, the Bournemouth striker went for goal himself, and he was denied by the palms of Pickford.

 

England's goalkeeper produced another sublime save from Berardi in the 74th minute, though he was beaten by a vicious half-volley from Petagna two minutes later. On that occasion, the shot rebounded off the crossbar and back into play. Lady Luck was clearly not on the Italians' side.

 

Catterall was now so confident of progression that he ordered his players to conserve as much energy as possible in the final 10 minutes. That strategy could've backfired on another day, but this was not Petagna's day at all. Pickford saved Petagna's third attempt at goal after 85 minutes, and the fourth drifted just wide of the goalkeeper's left-hand post in injury time.

 

Pragmatism had worked for England. They'd got their revenge, they'd claimed top spot in Group C, and they were comfortably through to the Semi Finals of the European Under-21s Championship. Italy weren't left heartbroken, though, as their earlier victories would indeed see them finish as the leading runners-up.

 

England and Italy were joined in the last four by the other group winners. Belgium had seen off Germany, the Netherlands and Spain to top Group A, while Portugal had emerged unscathed from a rather less tricky Group B.

 

The question now was: who would play who in the Semi Finals?

 

23 June 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Group C - at Miejski, Starachowice

Italy U21s - 0

England U21s - 1 (Adam Armstrong 68)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Jordan Pickford; Mason Holgate, Rob Holding, Brendan Galloway, Ben Chilwell; Calum Chambers (Joe Gomez), Nathaniel Chalobah (Will Hughes), Ruben Loftus-Cheek; John Swift (Nathan Redmond); Tammy Abraham, Adam Armstrong.

 

2017 UEFA European Under-21s Championship Group C (Final Standings)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    Q     England U21s           3     3     0     0     8     2     6     9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.    Q     Italy U21s             3     2     0     1     7     3     4     6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          France U21s            3     0     1     2     4     6     -2    1
4.          Bulgaria U21s          3     0     1     2     2     10    -8    1

 

[CFuller]

***

 

"I CAN'T F***ING BELIEVE THIS! We've got Italy - AGAIN!"

 

It would be fair to say that England manager Mark Catterall wasn't exactly delighted when he learned who his team would be playing in the Semi Finals of the UEFA European Under-21s Championship.

 

Two days earlier, the Young Lions had beaten Italy 1-0 to finish top of Group C and reach the Semi Finals. Now, they had a couple more days to prepare for another meeting with the Azzurri, who'd made it through to the last four, courtesy of having the best record of the three group runners-up.

 

When you consider that England and Italy had already faced each other twice in the qualifiers before the finals themselves, it was perhaps not surprising that Catterall's reaction to the draw was what it was. FA chairman Clark Gregory - who'd arrived in Poland the previous day to watch the latter stages of the tournament - witnessed his manager's angry reaction first-hand in Catterall's office.

 

"It's a random draw, Mark," Gregory told him, "Sometimes these things happen."

 

Catterall shook his head. "Well, it doesn't feel random to me. It's almost as if UEFA want us to fail. They gave us Italy in the qualifiers, Serbia in the play-offs, France and Italy in the group stage, and now Italy again.

 

"I want to speak to [UEFA President] Aleksander Čeferin. You've got his number, haven't you, Clark?"

 

Gregory dismissed Catterall's question. "Speaking to President Čeferin won't resolve anything, not that there is anything to resolve. I've got my suspicions about the bloke, but I don't think he'd stoop so low as to fix a draw."

 

Catterall sighed, "You're right. I'm over-reacting. Besides, we've beaten Italy once before, so we can do it again."

 

"That's the manager I hired!" Gregory smiled briefly, before turning serious again. "Now... Mark, there's something else I need to have a word with you about."

 

"Throw it at me."

 

Gregory threw that day's edition of 'The Sun on Sunday' at Catterall. Emblazoned on the front page of the newspaper was a photo of winger Raheem Sterling under the headline "FOOTIE ACE RAHEEM'S ALL-NIGHTER AT BAR".

 

Gregory explained, "Raheem Sterling - he was out at some bar in Kielce until 2am on the morning of the Italy group game.

 

"I wondered why Raheem was looking a bit weary-eyed that afternoon," Catterall said. "Hold on... he weren't out drinking, were he?"

 

"No, he was watching avant-garde Albanian films with David Platt... what the f*** do you think he was doing?! Read the bloody article, you daft git!"

 

Catterall scoffed, "To be honest, I'd take anything The Sun writes with a pinch of salt. Remember Hillsborough? Or that article about Jeremy Corbyn's neighbour's cat voting for the Tories?"

 

"Trust me, Mark, you've got to take this seriously. The biggest-selling paper in the country has evidence of one of England's best young footballers leaving a club on the morning before a match!

 

"Just look at what they've written! Some guy said that Raheem Sterling was beating up 12-year-old kids at 9:00pm, and that by midnight, he was getting hammered with a bunch of girls! And that's not all - hundreds of people were watching him do it on the Internet!"

 

Catterall reluctantly opened the newspaper to read the article in question. He then turned to Gregory and groaned, "Why don't you ever read the whole story? Raheem Sterling was out all night playing FIFA, you idiot!"

 

According to the article, Sterling had taken part in a FIFA 17 gaming marathon, organised in part by his agent Aidy Ward. He started off by taking on several local youngsters, often winning comfortably.

 

Three hours later, though, Sterling lost a match 9-2 whilst playing as the England women's team, against a professional FIFA player who was using their German counterparts. The gamer in question was broadcasting the match on the live-streaming platform Twitch, with hundreds of his supporters - or 'followers' - watching it unfold live.

 

Catterall shrugged, "So Raheem was playing video games that night... SO WHAT? At least he weren't out mugging old women - or doing other things to them, like a certain England captain when he were younger."

 

"I can't believe you're even dismissing this like it's nothing!" Gregory exclaimed. "In the past, players used to go out drinking or shagging prostitutes before matches. Now they're addicted to silly computer games and not getting much sleep! Is it any wonder that we always fall apart at major tournaments?"

 

"Don't you think I've got better things to do than monitor my players' activities 24-7? I'm their manager, Clark, not their dad. And they're responsible adults at the end of the day, so they should just be allowed to live their own lives and take their own risks."

 

Gregory laughed, "You're a typical Lancastrian parent, Mark - all liberal, no discipline. At least in Derbyshire, my parents - God rest their souls - brought me up right good and proper."

 

Gregory then walked way, though not before signing off, "I'll sithee, Mark. I'll sithee."

[CFuller]

***

 

If the football-supporting folk of Starachowice in southern Poland thought they'd seen it all before, that was because they had. Just four days after the town's Miejski stadium hosted a UEFA European Under-21s Championship group match between England and Italy, those two teams returned to contest a Semi Final.

 

This was actually the fourth time that these sides had faced one another in this European Championship. They were in the same qualifying group, playing out a goalless draw in Norwich and a 2-1 Italian win in Foggia. England then got their own back in the Group Stage of the tournament itself, thanks to Adam Armstrong's second-half winner.

 

This time around, the debate over which team was the best would have to be settled once and for all. Whoever prevailed would go through to the Final in Rzeszów on 1 July, when they would face the winner of the other Semi Final between Belgium and Portugal.

 

Italy coach Luigi Di Biagio did a fine job of keeping his best assets fresh and sharp between matches, and he would only make four changes to his starting XI. The most surprising change saw captain Gianluigi Donnarumma - an ever-present throughout the group phase - replaced in goal with Juventus' Emil Audero.

 

In the other camp, England boss Mark Catterall's decision to rest most of his key men in the first meeting allowed him to reinstate them for the Semi Final. That meant returns for the likes of Demarai Gray, Marcus Rashford, and James Ward-Prowse, who again took over the captaincy from the benched Tammy Abraham. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford started a fourth match in a row, but attacking midfielder John Swift did not.

 

Catterall had been particularly pleased that none of his players were booked at any point in the round-robin phase, meaning that there were no suspension fears ahead of a possible Final. However, the Young Lions would tear their own impeccable disciplinary record apart within just nine minutes.

 

First to go into the book after seven minutes was midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah, who clashed with Italian counterpart Danilo Cataldi. Chalobah's midfield colleague - captain Ward-Prowse - would also be cautioned two minutes later for upending Azzurri striker Alessandro Piu.

 

Ward-Prowse's foul on Piu would prove especially costly for England. Italy left-back Federico Dimarco lined up the ball inside the English 'D', and then unleashed a free-kick that took a slight deflection off the wall on its way into the top corner. Pickford couldn't have done much about it, and England were now 1-0 down.

 

Three minutes after falling behind, the Young Lions began their pursuit of an equaliser. Inside-forward Patrick Roberts slipped a pass through the Italian backline and ahead of Rashford, who put a poor strike safely into Audero's hands.

 

Pickford came under pressure again in the 14th minute, when he palmed behind a strike from Piu. The Sunderland shotstopper then showed great reactions shortly afterwards to do likewise to Federico Chiesa's long-distance drive.

 

The action then got rather scrappy for a while. In the 18th minute, Italy right-back Davide Calabria was booked for holding back England left-back Matthew Targett, whose trip on Chiesa four minutes later would get him into the Armenian referee's notepad as well. The Young Lions now had three players on yellow cards, and if they weren't careful, Arsen Avagyan would surely have been reaching for his red card sooner rather than later.

 

Just before the 25th minute, Ward-Prowse was upended by Cataldi about 40 yards from the Italian goal. The England captain quickly pumped a free-kick into the box, but this free-kick appeared to be heading out of play when centre-half Mason Holgate nodded it down to Targett on the edge of the six-yard box. The left-back swung his right foot at the ball, and with his first goal in 20 caps for England Under-21s, he had levelled the tie!

 

The pressure was now firmly on Italy, and it didn't help the Azzurri's cause when Dimarco brought down Roberts to pick up the game's fifth yellow card on 28 minutes. Though Roberts' subsequent free-kick was easily cleared by Piu, the Young Lions were soon readying themselves for another assault.

 

Roberts hoovered up the clearance and played it across to defender Joe Gomez. The ball was then passed on to Ward-Prowse, and then to Gray, whose delicate lob was prodded home by Rashford after the in-form striker broke clear of Italy captain Alessio Romagnoli. In a matter of minutes, England had fought back from a goal down to take a 2-1 lead.

 

The rest of the first half was a virtual write-off for a badly-shaken Azzurri team. Midfielder Manuel Locatelli summed up their lack of confidence in the 34th minute by meeting Dimarco's centre into the England box with an awful finish.

 

Both sides made a substitution apiece before the second-half action got underway. Piu simply hadn't pulled his weight up front for Italy, so Federico Bonazzoli replaced him as the Azzurri's main attacking outlet. Meanwhile, England brought off the cautioned Chalobah and brought on the much-maligned Raheem Sterling as an attacking midfielder. Will Hughes dropped into a deeper midfield role than he had started in, while Gray and Roberts swapped places on the flanks.

 

Sterling was more used to playing on the wings than in a central position, but the Manchester City star quickly adjusted into his new role. Five minutes after the restart, Sterling collected a pass from City team-mate Roberts and rolled it forward to Manchester United ace Rashford, whose next goal would see him equal the all-time England Under-21s record of 13. However, Rashford would be unlucky here, as Audero did brilliantly to scramble the shot away.

 

Roberts had also begun to make more of an impact after being moved across to the left wing. In the 59th minute, Roberts' interception from Leonardo Capezzi's corner began a counter-attack that would end with him sending a promising shot goalwards. Audero got to his near post to push the strike behind and just about keep Italy in the running.

 

A rare strike from Holgate sailed off target in the 62nd minute, while Roberts swung a cross-shot into Audero's hands in the 66th. With all the momentum going one way, it was surely only a matter of time before the inevitable happened, and England bolstered their position.

 

As the game entered the 67th minute, England right-winger Gray spotted wing-back Dominic Iorfa cutting inside from out wide. Catterall didn't really want to see his wing-backs overlapping his wingers, but this move would pay off handsomely. Iorfa got past Romagnoli before whipping in a cross that Roberts finished at the far post, making it 3-1 to the Young Lions!

 

If Italy were to reach the Final, they would need to peg England back quickly. Bonazzoli attempted to drive in a spectacular 25-yard shot on 69 minutes, only to be denied by an outstanding fingertip save from Pickford. Italy had won a corner, but Daniele Verde's delivery was easily cleared by Roberts, and the Young Lions pushed forward for another counter-attack.

 

Gray was the first man to Roberts' clearance, which he took to the halfway line before hitting it further upfield to Rashford. Though Calabria forced him out wide, Rashford managed to swing in a cross from the byline, in the hope that one of his team-mates had advanced into the penalty area in time. His prayers were answered when Sterling burst through the defence to tap the cross past Audero and effectively kill the Azzurri off.

 

There really wasn't much chance of Italy coming back from 4-1 down, so Catterall could now afford to take a few tactical liberties. He opted to give Ward-Prowse and Rashford some extra breathing time before the Final, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham taking their places in the last 20 minutes of the Semi Final.

 

England slowed the game down to a virtual crawl late on, as they refused to give Italy any possible routes back into the match. They also managed to control their discipline, with the notable exception of Hughes, who picked up a needless yellow card in the 83rd minute for a holding foul on Locatelli.

 

The final whistle blew about ten minutes later, thus confirming that England Under-21s were through to their first European Championship Final since 2009. The team who'd been a minute away from elimination at the Play-Off stage were now just 90 away from continental glory.

 

27 June 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Semi Final- at Miejski, Starachowice

England U21s - 4 (Matthew Targett 25, Marcus Rashford 28, Patrick Roberts 67, Raheem Sterling 70)

Italy U21s - 1 (Federico Dimarco 10)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford; Dominic Iorfa, Mason Holgate, Joe Gomez, Matthew Targett; Nathaniel Chalobah (Raheem Sterling), James Ward-Prowse (Ruben Loftus-Cheek); Patrick Roberts, Will Hughes, Demarai Gray; Marcus Rashford (Tammy Abraham). BOOKED: Chalobah 7, Ward-Prowse 9, Targett 22, Hughes 83.

[CFuller]

***

 

It was the evening before the 2017 UEFA European Under-21s Championship Final. Having seen off Italy in the Semi Finals, England were now building up to a potentially historic showdown with Portugal, who'd accounted for Belgium in their last-four match.

 

Ahead of the biggest day of their fledgling international careers, several England players and staff members had spent the evening watching Edgar Wright's critically-acclaimed new action comedy "Baby Driver" at a cinema in Kielce. Starring Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx, the film followed a young getaway driver who was coerced into working for a mysterious kingpin before he could retire from a life of crime.

 

After the film was over, most of them boarded the coach that would take them back to the team hotel. However, one player had not arrived on time. Tammy Abraham was nowhere to be seen.

 

"I'll go look for him," manager Mark Catterall said, as he diesmbarked from the coach and briskly walked back into the cinema. He then found his captain sitting wistfully on the bench.

 

"Kevin, we're supposed to be leaving now," Catterall told him. "Get a move on."

 

Abraham simply put his head in his hands and let out a groan of exasperation. Catterall sighed and took his place on the bench alongside the Chelsea striker.

 

"What's up, Kevin?"

 

"It's Tammy," Abraham retorted. "And I'm just... I'm just not alright at the minute."

 

"I could tell that from a mile away. I hardly saw you smile once throughout the film. I just assumed that you didn't like Jamie Foxx's acting."

 

"Nah, he was brilliant," Abraham shook his head. "I was just, y'know, thinking about tomorrow and that. The Final."

 

"Why were you thinking about that, Kevin?"

 

"I'm Tammy. I won't warn you again."

 

"Listen... the whole point of us coming here in the first place was to take your mind off tomorrow's match, and ease any nerves you - or any of the others - may have had."

 

"But that's the thing, gaffer. I am nervous. I'm really nervous! In fact, I'm s***ting myself! I've not been on my game all tournament, and I know I'm gonna **** it up if I play against Portugal tomorrow."

 

Catterall tried to reassure him, "That's not going to happen, Kevin..."

 

"TAMMY! My name's TAMMY, alright?"

 

"Alright, calm down. That's not going to happen, Tammy. And you know why? Because you won't be playing tomorrow."

 

"I'm sorry, gaff, but I don't follow."

 

Catterall sighed heavily, put his right hand on Abraham's back, and told him, "Listen, Kev... Tammy... you know we usually only play with one striker, don't you? And the truth is that Marcus Rashford has been banging in the goals, and you haven't. So he's going to start the match tomorrow, and you're gonna be on the bench."

 

"But what if Rash gets an injury or something?"

 

"Then I'll throw Adam Armstrong on."

 

"So I ain't playing?"

 

"No, you're not, son, but it's not just for the team's good; it's for your own good as well."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"This probably won't be your last chance to win this tournament. You're still young enough to go to Italy in two years' time if we qualify. I hope then that we'll be seeing a stronger, calmer, more confident Tammy Abraham. Who knows? Maybe it'll be you leading us out in the Final in 2019."

 

Abraham nodded and replied, "Okay, gaffer. I understand."

 

"Good lad. Now get on the bloody coach before Edgar Wright's next film comes out!"

[CFuller]

***

 

England's last experience of a UEFA European Under-21s Championship Final had not been a pleasant one. Back in 2009, Stuart Pearce's Young Lions were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by a Germany side that included several future superstars, including Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira and Manuel Neuer.

 

Eight years on, England - now managed by Mark Catterall and coached by David Byrne - were hoping to go a step further, and win what would be their first European title at Under-21s level since 1984. Standing in their way were a formidable Portugal side who were hoping to make amends for their own Final heartbreak in 2015, when they were beaten on penalties by Sweden.

 

None of the runners-up from 2015 had made it into the Esperanças squad this time around. That said, three senior internationals were included - Valencia right-back João Cancelo, Sporting CP centre-back Rúben Semedo and Paris Saint-Germain striker André Silva.

 

Catterall's starting line-up for the biggest match of his career so far featured the ever-present Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Helping to protect the Wearsider's target would be his back four of full-backs Ben Chilwell and Calum Chambers, and centre-halves Joe Gomez and Rob Holding.

 

Captain James Ward-Prowse partnered vice-skipper Nathaniel Chalobah in midfield, with John Swift just ahead of them. Raheem Sterling and Nathan Redmond were on the wings, while the in-form Marcus Rashford started up front.

 

The bookmakers had made Portugal strong favourites to claim the title in Rzeszów, and they justified that tag with a strong start. England were given an early taster of what to expect in the first minute, when Portuguese midfielder Pedro Rodrigues - also known as Pépé - played an excellent through-ball up the right flank to Fernando Fonseca. Though right-back Fonseca was caught offside, it was a real statement of intent.

 

Fonseca would put the Young Lions under more pressure when he won a corner off left-back Chilwell in the fourth minute. Paulo Henrique's corner delivery was a poor one, but then again, so was the England counter-attack that followed.

 

England started to come into the game a bit more as the pace steadily picked up. When Ward-Prowse's long ball towards Rashford was handled by Semedo in the eighth minute, the Esperanças defender received a yellow card. Two minutes after that, Chalobah had a blistering drive pushed over the bar by André Moreira.

 

Then, in the 12th minute, the deadlock was broken. Fonseca's throw to Rodrigues on the edge of the English penalty area was drilled across to Edimilson Fernandes, and the Swiss-born West Ham United midfielder thundered a sensational shot beyond Pickford's reach. Portugal were now 1-0 to the good.

 

Falling behind early shouldn't have caused England too much concern. They'd conceded the first goal in three of their previous four matches at this tournament, yet they'd gone on to win every single one of them. However, it was soon becoming clear that Portugal were a huge step up in class compared to Bulgaria, France and Italy.

 

When Fernandes was brought down by Chalobah in the 14th minute, the latter ended up with a yellow card that would leave him walking on a virtual tightrope for the rest of the match.

 

England's defenders were struggling to get to grips with Fernandes, Rodrigues and company in a four-man Portuguese midfield. As for the Young Lions' attackers, they were starved of opportunities, and easily outmuscled by more physical defenders whenever openings did arise.

 

In the 23rd minute, Fernandes provided Bruma with a chance to make it 2-0 to Portugal. The Galatasaray striker, who'd scored 10 goals in Turkey's Süper Lig last season, dribbled through a gap in the English defence before firing a shot against the top of Pickford's crossbar.

 

England's woes continued when Ward-Prowse's clumsy foul on left-winger Gil Dias in the 34th minute gave away a free-kick. Portugal responded by stringing together 15 consecutive passes over the next minute before Dias' weighted pass was slotted into the far corner by Pedro Marques. The only Portuguese player who didn't touch the ball in the process of creating that magnificent team goal was Fonseca.

 

Sporting striker Marques' finish provided him with just his second goal of the tournament, following his strike against Slovakia. By the 41st minute, he was on three goals for the finals, and Portugal were on three in the Final itself.

 

The Esperanças' destruction of England continued when Bruma knocked a first-time pass beyond centre-half Rob Holding for Marques to run onto. Pickford was left helpless as the 19-year-old drilled in the goal that had seemingly wrapped up the European Championship for Portugal before half-time.

 

Catterall had a monumental task on his hands to try and raise England's spirits before the second half, but even he knew that coming back from 3-0 down against Portugal was nigh on impossible. Instead, he urged his players to attack the leaders with all their might and hopefully claim a consolation goal or two.

 

"If you're gonna go out, lads, I want you to go out fighting," he barked. "I want you to come out of this match without any regrets, without thinking that you should've done better. It's better to try harder and fail than to not try at all!"

 

Deep in his heart, Catterall knew that he himself could've done better tactically. Though he switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a narrower 4-3-1-2 in order to try and nullify Portugal's dominance of the midfield, he was soon wondering if he should've fielded that formation from the start.

 

England's first chance after the restart came within a couple of minutes. Chambers - now playing in midfield instead of at right-back - struck Ward-Prowse's lofted ball with a volley that sailed well over the goal.

 

Substitute right-back Mason Holgate also played his part early in the second half, contributing to the Young Lions winning a number of corners. Although Portugal's defenders - and centre-half Rúben Vezo in particular - managed to see off those corners, at least the intent was there for England.

 

The second of Catterall's half-time subs - Newcastle United striker Adam Armstrong - had a shot from just inside Portugal's penalty area in the 62nd minute. It safely ended up in the hands of Moreira, who wouldn't be seriously tested again before half-time.

 

Any slim hope the Young Lions had of launching a miraculous fightback was extinguished a couple of minutes later. On the occasion of his 43rd and final cap for England Under-21s (a record surpassed only by James Milner), Chalobah took Catterall's desire to "go down fighting" a bit too literally.

 

Chalobah was already on a yellow card when he sent Marques crashing to the turf with a reckless tackle. The referee called the 22-year-old Chelsea midfielder over, and then issued him with the yellow and red cards that ended his Under-21s international career in disgrace.

 

England's plan now was simply to batten down the hatches and try to avoid a repeat of their 2009 Final thrashing. Swift was taken off, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek was brought on to fill the midfield hole that his Blues colleague Chalobah had vacated.

 

The contest may have been over, but Young Lions captain Ward-Prowse was among those who continued to battle for at least something before the final whistle. The Southampton midfielder had to rein his tackling in, though, after he was booked for tripping Rodrigues in the 71st minute. Unlike his vice-captain, Ward-Prowse was able to keep his discipline until the very end.

 

Portugal spent the final 15 minutes striving for a fourth goal that would complete a comprehensive victory. Rodrigues flighted a close-range free-kick over the bar on 76 minutes, and Vezo flicked a header inches wide in the dying moments, but the Esperanças couldn't build on their half-time lead.

 

At the final whistle, the Portuguese players celebrated wildly, while their English counterparts slumped to the turf in despair. The Young Lions had shown real fighting spirit to come back from adverse positions in the qualifiers, the Group Stage, and the Semi Final. Alas, the decisive match was just one step too far for them.

 

In the end, the only pieces of silverware the Young Lions would be taking back home from Poland would be the Golden Ball, which was awarded to Rashford as the best player in the tournament. Rashford finished as the joint-top scorer on four goals, but it was Portugal's star striker Silva who won the Golden Boot, courtesy of having played fewer minutes than the Mancunian.

 

England had three players in the tournament's Best XI - Chilwell, Loftus-Cheek and Rashford. They had certainly been one of the strongest teams at this European Under-21s Championships, yet their best wasn't quite enough to earn them the big prize.

 

1 July 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Final - at Hetmanska, Rzeszów

England U21s - 0

Portugal U21s - 3 (Edimilson Fernandes 12, Pedro Marques 35,41)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford; Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Joe Gomez, Ben Chilwell; Nathaniel Chalobah, James Ward-Prowse; Nathan Redmond (Mason Holgate), John Swift (Ruben Loftus-Cheek), Raheem Sterling (Adam Armstrong); Marcus Rashford. BOOKED: Chalobah 14, Ward-Prowse 71. SENT OFF: Chalobah 64.

 

Catterall shook the hand of his opposite number - former Portugal midfielder Rui Jorge - at the final, and then shook his head as he turned back towards the England dugout.

 

"What the hell happened?" he asked furiously.

 

"The lads were knackered, Catts," head coach Byrne suggested. "And besides, Portugal were just too strong for us."

 

"Bollocks to that! We had an extra day's rest on Portugal! This Final was there for the taking!"

 

Byrne and the rest of his coaching staff appeared uncertain as Catterall turned fire on them, saying, "I think you coaches have a lot to answer for."

 

"Come on now!" Byrne retaliated. "This ain't the time nor the place to discuss this! Anyway, some of the lads look distraught! Don't you think they could use some sympathy?"

 

"I don't do tea and sympathy, David. We blew it, pure and simple."

 

Catterall then walked away, though he briefly turned back to bark, "This had better not happen again!"

 

After taking a deep breath and calming himself down, he retrieved his mobile phone from his left trouser pocket. He then texted a simple message to his wife Jenny.

 

"I'll be home tomorrow. xx"

[CFuller]

2016/2017 Season Summary

 

Premier League

Final Table

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Tottenham              38    25    6     7     70    27    43    81
2.    CL    Man Utd                38    24    7     7     73    26    47    79
3.    CL    Liverpool              38    24    5     9     87    43    44    77
4.    CL    Man City               38    21    7     10    64    38    26    70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.    EL    Chelsea                38    22    4     12    59    44    15    70
6.    EL    West Ham               38    19    12    7     71    50    21    69
7.          Arsenal                38    19    7     12    61    40    21    64
8.          Southampton            38    17    9     12    49    41    8     60
9.          Leicester              38    16    7     15    60    57    3     55
10.         Watford                38    14    9     15    53    51    2     51
11.         Bournemouth            38    15    6     17    60    65    -5    51
12.         Crystal Palace         38    10    11    17    35    45    -10   41
13.         Burnley                38    12    4     22    37    59    -22   40
14.         Swansea                38    11    6     21    34    65    -31   39
15.         Sunderland             38    9     11    18    39    58    -19   38
16.         Everton                38    8     14    16    29    54    -25   38
17.         Stoke                  38    8     13    17    34    52    -18   37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.   R     West Brom              38    11    3     24    32    63    -31   36
19.   R     Middlesbrough          38    8     9     21    25    62    -37   33
20.   R/EL  Hull                   38    5     14    19    25    57    -32   29

 

Awards

PFA Player of the Year: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd)

FWA Footballer of the Year: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd)

PFA Young Player of the Year: Harry Kane (Tottenham)

Golden Boot: Roberto Firmino (Liverpool, 28 goals)

Manager of the Year: Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham)

PFA Team of the Year: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham); Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Nicolás Otamendi (Man City), Danny Rose (Tottenham); Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Paul Pogba (Man Utd), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool); Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

 

Managerial Movements

Leicester - Claudio Ranieri resigned on 1 July; Şenol Güneş appointed on 19 July

Stoke - Mark Hughes sacked on 14 December; Fernando Hierro appointed on 31 December

West Brom - Tony Pulis sacked on 31 December; Francesco Guidolin appointed on 14 January

Swansea - Paul Clement sacked on 5 March; Roberto Di Matteo appointed on 22 March

Everton - Ronald Koeman sacked on 11 March; André Villas-Boas appointed on 28 March

Middlesbrough - Aitor Karanka sacked on 21 May; Garry Monk appointed on 4 June

Hull - Marco Silva sacked on 22 May; Michael Laudrup appointed on 2 June

Arsenal - Arsène Wenger resigned on 1 June; Rafa Benítez appointed on 29 June

 

Leading Transfers (January only)

DATE        NAME                      POSITIONS           FROM            TO              FEE (POTENTIAL)
07/01/2017  Yannick Carrasco          AM (RL)             Atlético        Man City        £35.5M (£43.5M)
31/01/2017  Sandro                    ST (C)              Málaga          Arsenal         £29.5M
07/01/2017  Fred                      DM, M (C)           Shakhtar        Man Utd         £29M (£46M)
16/01/2017  Marcel Sabitzer           M/AM (RL)           RB Leipzig      Liverpool       £18.75M (£26M)
06/01/2017  Roberto Rosales           D/WB (R)            Málaga          Chelsea         £17.25M
15/01/2017  Gerard Moreno             ST (C)              Espanyol        Tottenham       £16M (£24.5M)
12/01/2017  Michael Keane             D (C)               Burnley         Man City        £15.5M (£23.5M)
06/01/2017  Joe Gomez                 D (C)               Liverpool       West Ham        £15.25M (£21.5M)
10/01/2017  Stefano Denswil           D (C)               Club Brugge     Southampton     £14.25M (£18.5M)
24/02/2017  Sven Bender               D (C), DM, M (C)    Dortmund        Liverpool       £13M

 

Also in England

Championship

Promoted: Huddersfield (1st), Newcastle (2nd), Norwich (6th)

Also in Play-Offs: Reading (3rd), Wolves (4th), Leeds (5th)

Relegated: Preston (22nd), Burton (23rd), Rotherham (24th)

 

League One

Promoted: MK Dons (1st), Millwall (2nd), Sheff Utd (3rd)

Also in Play-Offs: Oxford (4th), Scunthorpe (5th), Peterborough (6th)

Relegated: Bristol Rovers (21st), AFC Wimbledon (22nd), Chesterfield (23rd), Shrewsbury (24th)

 

League Two

Promoted: Portsmouth (1st), Mansfield (2nd), Plymouth (3rd), Cambridge (6th)

Also in Play-Offs: Leyton Orient (4th), Carlisle (5th), Wycombe (7th)

Relegated: Cheltenham (23rd), Hartlepool (24th)

 

National League

Promoted: Dag & Red (1st), Barrow (5th)

Also in Play-Offs: Forest Green (2nd), Eastleigh (3rd), Lincoln (4th)

Relegated: North Ferriby (21st), Braintree (22nd), Southport (23rd), Solihull Moors (24th)

 

National League North

Promoted: Boston Utd (1st), Chorley (5th)

Also in Play-Offs: Kidderminster (2nd), Darlington (3rd), AFC Fylde (4th)

Relegated: Stalybridge (20th), Curzon Ashton (21st), Gloucester (22nd)

 

National League South

Promoted: Whitehawk (1st), Ebbsfleet (3rd)

Also in Play-Offs: Chelmsford (2nd), Eastbourne Boro (4th), Maidenhead (5th)

Relegated: Weston-super-Mare (20th), Gosport (21st), Truro (22nd)

 

Promoted from Regional Leagues

Chesham, Dulwich Hamlet, Havant, Kettering, Spennymoor, Workington

 

Domestic Cups

FA Cup: Chelsea 3-0 Wolves

EFL Cup: Hull 3-2 Tottenham (aet)

Community Shield: Leicester 1-0 Man Utd

EFL Trophy: Oldham 2-1 Oxford

FA Trophy: Lincoln 2-0 Torquay

 

Europe

UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona - at Principality Stadium, Cardiff

UEFA Europa League: Porto 2-0 Inter (aet) - at Friends Arena, Stockholm

UEFA Super Cup: Real Madrid 2-1 Sevilla (aet) - at Lerkendal, Trondheim

 

Awards

Best Player in Europe: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Golden Shoe: Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

Golden Boy: Jesús Vallejo (Frankfurt)

 

Dutch Eredivisie

Top Three: Ajax (1st), Feyenoord (2nd), PSV (3rd)

Relegated: Go Ahead (16th), Willem II (17th), Heracles (18th)

Promoted from Eerste Divisie: SC Cambuur, VVV, Fortuna

 

French Ligue 1

Top Three: Monaco (1st), PSG (2nd), Marseille (3rd)

Relegated: Nancy (19th), Caen (20th)

Promoted from Ligue 2: Strasbourg, Clermont

 

German Bundesliga

Top Three: Bayern (1st), Dortmund (2nd), RB Leipzig (3rd)

Relegated: Darmstadt (17th), Werder Bremen (18th)

Promoted from 2. Bundesliga: Stuttgart, Braunschweig

 

Italian Serie A

Top Three: Milan (1st), Juventus (2nd), Roma (3rd)

Relegated: Pescara (18th), Palermo (19th), Crotone (20th)

Promoted from Serie B: SPAL, Verona, Frosinone

 

Portuguese Primeira Liga

Top Three: Porto (1st), Sporting (2nd), Benfica (3rd)

Relegated: Tondela (17th), Feirense (18th)

Promoted from LigaPro: Santa Clara, Varzim

 

Russian Premier League

Top Three: Spartak Moscow (1st), Zenit (2nd), CSKA Moscow (3rd)

Relegated: Tom (15th), Orenburg (16th)

Promoted from FNL: Dinamo Moscow, Kuban

 

Scottish Premiership

Top Three: Celtic (1st), Hearts (2nd), Ross County (3rd)

Relegated: Hamilton (11th), Kilmarnock (12th)

Promoted from Championship: Hibernian, Raith

 

Spanish La Liga

Top Three: Real Madrid (1st), Barcelona (2nd), Atlético (3rd)

Relegated: Deportivo (18th), Sporting Gijón (19th), Leganés (20th)

Promoted from La Liga 2: Getafe, Oviedo, Tenerife

 

Global

FIFA Club World Cup: Real Madrid 3-1 Al-Ahli [Saudi Arabia] - at Nissan Stadium, Yokohama

 

Awards

Ballon d'Or: 1st - Lionel Messi (Barcelona), 2nd - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd), 3rd - Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

FIFA World Player of the Year: 1st - Lionel Messi (Barcelona), 2nd - Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), 3rd - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd)

World Soccer World Player of the Year: 1st - Lionel Messi (Barcelona), 2nd - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd), 3rd - Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

FIFA/FIFPro World XI: Keylor Navas (Real Madrid); Philipp Lahm (Bayern), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), David Alaba (Bayern); Bernardo Silva (Monaco), Ángel Di María (PSG); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luis Suárez (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid); Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd)

 

Leading Transfers (January only; not including Premier League)

DATE        NAME                      POSITIONS           FROM            TO              FEE (POTENTIAL)
07/01/2017  André Silva               ST (C)              Porto           PSG             £52M
10/01/2017  Gelson Martins            AM (R)              Sporting        Real Madrid     £52M
22/01/2017  Andrea Belotti            ST (C)              Torino          Bayern          £35.5M (£57M)
06/01/2017  Mario                     D (R)               Villarreal      Barcelona       £25.5M
09/01/2017  Lars Stindl               AM (C), ST (C)      Gladbach        Dortmund        £22M (£27.5M)
15/01/2017  Víctor Ruiz               D (C)               Villarreal      Real Madrid     £17.25M
20/01/2017  Andreu Fontàs             D (C), DM           Celta           Villarreal      £13M
09/01/2017  Adam Masina               D (L)               Bologna         Juventus        £11.25M (£16.25M)

 

[CFuller]

Chapter 11 - Life After Rooney?

 

Mark Catterall, Clark Gregory and David Whiteman stood by the touchline as the former England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard - now head coach of the Reds' Under-18s - barked orders at his young charges. They were at the Liverpool training ground in Melwood, on a sunny weekday afternoon in the middle of August 2017.

 

Football Association chairman Gregory and chief executive Whiteman had invited Catterall to visit Melwood, with Gerrard having given the trio special permission to witness one of his training sessions. For England's manager, it was a chance to see some of the country's most exciting teenage talents put through their paces by a modern icon.

 

"A few of these kids have got something about them," Catterall said. "It looks like I won't be short on options for the Under-19s."

 

"I cannot say I am surprised you said that," Whiteman admitted. "These young Liverpool players look full of inspiration. They seem to look up to Steven Gerrard like one would look up to one's father, and with good reason. Mr Gerrard is surely destined to become as successful a coach as he was a player."

 

Gregory laughed, "Codswallop! How many legendary players have gone on to become half-decent coaches?"

 

"Mr Gregory, may I point you in the direction of the reigning two-time European champions?" Whiteman had a point. It had been a little over two months since Zinedine Zidane coached Real Madrid to back-to-back UEFA Champions League triumphs, becoming the first coach to retain the European Cup in more than a quarter of a century.

 

Gregory nodded, "You've got me there, David."

 

"So, gents, I take it you invited me here for a reason?" Catterall asked.

 

"Indeed, we have, Mr Catterall," Whiteman replied. "You are here to witness the beginning of a new age for the England national football team."

 

Gregory said, "Let me point you to a few of their players. That lad over there with the blond hair, that's Steve Hilton. He's agile, ambitious, and calm under pressure. I reckon he could replace Joe Hart, both as England's number 1 and as Head & Shoulders' spokesman.

 

"Yes, I've heard great things about him," Catterall said. "And his hair. He's not a bad-looking lad, is he?"

 

Whiteman warned, "I would be careful to say such things in public, Mr Catterall. Master Hilton has only been 16 years old since the end of last month."

 

Gregory said, "That's right. We don't want another Jimmy Savile on our hands, do we?"

 

"Don't worry, that's not gonna happen," Catterall reassured them, before pointing to one of the lankier defenders in the Liverpool team. "That's Joe Wright, ain't it? I was speaking to Jamie Carragher the other day, and he said that Wright reminded him a lot of himself."

 

Whiteman said, "That is an excellent observation. As central defenders go, young Joseph does have all that is required. He is tall, he is strong, he is brave... and I do like the boy's attitude, if I say so myself. He is indeed another James Carragher in the making."

 

The trio then looked on as one of the strikers dribbled with the ball past Wright before stroking a simple finish past the goalkeeper. Gerrard was then heard calling out, "Great goal, Loz!"

 

"That kid's rapid, ain't he?" Catterall gasped, almost in awe.

 

Gregory provided more information, "Lawrence Warner. His mates call him Loz. People around here think they've got the next Michael Owen... so either he'll score a wondergoal against the Argies at the World Cup, or he'll get injured all the time and end up doing punditry work on BT."

 

"He's got bags of talent, that's for sure," Catterall smiled.

 

"They all have, and they're all local Liverpool lads. Hilton's from Bootle, Wright comes from Toxteth, and Warner's from Winterton."

 

"Winterton? I'm no geography expert, but I don't think that's in Liverpool."

 

"You are right in your assumption," Whiteman stated. "Master Warner was born in a small town just outside Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire. His family relocated to Merseyside when he was in short trousers."

 

Gregory then explained, "So, those three players we've pointed out; they're just three of about 15 or so players we've handpicked to be future England internationals. We at the FA are calling them 'newgens'."

 

"Newgens?" Catterall asked.

 

"Because they are the 'new generation' of English football," Whiteman responded. "It is as simple as that."

 

Catterall sighed frustratedly, "Oh for the love of... it's not another of those 'England DNA' bollocks schemes, is it?"

 

Gregory laughed, "No, no, it's nothing like that! All we're doing with these 20 players is funding one-to-one training sessions with world-class coaches, so that they can refine their game and become the very best they can be."

 

"That sounds a bit... idealistic."

 

"Believe it or not, Mr Catterall, the Football Association has attempted even more intrepid schemes when developing young players," Whiteman said. "Have you come across the word 'regen' before, in relation to football?"

 

"I can't say I have, David. What does it mean?"

 

"A 'regen' is, or was, a 'regenerated player'. A decade or so ago, before I arrived at the FA, one of my predecessors - a chap named Fred Collier - had this idea of extracting DNA from recently retired England internationals, and injecting that DNA into younger players who had the potential to replace them."

 

"That's a bit sci-fi, ain't it? Sounds like something you'd watch of an evening on Channel 4."

 

"Indeed so. Of course, every scientist knows that such methods simply do not work from human to human. At best, the effects were non-existent. At worst, one ended up with Michael Johnson - the former Manchester City midfielder."

 

Gregory took up the story, "Crackpot Collier thought he could inject Paul Gascoigne's DNA into Michael Johnson and make him a global superstar. Ha! What a load of bollocks!"

 

Catterall replied, "But instead, Johnson fell apart and retired when he was 24."

 

"Exactly," Whiteman said. "Needless to say, Mr Collier - along with his notion of 'regens' - is no longer with us."

 

Gregory clarified, "He's not dead or nothing. Fred works in professional doping now - or cycling, as you call it."

 

Catterall nodded, "Yeah, come to think of it, this 'newgen' idea doesn't sound so bad after all!"

 

Gregory let out a hearty laugh. "Thanks, Mark. If 'remote management' can work, at least to some extent, then maybe this idea could as well. Just give it a few years, and see what happens."

[CFuller]

***

 

The Young Lions of England had barely recovered from the shock of losing the UEFA European Under-21s Championship Final so heavily to Portugal when the time came for them to prepare for a new domestic season. Most went back to their current clubs, but others would be on the move.

 

England's heroics in Poland had inevitably attracted strong transfer interest in several players who were now hoping to graduate into the senior national team. James Ward-Prowse, who skippered the Young Lions in that Final defeat, was particularly in demand.

 

Ward-Prowse had been a first-team regular at Southampton since breaking into the side as a teenager five years earlier. Now aged 22 and firmly established as one of the Premier League's hardest-working midfielders, he was now looking to take that next big step in his career - and make his name in the UEFA Champions League.

 

As it transpired, Ward-Prowse would end up at the best team in the PL right now. Mauricio Pochettino - the manager of newly-crowned champions Tottenham Hotspur - wanted another midfielder to provide competition for Eric Dier and Dele Alli. Pochettino had previously managed Ward-Prowse at Southampton, and he saw enough in him to put in a £21million bid that the Saints readily accepted.

 

Tottenham already had five prominent England internationals in their starting XI - Alli, Dier, Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Harry Kane. The arrival of Ward-Prowse, plus the gradual emergence of 20-year-old attacking midfielder Joshua Onomah, suggested that Spurs would supply the national team with several top-quality players for years to come.

 

Across London, West Ham United brought in another former England Under-21s midfielder as they looked to consolidate their place in the PL's top six. Will Hughes had completed his transfer from Derby County for an intial £11million during the Under-21s Euros, and the 22-year-old would now be striving to make his mark in the top flight.

 

One of the more surprising moves of the summer concerned Arsenal right-back Calum Chambers. Just months after failing to prevent Middlesbrough's relegation from the Premier League, Chambers was loaned out by the Gunners once again... to Bundesliga giants Schalke 04. Mind you, Schalke had themselves just finished outside the top six of Germany's top flight for the first time since 2011.

 

Then there was the rather curious case of Patrick Roberts. The inside-forward had joined Manchester City from his first club Fulham in the summer of 2015, making one Premier League appearance before being sent off on an 18-month loan to Celtic. After winning back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles, the now 20-year-old returned to Manchester, only to find that Leicester City had offered £18million to sign him permanently.

 

It would've taken something just as extraordinary as their 2015/2016 Premier League triumph for Leicester to win the title again the following season, especially after the sudden departure of Claudio Ranieri. That said, a 9th-place finish wasn't a bad achievement in Şenol Güneş' first season as manager, and the 65-year-old Turk was now looking to take the Foxes back into Europe.

 

Güneş invested heavily in youth over the summer, snapping up the likes of PSV right-back Joshua Brenet and Borussia Mönchengladbach centre-half Nico Elvedi. Both men would go into the starting line-up, as would Roberts, who was excited by the prospect of playing regular Premier League football at such a young age.

 

The Foxes went unbeaten in their first three league games of the season, and Roberts made a solid start to his Leicester career, assisting for a Jamie Vardy goal in a 4-2 win over West Ham. Though Roberts was still young enough to play for England's Under-21s, there was every chance that he could emulate Vardy by breaking into the senior national team if he continued to impress.

 

Everton right-back Mason Holgate - another Under-21s international who was bidding to reach the European finals again in 2019 - was sold to Stoke City for £10.5million. The Yorkshireman debuted for his new club in a narrow home loss to Watford, and it would surely be a while before he could even be considered for the senior England team.

 

The biggest transfer concerning an Englishman this summer was - without any doubt - Callum Wilson's £44.5million switch from AFC Bournemouth to Chelsea. The previous season had seen the 25-year-old striker make his big-stage breakthrough, racking up 18 goals and 12 assists for Bournemouth in the Premier League. He also won his first six international caps for England, scoring against Malta, Scotland and Croatia.

 

Though he had formed a formidable strike partnership with Benik Afobe at the Vitality Stadium, Wilson could not resist the overtures of Chelsea when their manager Antonio Conte came calling in June. Wilson arrived at Stamford Bridge as a likely replacement for the Blues' fantastic but volatile frontman Diego Costa, who'd demanded a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

 

For a while, it had seemed that Afobe would emulate his now erstwhile team-mate and play for England. The London-born forward was called up for the March internationals against Lithuania and Germany, but did not feature in either. Still disappointed not to have been given a chance with England, Afobe decided over the summer that he would switch his international allegiance to DR Congo - his parents' homeland.

 

But what of the player that every England fan was talking about during the off-season - the Three Lions' captain, Wayne Rooney. Did he take Coleen and their three boys over to the United States after being recruited by a Major League Soccer club? Did he become the latest big name to take the money and run to China? Or did he follow his "once a blue, always a blue" mantra, and make an emotional return to Everton?

 

The answers to those questions were no, no, and no. Rooney had firmly set his sights on ending a 13-year stay at Manchester United this summer, so it undoubtedly came as an embarrassment that not a single club offered to sign him over the summer! Instead, 31-year-old Rooney was left to rot in United's development team - a truly sad fate for one of the greatest goalscorers in Old Trafford history.

 

Three Lions boss Mark Catterall had a policy of not selecting big-name players if they weren't playing regularly or playing well, though he'd often made an exception for Rooney. However, the captain's career was now in such dire straits that Catterall really could not justify picking him anymore - unless he moved away from United as soon as possible.

 

Rooney had racked up 122 caps for England, just three shy of the national record. Bobby Charlton's tally of 49 England goals had already been eclipsed by Rooney's 55, but it now looked increasingly likely that legendary goalkeeper Peter Shilton would remain the most-capped Englishman in international football.

 

With the new season now a few weeks old, Catterall had some big calls to make regarding the make-up of his England squads. The senior team would head into their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at home to Scotland and away to Slovakia knowing that two victories would secure their place at the finals in Russia. Catterall was desperate to get that task out of the way as quickly as possible, but he also wanted to blood some fringe players.

 

Meanwhile, the Under-21s would start their qualifying campaign for the 2019 European Championship. Latvia at home and Albania away were the first two opponents in a preliminary group that also included France, Scotland and Azerbaijan.

 

ENGLAND squad - for matches vs Scotland (H) and Slovakia (A)

NAME                      POSITIONS           D.O.B. (AGE)     CLUB            CAPS  GOALS HEIGHT WEIGHT     VALUE
Jack Butland              GK                  10/03/1993 (24)  Stoke           4     0     6'5"   14st 11lbs £20.5M  
Fraser Forster            GK                  17/03/1988 (29)  Southampton     8     0     6'7"   15st 8lbs  £12.5M  
Joe Hart                  GK                  19/04/1987 (30)  Man City        71    0     6'5"   12st 10lbs £14.5M  
John Stones               D (RC)              28/05/1994 (23)  Man City        16    0     6'2"   12st 1lb   £30M    
Eric Dier                 D (RC), DM, M (C)   15/01/1994 (23)  Tottenham       20    2     6'2"   13st 7lbs  £32.5M  
Gary Cahill               D (C)               19/12/1985 (31)  Chelsea         53    3     6'4"   13st 7lbs  £4.1M   
Chris Smalling            D (C)               22/11/1989 (27)  Man Utd         35    1     6'4"   14st 2lbs  £27.5M  
Nathaniel Clyne           D/WB (R)            05/04/1991 (26)  Liverpool       19    0     5'9"   10st 7lbs  £22.5M  
Kyle Walker               D/WB (R)            28/05/1990 (27)  Tottenham       25    0     6'0"   11st 6lbs  £25M    
Luke Shaw                 D/WB (L)            12/07/1995 (22)  Man Utd         12    0     6'1"   11st 11lbs £21.5M  
Danny Rose                D/WB/M (L)          02/07/1990 (27)  Tottenham       12    2     5'8"   11st 6lbs  £26M    
Jordan Henderson          DM, M (C)           17/06/1990 (27)  Liverpool       36    0     6'0"   10st 7lbs  £24M    
Raheem Sterling           M (L), AM (RLC)     08/12/1994 (22)  Man City        27    2     5'7"   10st 12lbs £25.5M  
Danny Drinkwater          M (C)               05/03/1990 (27)  Leicester       6     0     5'10"  11st 0lbs  £20.5M  
Theo Walcott              M/AM (R)            16/03/1989 (28)  Villarreal      43    8     5'9"   11st 2lbs  £20.5M  
Nathan Redmond            M/AM (RL), ST (C)   06/03/1994 (23)  Southampton     1     1     5'8"   11st 6lbs  £15.25M 
Adam Lallana              M/AM (RLC)          10/05/1988 (29)  Liverpool       35    1     5'8"   11st 6lbs  £19M    
James Ward-Prowse         M/AM (RC)           01/11/1994 (22)  Tottenham       0     0     5'8"   10st 5lbs  £18.5M  
Dele Alli                 M/AM (C)            11/04/1996 (21)  Tottenham       21    3     6'1"   12st 1lb   £35M    
Jack Wilshere             M/AM (C)            01/01/1992 (25)  Arsenal         40    4     5'9"   10st 3lbs  £22M    
Harry Kane                ST (C)              28/07/1993 (24)  Tottenham       25    10    6'3"   13st 0lbs  £40M    
Daniel Sturridge          ST (C)              01/09/1989 (27)  Liverpool       28    14    6'0"   12st 6lbs  £33M    
Callum Wilson             ST (C)              27/02/1992 (25)  Chelsea         6     3     5'11"  10st 7lbs  £33M    

 

With Rooney's England future in serious jeopardy, Catterall tasked Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson with captaining the Three Lions through the matches that he hoped would seal their qualification for the World Cup. As usual, Henderson was joined in the squad by his Anfield colleagues Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge.

 

The strong Liverpool contingent in the England squad was outnumbered only by the six-man representation from Tottenham Hotspur. The five usual suspects from last season were now accompanied by their new Spurs team-mate Ward-Prowse, who was in line for his senior international debut at the age of 22.

 

Ward-Prowse's former Southampton colleague Nathan Redmond, who opted to stay at St Mary's for at least another season, was recalled five months after his goalscoring debut against Germany.

 

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling received his first full England call-up for exactly a year, and another enigmatic winger - Theo Walcott - was picked for the first time since March 2016. Walcott had recently left Arsenal for a season-long loan at La Liga outfit Villarreal, where he hoped to rediscover the golden touch that often eluded him at club and international level.

 

Walcott's inclusion meant that fellow Arsenal wideman Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was controversially left out. 'The Ox' had played in only one of the Gunners' opening three Premier League matches and was heavily linked with a transfer to Liverpool. The flamboyant but fragile attacking midfielder Jack Wilshere retained his England place after returning to the Arsenal squad following his season-long stint at AFC Bournemouth.

 

Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater was also reinstated, though Jamie Vardy lost his place, despite starting the season with three goals in as many league matches. Manchester City defender Michael Keane, Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard and Everton playmaker Ross Barkley vacated their spots in the national team as well, at least for the time being.

 

ENGLAND UNDER-21s squad - for matches vs Latvia (H) and Albania (A)

NAME                      POSITIONS           D.O.B. (AGE)     CLUB            CAPS  GOALS HEIGHT WEIGHT     VALUE
Angus Gunn                GK                  22/01/1996 (21)  Man City        4     0     6'5"   13st 12lbs £325K   
Ted Smith                 GK                  18/01/1996 (21)  Southend        0     0     6'1"   13st 5lbs  £375K   
Freddie Woodman           GK                  04/03/1997 (20)  Peterborough    2     0     6'1"   10st 12lbs £800K   
Joe Gomez                 D (RLC)             23/05/1997 (20)  West Ham        16    1     6'2"   13st 7lbs  £12.5M  
Mason Holgate             D (RC)              22/10/1996 (20)  Stoke           9     0     5'11"  11st 13lbs £11.5M  
Ben Chilwell              D (LC), WB (L)      21/12/1996 (20)  Leicester       10    0     5'10"  11st 13lbs £5.75M  
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson D (LC), DM          02/02/1997 (20)  Blackburn       2     0     5'11"  11st 13lbs £4.4M   
Brendan Galloway          D (LC), DM          17/03/1996 (21)  Everton         9     0     6'2"   13st 9lbs  £1.9M   
Reece Burke               D (C)               02/09/1996 (20)  West Brom       0     0     6'2"   12st 10lbs £4.4M   
Axel Tuanzebe             D (C)               14/11/1997 (19)  Blackburn       0     0     6'0"   12st 3lbs  £1.1M   
Trent Alexander-Arnold    D/WB (R), DM        07/10/1998 (18)  Wolves          0     0     5'6"   9st 4lbs   £750K   
Lewis Cook                DM, M (C)           03/02/1997 (20)  Bournemouth     0     0     5'9"   10st 12lbs £11.5M  
Tom Davies                DM, M (C)           30/06/1998 (19)  Everton         0     0     5'10"  11st 0lbs  £3.7M   
Ruben Loftus-Cheek        DM, M/AM (C)        23/01/1996 (21)  Chelsea         23    5     6'3"   13st 7lbs  £5M     
Patrick Roberts           M (RL), AM (RLC)    05/02/1997 (20)  Leicester       11    3     5'6"   9st 1lb    £19.25M 
Izzy Brown                M (RL), AM (RLC)    07/01/1997 (20)  Leeds           0     0     6'1"   12st 1lb   £8M     
Harry Winks               M (RLC)             02/02/1996 (21)  Tottenham       0     0     5'9"   11st 4lbs  £7M     
Sheyi Ojo                 M (L), AM (RLC)     19/06/1997 (20)  Hull            0     0     6'1"   9st 12lbs  £7M     
Demarai Gray              M/AM (RL)           28/06/1996 (21)  Leicester       7     0     5'10"  12st 3lbs  £12.25M 
Joshua Onomah             M/AM (C)            27/04/1997 (20)  Tottenham       2     0     6'0"   12st 10lbs £8M     
Tammy Abraham             AM (R), ST (C)      02/10/1997 (19)  Reading         13    4     6'4"   12st 10lbs £8.5M   
Dominic Solanke           AM (RL), ST (C)     14/09/1997 (19)  Blackburn       3     0     6'2"   12st 10lbs £3M     
Marcus Rashford           AM (L), ST (C)      31/10/1997 (19)  Man Utd         13    12    5'11"  11st 6lbs  £31.5M  

 

With most of the England squad from this summer's European Under-21s Championship now too old to play at that level, there was a mass influx of new faces. No fewer than nine players were in line for debuts as the Young Lions started their bid to qualify for the 2019 finals in Italy.

 

Of the nine uncapped players, six had represented England at the FIFA U20 World Cup in May. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Izzy Brown, Lewis Cook, Tom Davies, Axel Tuanzebe and Sheyi Ojo would all be keen to make up for the disappointment of losing to South Africa in the Last 16.

 

Liverpool winger Ojo had just started a year-long loan spell with League Cup holders Hull City, who were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Romanian side Universitatea Craiova before kicking off their Championship campaign.

 

Another newly-relegated side - West Bromwich Albion - had signed highly-rated West Ham United centre-back Reece Burke on loan. Burke was one of the remaining three potential debutants, alongside Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks and Southend United goalkeeper Ted Smith.

 

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek was the most-capped of the familiar faces in this squad. His Stamford Bridge team-mates Brown and Tammy Abraham had once again been loaned to Championship teams and would provide much of the attacking impetus alongside Marcus Rashford of Manchester United.

 

ENGLAND UNDER-19s squad - for matches vs Scotland (H) and Belgium (A)

GOALKEEPERS: Terry Cowling (Leeds), Steve Hilton (Liverpool), Jake Turner (Bolton)

DEFENDERS: Trevoh Chalobah (Northampton), Adam Mingay (Mansfield), Alistair Rattray (Middlesbrough), Ryan Sessegnon (Man City), Peter Turner (Chelsea), Josh Tymon (Hull), Jordan Williams (Huddersfield)

MIDFIELDERS: Sadou Diallo (Raith), Andre Dozzell (Motherwell), Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolves), Angel Gomes (Man Utd), Jonathan Leko (West Brom), Marcus McGuane (Arsenal), Mason Mount (Ross County), Reiss Nelson (Arsenal), Joe Rankin-Costello (Arsenal)

FORWARDS: Ben Brereton (Rotherham), Niall Ennis (Southampton), Eddie Nketiah (MK Dons), Lawrence Warner (Liverpool)

 

England had a couple of warm-up friendly matches before they would embark on a new European Under-19s Championship campaign in October. A home match with rivals Scotland in Edinburgh would be followed by a trip across the Channel to play Belgium's young guns.

 

There were some notable survivors from last season's failed campaign to qualify for the European finals. Josh Tymon had established himself as Hull City's first-choice left-back following their exit from the Premier League, while midfielder Sadou Diallo had joined Scottish Premiership newcomers Raith Rovers on loan from Manchester City. Former Wolves striker Niall Ennis - who'd missed the second half of last season with a serious Achilles injury - was now at Southampton.

 

Amongst the new faces was Northampton Town's on-loan Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah - the younger brother of former Under-21s skipper Nathaniel. A lot was expected of the Wolves playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White, who was set to cross the Midlands and sign for Leicester City. Fellow midfielder Joe Rankin-Costello had already got his big summer move, making a £2.3million switch from Blackburn Rovers to Arsenal.

[CFuller]

Thank you to everyone who voted for this story to win the 'Best Story Idea of the Year' at the 2017 FMS Awards. As mentioned elsewhere, I am truly humbled by your support. Also, thanks to everyone who has read through the first season, plus those opening parts of the second season.

I know that 'An Impossible Man' is still a popular read, despite the lack of comments over recent weeks. That said, I would be more than happy to receive any feedback, so that I can make this story even better as it moves forward. What do you like? Is there anything you are perhaps not so keen on?

I am enjoying writing this story - and the save game itself - as much as "House of Flying Daggers", and I can't wait to reveal what happens next.

Christopher Fuller (CFuller)
9 October 2017

[CFuller]

***

 

Monday morning at St George's Park. Mark Catterall, Michael Burke and the rest of the England coaches were standing beside the senior team training pitch, awaiting the arrival of their players. Uncharacteristically, Catterall had a large smile on his face, something which Burke immediately picked up on.

 

"You seem bright and jolly today, Catts," Burke observed. "Had a nice evening with the missus, did you?"

 

Catterall shook his head before saying, "I've got big plans for the team this week. Just wait until you see the look on their faces when I tell them."

 

Burke looked puzzled, and asked, "Aren't you gonna tell us about these big plans first?"

 

David Platt said, "Mark told me all about it last week, but I'm not allowed to say anything. Apparently, it's meant to be classified information."

 

England's 23 senior players then arrived in unison, with captain Jordan Henderson at the front.

 

"Nice to see you all coming together again, lads," Catterall said. "Unity's a big part of building success in international football, and this week, we're going to build on that. By the time we play Scotland at Wembley on Friday, I want you all to be prepared to go to battle - prepared to die, even - for one another."

 

Jack Wilshere put his hand up. Catterall asked him, "You have a question, Jack?"

 

The Arsenal midfielder nodded, "Yes, boss. What the f*** are you on about?"

 

"You aren't actually sending us to a war zone, are you?" Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw asked.

 

"Not exactly, but you're on the right track, Luke," Catterall replied. "Now... what I want you lot to do is march over to the team coach. You, my friends, are going to Devon!"

 

Chris Smalling then squealed to his fellow United defender Shaw, "I know it! I told you he was gonna kill us!"

 

Catterall barked, "I said Devon, not heaven!"

 

"Erm... why Devon, boss?" Wilshere queried. "Come to think of it, where is Devon? That's up by Scotland, ain't it?"

 

"That's enough questions. Now you lot get a move on, or we'll be leaving you behind!"

 

As the players trudged towards the team coach, Burke asked Catterall, "Devon? Seriously? What makes you think that going to Torquay will help us qualify for the World Cup?"

 

"We aren't going to Torquay, Michael," Burke told him. Anyway, you'll find out where we're going when we get there... or when Platt over here spills the beans."

 

"Oh no, you won't have me blurting out any secrets," Platt said. "Not again, at any rate. Mrs Platt still won't forgive me for the last time I did that."

 

The England squad would face a four-hour drive south from Staffordshire to a top-secret location, just off the A376 between Exeter and Exmouth. Upon seeing a Royal Navy sign along the route, Eric Dier exclaimed, "Oh my God! We aren't training with the Navy, are we?"

 

Catterall smiled before informing the players, "You lucky fellas have got three days with the Royal Marines!"

 

A mix of groans and ironic cheers went up as the coach arrived at the Commando Training Centre.

 

"Commando Training?" Burke exclaimed. "Where the hell did you get that idea from?"

 

"I thought I'd take the lads out of their natural habitat for a few days, and give them a bit of a shock before the Scotland game," Catterall explained. "Expose them to life in another world, where it really can be a matter of life and death."

 

"Ah, right. Your uncle was in the Marines, weren't he?"

 

"Royal Navy, actually. Fought in the Falklands. He don't like to talk about it, though. Too traumatic."

 

"No kidding," Burke sighed. "To tell you the truth, Catts, I think this is a smashing idea. I see just where you're coming from now."

 

"Cheers. To be fair, it was Gareth Southgate who first suggested it to me a few months ago. We discussed it with Paul Ince at a party at David Beckham's house."

 

"Southgate? Ince? Beckham? What was that, some exclusive party for England players who missed in penalty shoot-outs?"

 

"What? You think just because I missed a penalty once that I know everyone else who has? We were all England team-mates in the mid-90s, you daft sausage!"

 

As the players and coaches - still fully kitted out for football training - disembarked from the coach and entered the Training Centre, they were greeted by Colonel Mike Tanner.

 

"Afternoon, gentlemen," Tanner began. "I'm glad you lot could be with us this week."

 

Catterall introduced the players to the Colonel, "This is Colonel Tanner. He's the Commandant of the CTC. For the next three days, he'll be putting you through a training course of physical drills and team-bonding exercises that all recruits in the Royal Marines undertake."

 

Tanner said, "I've been in the Marines for 25 years. I served in Iraq with the US Marine Corps and have commanded Marines all over the world. Believe me when I say that you will be trained by the very best.

 

"These next few days will not be easy, but believe me; being in the Naval Service is no walk in the park. By the end of this week, I would like to think that you will be all the stronger for the experience - as people, as sportsmen, as a team."

 

Tanner then continued, "Now before we begin, I'd like to ask all of you to hand over your mobile phones. We'll have no communication with the outside world during this course."

 

The players reluctantly surrendered their phones, while Catterall had his snatched from his hands while in the middle of texting his wife Jenny. Tanner smiled, "No exceptions, Catterall. You'll get your phone back at the end of the course, just like everyone else."

 

Tanner then instructed everyone to change out of their kit and pull on their 'rig' - or their military training uniforms, in layman's terms. Once they had changed, he asked them, "Are you all ready?"

 

"Sir, yes, sir!" Harry Kane exclaimed.

 

Burke smiled, "Looks like Harry's got into the spirit of things already!"

 

"Yeah, y'know, sir, I've always wanted to be in the Army, y'know, sir. Like Forrest Gump, y'know, Dad's Army, y'know, Top Gun, er... I've always wanted to be in the Army, sir!"

 

"This isn't quite like Dad's Army, but I do like your enthusiasm, lad," Tanner nodded. "Right, then... let's begin, shall we?"

[CFuller]

***

 

A new season was underway, and so too was another UEFA European Under-21s Championship qualifying campaign. England had finished gallant runners-up to Portugal in 2017, and their quest to go one step further in 2019 began at Villa Park in Birmingham.

 

Latvia were the Young Lions' first opponents in Group 5, which also contained Albania, Azerbaijan, France and Scotland. Only the top side after 10 rounds would earn automatic qualification for the finals in Italy. It went without saying that England needed to kick off with a win, lest they handed an early advantage to an imperious French side.

 

England's hopes of an opening victory took a slight dent when Liverpool left-winger Sheyi Ojo sustained a neck injury while playing at Blackburn Rovers for Hull City, where he was on a season-long loan. Ojo's withdrawal from the squad opened the door for Southampton's Josh Sims, who was spending this season at newly-relegated Middlesbrough. However, Sims would have to wait for his maiden Under-21s cap, as he wasn't named in the 18-man side for this opening fixture.

 

A host of players did make their Under-21s debuts, while there was another new face in the coaching set-up. Goalkeeping coach Eric Steele had retired from his role within the FA, and former Watford icon Alec Chamberlain had been appointed as his direct replacement.

 

The first 20 minutes were anxious ones for England, whose direct approach was unable to crack open an initially stubborn Latvian defence. Mind you, they weren't exactly having much in the way of luck, certainly not if Ruben Loftus-Cheek's fourth-minute, which struck the bar, suggested anything.

 

The relatively experienced Loftus-Cheek was joined in midfield by 19-year-old Tom Davies - the youngest of several newcomers in this England side. After five minutes, the Everton prospect drove a promising strike just the wrong side of the post.

 

In the 17th minute, striker Marcus Rashford dribbled around Latvia defender Antons Tumanovs and then chanced his arm. However, he could only pull his shot into the arms of goalkeeper Ivans Baturins.

 

With the deadlock still intact, England went for a more patient passing approach in their attempts to crack open the Sarkanbaltsarkanie. They would finally break through after 23 minutes, though that was less down to skilful play than hesitancy in the visitors' defence.

 

Latvia had most of their players in England's half and were patiently building up to an attack when centre-back Arturs Lotcikovs was dispossessed on the halfway line by Rashford. The Manchester United striker was now virtually clean through on goal, and after getting past the last man in Tumanovs, he tucked a clinical shot beyond Baturins.

 

That was Rashford's 13th goal for England Under-21s, equalling a record that had previously been jointly held by Alan Shearer (who went on to become a Three Lions legend) and Francis Jeffers (who didn't). Four minutes after that landmark goal, Rashford moved out in front to set a new benchmark.

 

Leicester City forward Patrick Roberts received an excellent crossfield pass from team-mate Demarai Gray before swinging it into the box. Up rose Rashford, who despite being only 5ft 11in tall was still able to outjump Tumanovs and head in another goal for the Young Lions.

 

England appeared to have broken the back of this game. Then, in the 34th minute, a sloppy throw-in from new captain Trent Alexander-Arnold saw Latvia literally thrown a lifeline.

 

Alexander-Arnold's sloppy delivery was intercepted by Latvian midfielder Raivis Jurkovskis, and the ball was moved on via Andris Krusatins to winger Jurijs Zelenkovs, who lifted it over a high English backline. FK Liepâja striker Marks Kurtiss - who would have probably been named Mark Curtis had he been born in England - then ran onto the ball and powered in a fantastic strike for the Sarkanbaltsarkanie.

 

Alexander-Arnold took just two minutes to make up for that error. The right-back's punt up the visitors' half was nodded further forward by Brendan Galloway, and a poor interception from senior Latvia international Kriss Karklins presented a clear-cut opportunity to Joshua Onomah. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder gladly slotted it past a furious Baturins, and England were 3-1 ahead.

 

The Young Lions' feast continued in the 40th minute. Onomah followed up his goal by playing a fantastic ball through to Roberts, who took it to the byline before setting up Rashford's hat-trick goal. A simple tap-in from point-blank range was all that was required.

 

A minute later, Roberts secured his own hat-trick - of assists. The 20-year-old continued to make his case for a future senior call-up by slipping the ball past Karklins and ahead of native Brummie Gray. The former Birmingham City man then nonchalantly prodded in his first Under-21s goal at Aston Villa's home ground.

 

A 5-1 half-time lead for England seemed absurd enough, but the match would become even more one-sided just before the interval. A fantastic exchange of passes between Rashford and Roberts resulted in the former's fourth goal, which bobbled beyond the despairing dive of Baturins, and the latter's fourth assist!

 

Even at 6-1 up, the Young Lions showed no mercy. Despite having done enough to win the game and much more, neither Rashford nor Roberts was rested for the second half. Instead, David Byrne decided to bench Onomah and throw on Izzy Brown - a tidy winger who was out on loan at Leeds United from Chelsea.

 

Brown was nine minutes into his first game for England Under-21s when he benefited from another sublime cross by a left-footer from Leicester. However, it wasn't Roberts but left-back Ben Chilwell who supplied an excellent delivery into the penalty box, where Brown unleashed the bullet header that made it 7-1.

 

Although the smile on Brown's face was a broad one, England's celebrations had now become rather mooted, perhaps out of sympathy to a Latvian side who were quite simply out of their depth. There was still more than half an hour to play, and there was no reason why the Young Lions could not reach double figures if they really wanted to.

 

A fifth Rashford goal would've been the icing on the England frontman's cake, and he went close to securing it after 58 minutes. The Mancunian got above Latvia's substitute defender Andris Jirgensons to reach another excellent cross from you-know-who (Roberts, not Voldemort), but he flicked it just over the bar. Rashford's tally would remain on a pitiful four goals before the slacker was disgracefully hauled off to be replaced by Tammy Abraham ten minutes from the end.

 

Roberts went within inches of getting himself a well-deserved goal on the hour mark. On that occasion, it was Rashford who teed up his partner-in-crime with a fabulous weighted pass that was driven just the wrong side of Baturins' left-hand post.

 

England were now so deep into Latvia's half that their defensive responsiblities had rather gone out of the window. That was the case in the 72nd minute, when Eriks Silings lifted the ball through their backline and ahead of Kurtiss. Fortunately for the hosts, Galloway managed to push 'Mark Curtis' into a tight angle before goalkeeper Freddie Woodman pushed the striker's shot behind.

 

After helping to deny Latvia another consolation goal, Galloway piled on the misery for their hosts in the 84th minute. The Everton centre-half nodded in Gray's corner at the near post, shortly after Baturins had palmed behind a gilt-edged chance from Abraham. Galloway's first goal at this international level was England's eighth of this match - and their last.

 

It didn't take a scientist to work out that England had gone straight to the top of Group 5. France and Scotland had also won in the opening round of fixtures, though they had been pushed surprisingly close by Azerbaijan and Albania respectively.

 

30 August 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Qualifying Group 5 - at Villa Park, Birmingham

England U21s - 8 (Marcus Rashford 23,27,40,45, Joshua Onomah 36, Demarai Gray 41, Izzy Brown 54, Brendan Galloway 85)

Latvia U21s - 1 (Marks Kurtiss 34)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Freddie Woodman; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece Burke, Brendan Galloway, Ben Chilwell; Tom Davies (Lewis Cook), Ruben Loftus-Cheek; Patrick Roberts, Joshua Onomah (Izzy Brown), Demarai Gray; Marcus Rashford (Tammy Abraham).

[CFuller]

***

 

The England senior team players and coaching staff had spent two days at the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre in Devon. Mark Catterall had sent them there as a team-bonding exercise in the build-up to the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Scotland and Slovakia.

 

Having been kitted out in military 'rig', the team were subjected to a series of strenous drills, which all Royal Marine cadets would go through.

 

One such activity involved the players hiking across the Devon countryside for four miles with 21kg (46lbs) on their backs. Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere - the lightest member of the squad - struggled with this exercise in particular and was left trailing at the back of the field by some distance.

 

As Wilshere toiled on, a man with a Cockney accent could be heard screaming from behind him, "Get a move on, will you, Wilshere! We ain't got all day, y'know!"

 

Wilshere moaned, "I'm trying, sir, but this is really tough."

 

"Tough! I'll give you tough, Wilshere! I once ran 10 miles in 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Mexico! Now that's tough!"

 

England assistant manager Michael Burke and tactical coach Glenn Hoddle were just ahead of Wilshere and could hear the screams from behind them. Burke turned to Hoddle mid-walk and said, "Blimey! That Commando's got a pair of lungs on him, ain't he?"

 

"Sounds a lot like Ray Wilkins, don't he?" Hoddle commented before looking behind him. "He's a skinhead like Butch an' all."

 

"You've got a long journey ahead of you, young Wilshere," the man then barked at Wilshere. "You're a cracking little player, son, but you'll never achieve anything without working for it. No pain, no gain!"

 

Further afield, Burke nodded, "Actually, Glenn... I think that IS Butch!"

 

"Well, what d'ya know?" Hoddle laughed. "I could've sworn he was one of them Commando fellas!"

 

The squad would also spend a couple of nights sleeping in the unforgiving heathland of nearby Woodbury Common. Players had to set up their own tents and light their own campfires - a far cry from the five-star facilities they were used to staying at when on international duty.

 

On the team's first night at Woodbury Common, attacking coach David Platt regaled them with some obscure New Order album tracks and shared a few interesting facts about the nearby area.

 

"To the north over there," Platt pointed, "is the Woodbury Park Hotel, Golf and Country Club. You know who set that up? Nigel Mansell - the 1992 Formula One world champion racing driver."

 

"Yeah, that's, er... fascinating, Platt," Jordan Henderson yawned. "But some of us are trying to sleep over here."

 

Platt continued, "You know, a lot of people have this image of Nigel Mansell as this 'boring Brummie'. In fact, he was born in Upton-upon-Severn in Worcestershire, and he served as a Special Constable on the Isle of Man for 11 years. That is quite interesting, if you ask me."

 

Dele Alli then called out, "Oh, put a sock in it, David!"

 

Platt then began to recite a potted history of the humble sock, only to be interrupted when Alli threw a water bottle in his direction. He then sighed, "Okay, I get the message. Maybe we'll discuss socks another day."

 

The team also undertook some underwater exercises during their time in Devon. One by one, they would be dunked under cold water by a Commando in an exercise known as the 'Sheep Dip'.

 

Nobody was exempt from the Sheep Dip - not even Catterall. He took off his glasses before being dunked under the water. Upon being brought back up, he gasped, "Bloody hell! You're a hard fella, aren't you?"

 

"You ain't seen nothing yet, young Catterall," Wilkins growled, as he proceeded to dunk Catterall for a second time. "You know, Mark, if it hadn't been for football, I'd have been perfect for the Army."

 

After 48 of the toughest hours of their lives, it was time for the England team to return to St George's Park. Before leaving the boot camp on Wednesday afternoon, Colonel Mike Tanner told them, "Gentlemen, it's been a privilege having you with us for the past few days.

 

"The point of this boot camp was to take you out of your comfort zones, and bring you closer together as a team. I can sense already that this experience has had an effect on you, and that it'll stick with you for the rest of your careers.

 

"None of these drills were easy, but you all went through them head-first without hesitating or complaining... much. You can all be proud of your efforts, and I would even be honoured to have one or two of you as a Commando in the Royal Marines."

 

Catterall then addressed the players, "I echo what Colonel Tanner said. You've all risen to the challenges that were ahead of you. You've all pushed yourselves to your limits, and handled the pressure much better than some of us coaches expected you to.

 

"On those nights at Woodbury Common, I saw you coming together and working together a lot more often. There were no cliques, no divisions, just one large group of 23 colleagues willing to do what they could to help each other along. With a stronger bond between players off the pitch, we can build a stronger team on it."

 

Catterall then called Henderson, Joe Hart and Harry Kane over to tell them, "Another big reason for bringing you here was to see which of you could step forward and lead from the front. You three men have stepped up for everything without any complaints, and Colonel Tanner has singled you out as three men with excellent leadership qualities.

 

"Jordan, Joe, Harry... when the time comes to appoint a new England captain, believe me when I say that you'll be at the top of my list."

 

Henderson smiled, "Cheers, boss. As vice-captain, it's up to me to lead the way when Wayne's not around."

 

"That's why I appointed you vice-captain in the first place," Catterall nodded.

 

Hart added, "As one of the older lads, I've got to stay professional at all times and set an example. Anyway, I'm glad to be appreciated, boss."

 

Catterall said, "You'd make a great leader, Joe. And I think you'd be the same in a few years, Harry."

 

Kane replied, "Yeah, y'know, I'd love to be captain one day. I'll always give 100%, y'know, 110% even for the team... maybe 200% on a really good day, y'know. I can give 200%, can't I, gaffer?"

 

"Believe me, Harry, I'd love to see you do that! Now get a move on, the lot of you! It's about time we headed off back to St George's!"

 

"Hey, wait a minute, gaffer," Raheem Sterling interrupted. "What about our phones?"

 

"Yeah, that's a thought," Catterall nodded. "We'll go get your phones back... but if I see anyone turn back into a texting zombie when they should be bonding with their team-mates, don't be surprised if I take them off you for good!"

 

Tanner smiled, "You tell them, Catterall. If any of your lot start causing trouble back home, you send them back to us, and we'll set them straight!"

[CFuller]

***

 

24 hours before England and Scotland went toe-to-toe in a FIFA World Cup qualifier at Wembley, their respective Under-19s teams clashed in the South Yorkshire town of Doncaster. There wasn't much at stake at the Keepmoat Stadium other than national pride, and perhaps a confidence boost ahead of October's European Championship qualifiers.

 

It was England who pushed forward first after seven minutes. Left-winger Ryan Sessegnon played an excellent pass into the Scottish area, where attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White - recently signed by Leicester City from Wolverhampton Wanderers - ballooned it over the bar.

 

Scotland's biggest threat from their left flank was Calvin Miller - a highly-rated Celtic starlet who was currently out on loan at Scottish Premiership rivals Ross County. After 13 minutes, Miller scuffed wide a tame long-distance shot that the Tartan Army would hardly better in the first period.

 

Three minutes later, Manchester City midfielder Sadou Diallo - on loan at Raith Rovers - received the first of three yellow cards for England. Diallo's aggressive challenge on Scottish captain Allan Campbell was just one of an incredible 25 fouls that the Young Lions would concede in a match that was high on passion, but very low on quality.

 

England were unable to break through Scotland's defence during the first period, so manager Mark Catterall - in conjunction with head coach Matthew Wells - made five changes prior to the resumption. Two of the English substitutes would combine to finally end the stalemate within a couple of minutes.

 

Arsenal winger Reiss Nelson was the recipient of an excellent crossfield pass from Sessegnon, who'd been shunted back into defence as part of the England reshuffle. Nelson then skimmed the ball across the Scottish penalty area, where his fellow substitute Mason Mount swung in a cool finish from just outside the six-yard box. That debut goal was a sweet moment for the Chelsea midfielder, who played alongside Miller on loan with Ross County.

 

The Young Lions continued to get stuck in throughout the second half. Arsenal's tough-tackling midfielder Marcus McGuane saw yellow in the 55th minute for upending Daniel Harvie.

 

Ten minutes later, a clumsy challenge on Scots striker P.J. Crossan resulted in a similar fate for centre-back Alistair Rattray, who made his England Under-19s debut just hours after completing a £2.4million transfer from Middlesbrough to Southampton.

 

Another English centre-back - West Bromwich Albion's Adam Mingay - would put the ball into Scotland's net after 68 minutes. However, Mingay was well offside when he volleyed in striker Eddie Nketiah's flick-on from an Andre Dozzell corner, and so the Young Lions' lead remained at 1-0.

 

Nketiah had gashed his leg earlier in the second half and would soon be substituted. His replacement Ben Brereton was unable to add to England's lead, though midfield starlet Angel Gomes did have an effort saved by Scotland goalkeeper Josh Donaldson in the 88th minute.

 

As far as England's goalkeepers were concerned, Steve Hilton and Jake Turner only have to produce one save between them. That was a simple one by Turner from Campbell in the final minute of normal time. It was an otherwise quiet afternoon at the back for the hosts, who recorded a decent if somewhat underwhelming 1-0 victory.

 

31 August 2017: Under-19s International - at Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster

England U19s - 1 (Mason Mount 47)

Scotland U19s - 0

ENGLAND U19s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Steve Hilton (Jake Turner); Peter Turner (Jordan Williams), Alistair Rattray (Angel Gomes), Trevoh Chalobah (Adam Mingay), Josh Tymon (Reiss Nelson); Marcus McGuane (Andre Dozzell), Sadou Diallo (Joe Rankin-Costello); Jonathan Leko (Lawrence Warner), Morgan Gibbs-White (Mason Mount), Ryan Sessegnon; Niall Ennis (Eddie Nketiah (Ben Brereton)). BOOKED: Diallo 16, McGuane 55, Rattray 65.

[CFuller]

***

 

England went into their home match with arch-rivals Scotland on the verge of qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Victory at Wembley would book the Three Lions' tickets to Russia with three games to spare, but only if 2nd-placed Slovenia lost to Lithuania, and 3rd-placed Slovakia didn't beat Malta. Stranger things had happened.

 

England's preparations for this 'Battle of Britain' were beset by a host of injuries, specifically to their defence. Tottenham Hotspur right-back Kyle Walker was the first player to pull out of the squad after being laid low with a virus. His place in the squad was given to 22-year-old Calum Chambers, who looked to add to his four senior caps after joining Schalke 04 on loan from Arsenal.

 

Walker's Tottenham team-mate Eric Dier would also have to give the forthcoming qualifiers a miss, having picked up a groin strain in training. Another centre-half - Manchester United's Chris Smalling - withdrew from the squad at virtually the same time with a dislocated shoulder.

 

Those injuries meant that England manager Mark Catterall had to recall Manchester City's ball-playing centre-half Michael Keane, who could have considered himself unfortunate to have missed out on the initial squad. Keane's former central defensive partner at Burnley - 27-year-old Ben Mee - was handed his maiden senior international call-up after impressing Catterall early in the new season.

 

Keane would go straight into the line-up - alongside his City team-mates Joe Hart, John Stones and Raheem Sterling - when England hosted Scotland at the start of September. This match would also see new Tottenham midfielder James Ward-Prowse make his full debut for the Three Lions.

 

This was the first time England had faced Scotland in a competitive international at the new Wembley Stadium. Their final meeting at the old ground, in front of the Twin Towers, saw Don Hutchison give Scotland a 1-0 win in 1999, though England still won their play-off tie on aggregate to qualify for UEFA Euro 2000.

 

Few expected the Scots to be quite so competitive this time around. However, the underdogs would get off to a roaring start, quickly stroking the ball forward before Leigh Griffiths knocked it past Stones and sent Steven Naismith through on goal. The Norwich City attacking midfielder's low drive slipped underneath Hart, and Gordon Strachan's Tartan Army were celebrating a 1-0 lead after only 13 seconds!

 

The home fans were left completely dumbfounded. For the first time in the entire qualifying campaign, England found themselves chasing a match, but Catterall was not panicking. After all, his team still had 89 minutes to turn it around. They would only need six.

 

On his first senior England appearance for nearly a year, Sterling cleverly found the overlapping run of wing-back Luke Shaw on the left flank. The Manchester United star then drilled in a cross to Harry Kane, whose half-volley put England back on level terms after seven minutes.

 

Any confidence Scotland had gained early on ebbed away as their hosts upped the ante. In the 11th minute, an excellent dribble from Sterling ended with the young attacker barely missing the target from 20 yards out. Six minutes later, Ward-Prowse sent a hanging ball corner over to the near post, where Stones flicked it over the crossbar.

 

The increased pressure took its toll on the Tartan Army after 23 minutes. Liverpool left-back Kieran Tierney - making his 10th Scotland appearance at the tender age of 20 - had a desperate clearance intercepted by club-mate and England captain Jordan Henderson. Though Scottish midfielder John McGinn quickly won the ball back off Dele Alli, a counter-attack soon fell apart after Keane dispossessed Griffiths.

 

Keane sprayed the ball out to the left wing, from which Sterling cut inside before playing a short square pass to Alli. The Tottenham playmaker then dribbled through a Scottish channel and smashed an unstoppable effort into David Marshall's top-left corner. Alli had scored England's second goal against Scotland at Hampden Park, and lightning had struck again at Wembley.

 

Though Alli stroked wide a header that could've doubled England's lead to 3-1 in the 29th minute, the Three Lions wouldn't have to wait much longer for that third goal. In the 34th minute, Kane took the ball out wide before trying to deliver it to Alli at the near post. The cross evaded Dele, but not Scotland centre-back John Souttar, off whom the ball took a wicked deflection that left Marshall helplessly beaten.

 

The Tartan Army tried to battle back on 39 minutes, when Celtic striker Griffiths unleashed a speculative effort that ended up safely in Hart's hands. Later in that minute, Griffiths combined with Naismith to set up an opportunity for Newcastle United winger Matt Ritchie, who pulled his shot into the side netting, albeit from an offside position.

 

England carried a slender 3-1 advantage into the second half, during which Catterall hoped to take advantage of a struggling Tierney. Adam Lallana, who'd seen less of the ball than any other English outfielder in the first period, was taken off the right flank, and Villarreal right-winger Theo Walcott was introduced in his place.

 

Four minutes after the restart, Walcott played the ball out to Alli in the centre. The 21-year-old midfielder then dribbled clear of Scottish counterpart James McArthur and fed a pass to Kane, who lifted his shot just over the bar.

 

Alli and Kane's teamwork would help to produce a fourth England goal after 55 minutes. Kane collected the ball from his Spurs colleague on the edge of the Scotland penalty area and slid it across to Sterling, who smashed in his third senior international goal.

 

Kane and Ward-Prowse were each off target with opportunities to make it 5-1 just before the half-hour point. There was also a miss at the other end from Griffiths, who would often cut an isolated presence up front for Scotland. To a man, England's back four had done a tremendous job limiting the impact of the Tartan Army's clinical but controversial centre-forward.

 

There was a moment on controversy after 76 minutes, when England substitute Jack Wilshere went down in the Scottish penalty area. The Three Lions accused Souttar of bundling Wilshere to the turf whilst the Tartan Army's captain Grant Hanley was heading away a right-wing cross from Nathaniel Clyne. The Cypriot referee saw little wrong and waved play on.

 

About a couple of minutes later, Kane was substituted to rapturous applause from the home fans at Wembley. His replacement - Daniel Sturridge - would have a 28th birthday to remember.

 

Sturridge had only been on the pitch for a matter of moments when two of his Liverpool team-mates combined to set up his 15th international goal. Captain Henderson lifted the ball ahead of Clyne, whose low cross into Scotland's six-yard box was prodded home by a man who struggled to get into Jürgen Klopp's team at Anfield, yet seemingly couldn't stop scoring for his country.

 

Sturridge almost added another goal to his impressive England haul after 84 minutes. The outstanding Shaw managed to get a cross past Scotland's 20-year-old RB Leipzig winger Oliver Burke and into the box, where Sturridge had a vicious shot bravely blocked by Hanley.

 

By the full-time whistle, the gap in quality between these two once-great rivals was painfully obvious. England had crushed the Scots 5-1 at Wembley to go with their 4-1 win from Hampden Park. Shipping nine goals over the course of two matches to the Auld Enemy was a body-blow to Scotland, who were now all but certain to miss out on yet another major tournament.

 

England were almost through to the 2018 World Cup, but not quite. Slovakia and Slovenia had each eked out 1-0 home wins over Malta and Lithuania to keep alive their fleeting hopes of overhauling the Three Lions.

 

What those results meant was that England would only need one more victory from their final three qualifiers to ensure that they would be spending the summer in Russia. An away win at Slovakia in three days' time would be enough.

 

1 September 2017: FIFA World Cup UEFA Qualifying Group 6 - at Wembley, London

England - 5 (Harry Kane 7, Dele Alli 24, John Souttar og34, Raheem Sterling 55, Daniel Sturridge 80)

Scotland - 1 (Steven Naismith 1)

ENGLAND LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Joe Hart; Nathaniel Clyne, Michael Keane, John Stones, Luke Shaw; Jordan Henderson, James Ward-Prowse; Adam Lallana (Theo Walcott), Dele Alli (Jack Wilshere), Raheem Sterling; Harry Kane (Daniel Sturridge).

 

ITV reporter Gabriel Clarke interviewed Catterall at the final whistle, beginning, "It was fair to say that England didn't have a great start tonight, Mark, but you must be delighted with the final result."

 

"All things considered, it was a great result, Gabriel," Catterall answered. "Of course, you don't want to concede in the first minute, but we were all prepared for the prospect of Scotland starting strongly. We kept our cool, even after they scored, and our performance over the next 89 minutes was absolutely incredible."

 

Clarke observed, "That's nine goals in two qualifiers against Scotland. That's not a bad record, is it?"

 

"It looks great if you're English," Catterall smiled. "In a way, though, it's quite sad from a neutral perspective. I can remember when England and Scotland were on a level playing field and all these matches were very fiercely contested.

 

"These days, the quality just isn't there in the Scottish team. Gordon doesn't have a lot of top players at his disposal. You can't really criticise him for not making a silk purse out of a pig's ear."

 

Clarke concurred, "That's a fair statement, Mark, and I'm sure Gordon will understand where you're coming from. Now... you know what I'm about to ask you, don't you?"

 

Catterall chuckled before stating, "One game at a time, Gabriel! We still need one more win, and we won't rest until we've got it."

[CFuller]

***

 

Three England teams were abroad on international duty on what was sure to be a fascinating Tuesday evening on 4 September. While manager Mark Catterall concerned himself with attempting to secure the Three Lions' spot at the FIFA World Cup by beating Slovakia, the Under-21s were in Albania... and the Under-19s were facing an almighty test from Belgium.

 

This was England's last warm-up friendly before they would begin their bid for UEFA European Under-19s Championship qualification in October. Matthew Wells' Young Lions would be massive underdogs against the Red Devils and their conveyor belt of talent, but they weren't afraid to give it a real go in Ghent.

 

A little under two minutes after the kick-off, England's Chelsea right-back Peter Turner had a throw-in intercepted by Siebe Van der Heyden. The Belgian defender tried to hoof it upfield, only to see his clearance rebound off Mason Mount and into the path of Rotherham United striker Ben Brereton. England then got an even greater slice of luck when Brereton's shot was helped into the net by goalkeeper Jari De Busser and his left-hand post!

 

Belgium went close to drawing back level on 11 minutes, courtesy of an excellent cross from Dante Vanzeir. The KRC Genk right-winger eluded England left-back Ryan Sessegnon and swung in a delivery that Louis Kabeya headed wide.

 

Kabeya would go one better for the Red Devils seven minutes after that miss. The Congolese-born AA Gent striker raced past visiting centre-back Jordan Williams to take on Indy Boonen's through-ball and drill in the equaliser in front of his home fans.

 

The rest of the first half would be devoid of goals, though England did create some decent scoring opportunities. The 'MM' midfield duo of Mount and Marcus McGuane each had promising attempts saved by De Busser, in the 33rd and 38th minutes respectively.

 

Another dynamic duo in the England ranks consisted of widemen Reiss Nelson and Jonathan Leko. They were both brought on before the second half, and they would make an instant impact within two minutes. Leko snuck behind Belgian left-back Pierre Lang to be first to a Nelson cross, which he tapped past De Busser for a 2-1 away lead.

 

Belgium bounced back in the 54th minute, with Vanzeir at the heart of a devastating counter-attack. His knock-down from right-back Giel Borkelmans' long ball bounced towards Kabeya, who let rip with a half-volley. Though Young Lions goalkeeper Steve Hilton managed to parry Kabeya's drive, the Liverpool starlet could do nothing about the follow-up effort from Vanzeir, which restored parity at 2-2.

 

Hilton was immediately replaced in the England goal by Tim Cowling, who would ship a third goal to the Red Devils in the 59th minute. Anderlecht midfielder Orel Mangala sidefooted the ball ahead of Vanzeir, who whipped in a cross that was met by a fantastic volley from his Genk colleague Adriano Bertaccini.

 

Despite falling behind for the first half, England still felt that there would be another twist in a truly exciting encounter. Brereton was unfortunate to flick a Turner cross wide in the 60th minute, and even more so when he lashed another shot against the woodwork three minutes later. On this occasion, the post diverted Brereton's strike away from goal, and away from a relieved De Busser.

 

Leicester City midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White had set up that agonising latter miss from Brereton, and he was the architect of another great opportunity on 69 minutes. Gibbs-White's whipped cross to Leko was headed against the crossbar by the West Bromwich Albion winger.

 

England grew increasingly desperate as the match drew towards an end. Manchester United's enigmatic midfielder Angel Gomes had three long-distance shots at goal between the 82nd minute, and though one of them was saved by Belgium's substitute goalkeeper Gaetan Coucke, the other two flew hopelessly off target. It went without saying that Wells did not cut a very pleased figure in the England dugout.

 

Belgium would secure a 4-2 victory in fortuitous circumstances after 89 minutes. Following Joe Rankin-Costello's trip on Red Devils midfielder Joris Devos, Vanzeir fired a free-kick at goal from 30 yards out. Vanzeir's effort took a very heavy deflection off Gibbs-White in the England wall, and poor Cowling could only watch the ball ricochet into his net.

 

Vanzeir's second goal rounded off an outstanding individual performance from someone who'd already played in six Belgian Pro League matches for Genk. Had the Red Devils unearthed a potential replacement for Yannick Carrasco?

 

4 September 2017: Under-19s International - at Ghelamco Arena, Ghent

Belgium U19s - 4 (Louis Kabeya 18, Dante Vanzeir 54,89, Adriano Bertaccini 59)

England U19s - 2 (Ben Brereton 3, Jonathan Leko 47)

ENGLAND U19s LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Steve Hilton (Terry Cowling); Peter Turner, Alistair Rattray (Adam Mingay), Jordan Williams (Trevoh Chalobah), Ryan Sessegnon (Josh Tymon); Marcus McGuane (Reiss Nelson), Sadou Diallo (Angel Gomes), Andre Dozzell (Joe Rankin-Costello); Mason Mount (Morgan Gibbs-White); Lawrence Warner (Jonathan Leko), Ben Brereton (Eddie Nketiah).

 

Next on the England Under-19s itinerary was the European Championship Qualifying Round, which would take place in early October. The Young Lions would travel to Stockholm to play three difficult matches in Group 9 against Northern Ireland, hosts Sweden, and 10-time champions Spain. Though England only needed a top-two finish to progress to the Elite Round, that was certainly not a given.

[CFuller]

***

 

England's first away game of the UEFA European Under-21s Championship qualifiers took place in Tirana. The Young Lions had already brushed Latvia aside, and it seemed that Albania would be no match for them either. The Kuq e Zinjtë - the Red and Blacks - had lost their opening qualifier 2-1 in Scotland and boasted no standout talents.

 

Just like against Latvia, England gave the captaincy to a defensive debutant - Manchester United centre-half Axel Tuanzebe, who'd shown some impressive form while on loan at Championship side Blackburn Rovers. The Lancastrian went close to scoring in the second minute, flicking a Patrick Roberts corner inches over the bar.

 

A less impressive corner from Roberts in the 13th minute was headed away by Albania's left-back Irlian Ceka - a former youth-team player with both Roma and Lazio. Marcus Rashford nodded the clearance back towards goal, but he drew a very comfortable catch out of goalkeeper Mario Dajsinani.

 

The Young Lions had needed more than 20 minutes to get going against Latvia, with their first goal not coming until the 23rd minute. History would repeat itself in Tirana when AFC Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook's killer pass to Roberts was calmly finished by the Leicester City forward. That said, he did benefit from some calamitous goalkeeping by Dajsinani, who almost pushed the ball into his own net.

 

Dajsinani was rather more switched on in the 37th minute, when he caught Roberts' header from a Rashford cross. He also tipped away Roberts' next effort in the 39th minute, as well as a sumptuous drive from Rashford in the 44th.

 

Despite Dajsinani's inconsistency in goal, Albania's defence had held up pretty well in that first period. They'd only let in one goal, and though right-back Ardit Toli received a very early booking for tripping Izzy Brown, the back four looked disciplined and alert. That would all change after the interval.

 

Left-back Ceka was cautioned in the 48th minute, after he tripped up the seemingly unstoppable Roberts. From that point, England took every possible opportunity to run at the Albanian defence and potentially draw even more fouls.

 

England didn't find have much defending to do themselves until Everton midfielder Tom Davies brought down Endri Çekiçi in the 59th minute. Davies was booked, and Çekiçi readied himself to fire a 30-yard free-kick towards goal. Though the Dinamo Zagreb forward had scored on his first (and to date only) senior Albania appearance against Macedonia a year previously, he could only fire the set-piece hopelessly off target.

 

Albania were awarded another free-kick even closer to England's goal when substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold hauled down the AC Milan left-winger Ismet Sinani on 64 minutes. Çekiçi took this one as well, and skimmed the crossbar.

 

Two minutes later, a coming-together between Rashford and Alexandros Dhamo led to a booking for Albania's Greek-born defensive midfielder. Rashford hadn't really got himself into the game until that challenge from Dhamo, which served to fire the Manchester United striker up no end.

 

The English dream team of Roberts and Rashford came alive once again after 71 minutes. The latter ran onto Roberts' exquisite lob over Albania's defence, and a tidy finish doubled the Young Lions' advantage.

 

Rashford's incredible goalscoring form would become better still two minutes later. When he headed in a deep first-time cross from substitute left-winger Josh Sims, Rashford improved his England Under-21s record to 18 goals in just 15 caps!

 

Rashford then had a couple of chances to wrap up his second hat-trick in the space of five days. The first was a 74th-minute free-kick that was flighted well wide. The second came a minute later, when Rashford ran onto a long ball from Joshua Onomah to go one-on-one with Dajsinani. For once, though, it was the Albanian keeper who prevailed.

 

As Rashford came off to be replaced with Dominic Solanke, Albania pressed forward to try and claw one goal back at least. The Kuq e Zinjtë would have one shot on target in the whole match, but Esin Hakaj's drive was tipped behind by Freddie Woodman, who was otherwise little more than a spectator in the England goal.

 

England's next attack, on 85 minutes, saw Onomah play a series of passes with Roberts before powering a shot just over the bar. The Tottenham playmaker would go one better a minute later, breaching the home defence to convert Solanke's through-ball and increase the gap to four goals.

 

Albania's embarrassment ended after 88 minutes, when their defenders were left chasing shadows again before conceding a fifth goal. Roberts sought out Sims' run with a crossfield ball to the Middlesbrough winger, who rounded off his England Under-21s debut with a straightforward tap-in.

 

England's first two qualifying matches for the Under-21s Euros had seen them score 13 goals. Rashford had helped himself to six of them, while Roberts also racked up a sextet of assists. It was clear to see that those two players were far too strong for Under-21s football, and that it would surely only be a matter of time before Mark Catterall brought them into the senior England team.

 

England remained top of Group 5, but France kept pace with them after a 4-0 thumping of Scotland in which ex-Celtic striker Moussa Dembélé - now at Bayer Leverkusen - scored twice. Meanwhile, Latvia recovered from their 8-1 shellacking at the Young Lions' hands to put three goals past Azerbaijan without reply.

 

4 September 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Qualifying Group 5 - at Qemal Stafa, Tirana

Albania U21s - 0

England U21s - 5 (Patrick Roberts 23, Marcus Rashford 71,73, Joshua Onomah 86, Josh Sims 88)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Freddie Woodman; Mason Holgate, Axel Tuanzebe, Brendan Galloway, Ben Chilwell; Lewis Cook, Tom Davies (Trent Alexander-Arnold); Patrick Roberts, Joshua Onomah, Izzy Brown (Josh Sims); Marcus Rashford (Dominic Solanke). BOOKED: Davies 57.

 

2019 UEFA European Under-21s Championship Qualifying Group 5 (After 2 rounds)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          England U21s           2     2     0     0     13    1     12    6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          France U21s            2     2     0     0     7     2     5     6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Scotland U21s          2     1     0     1     2     5     -3    3
4.          Latvia U21s            2     1     0     1     4     8     -4    3
5.          Azerbaijan U21s        2     0     0     2     2     6     -4    0
6.          Albania U21s           2     0     0     2     1     7     -6    0

 

[CFuller]

***

 

England had participated in 14 of the previous 20 FIFA World Cup tournaments. They were now just one more win away from qualifying for their 15th global finals - and booking their flights to Russia in June 2018.

 

Manager Mark Catterall was looking to seal the deal in the Three Lions' final away qualifier. If England could record a victory in the western Slovakian city of Trnava, they would top Group 6 and be under no pressure to get results against either Lithuania or Slovenia at home in October.

 

England were also chasing back-to-back 100% records in qualifying tournaments. They'd won 10 out of 10 preliminary matches for UEFA Euro 2016 and were now 7 from 7 in their quest to reach the 2018 World Cup. If that proud record was to be spoiled at any point, it would surely be spoiled in Slovakia.

 

Catterall appreciated the threat that the Slovaks would pose, even without their talisman - Chelsea playmaker Marek Hamsik, who was out with a back injury. He didn't want the Repre to dictate terms in midfield, and so he abandoned his usual 4-2-3-1 in favour of a narrow 4-3-1-2.

 

Among those who came into a beefed-up England midfield was Danny Drinkwater of Leicester City. The 27-year-old won his seventh international cap, and after six minutes, he came within inches of snatching his first goal. Slovakia captain Martin Skrtel could only clear a Danny Rose cross as far as Drinkwater, who volleyed just over the bar.

 

Harry Kane and Daniel Sturridge - who usually had to squabble with each other over one striker position - led the England frontline together this time around. It was Sturridge who had a pop at goal first, though an overhit strike in the 12th minute gave Slovak goalkeeper Matus Kozacik very little to worry about.

 

Kozacik's first save of the match came after 14 minutes, when he palmed behind a right-wing delivery from Nathaniel Clyne. He then comfortably claimed Adam Lallana's corner, but England would be attacking again within moments.

 

On 15 minutes, Lallana's first-time pass found Kane, who'd been very hit-and-miss for the Three Lions in this qualifying campaign. A determined block from Kozacik set the tone for what would be very much a 'miss' evening for the Tottenham Hotspur hotshot.

 

Five minutes later, England captain Jordan Henderson ran onto an excellent cross from Jack Wilshere on the left and tried to volley it towards goal. Henderson was making his 38th appearance for the Three Lions, but a horrific miscue summed up why the 27-year-old Liverpool man was still waiting for his maiden goal.

 

In all fairness to Henderson, his next attempt at goal was slightly better. On 29 minutes, he beat Slovakian right-back Peter Pekarik to a corner delivery from Drinkwater, only to see Kozacik safely catch his header. The next five minutes from an England perspective saw Wilshere float a free-kick wide and Sturridge scoop another effort over the bar.

 

Slovakia's attacking threat had been all but nullified by a watertight English defence, though Ondrej Duda did find one chink in their armour in the 35th minute. The creative Hertha BSC midfielder fed the ball through to Vladimir Weiss, whose drive drew an awkward opening save out of Joe Hart.

 

Half-time was looming large, and as the 43rd minute approached, England finally decided to get their act together. Clyne swung a deep cross from the touchline, and Sturridge got ahead of Pekarik to knock it down towards Wilshere. The enigmatic Arsenal star then produced one of the best finishes seen in an England jersey for some time, half-volleying the bouncing ball into the net with his left foot.

 

The Three Lions were 1-0 up, and just one half of football away from ensuring that they would be at the World Cup in the summer. That said, Catterall did not want any of his players to get complacent before they crossed the finishing line. They would have to keep battling on, as if the team's very future depended on a win.

 

Rose certainly showed plenty of determination in the 49th minute, when he won the ball in a scrappy challenge on Weiss. However, the referee adjudged Rose to have tripped Weiss and duly showed him a yellow card. As that was the left-back's second booking of the campaign, he would be suspended from England's next qualifier against Lithuania.

 

Slovakia's players, meanwhile, were putting up plenty of resistance, as they had no intention of letting Slovenia pull ahead of them in the race for 2nd place - and a play-off spot. After 54 minutes, Hertha right-back Pekarik threw his body at a half-volley from England's half-time substitute Dele Alli.

 

Then, after 59 minutes, a lapse in concentration from Wilshere inadvertently gifted the Repre a real chance to strike back. Wilshere lost focus while attempting a direct pass to Sturridge, which ricocheted off Duda and into the path of Weiss. The winger then cut inside and moved the ball space to David Depetris, who cracked it inches wide.

 

Another shot that barely missed the target came from Sturridge in the 67th minute. Alli teed up a 20-yard opportunity that the Liverpool striker blasted agonisingly over the crossbar.

 

Sturridge was now being accompanied up front by Chelsea's new big-money signing Callum Wilson. Those two strikers linked up to unpick the Slovakian locks in the 74th minute, when Wilson's square pass was met by a blistering piledriver from Sturridge that Kozacik couldn't quite push away from his goal.

 

Sturridge now had eight goals in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, and England were now on the very brink of reaching the finals. If the Three Lions could hold onto their 2-0 lead - or simply restrict Slovakia to just one consolation goal - in the final 15 minutes, they would be on their way to Russia.

 

The away fans were already celebrating in Trnava, but Weiss was determined to spoil their party. On 81 minutes, the former Manchester City winger - now at Al-Gharrafa - played an excellent weighted pass to substitute midfielder Erik Sabo, who was only denied his first Slovakia goal by an outstanding save from Hart.

 

While Hart had hardly been tested in the first 80 minutes of this match, he was at least kept busy in the final 10. Zenit St Petersburg winger Róbert Mak forced Hart to tip behind his half-volley from a Weiss lob in the 88th minute. Weiss and Sabo then drew a couple more saves out of the England goalkeeper, but there was no dirtying his clean sheet.

 

The final whistle prompted more wild celebrations amongst the England supporters, but the players and coaching staff were rather more understated. In qualifying for Russia 2018 without any major scares, they had merely completed the first objective of their World Cup mission. Their main objective was to get to the knockout stages, and maybe even reach a first Semi Final since 1990.

 

Slovakia's own dream of getting to the finals wasn't quite dead either. They remained just two points behind 2nd-placed Slovenia, who had emulated Scotland by suffering a humiliating 1-0 loss in Malta. That result meant the Scots, who won 4-1 in Lithuania, maintained their slim hopes of reaching the play-offs.

 

4 September 2017: FIFA World Cup UEFA Qualifying Group 6 - at Stadion Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava

Slovakia - 0

England - 2 (Jack Wilshere 43, Daniel Sturridge 74)

ENGLAND LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Joe Hart; Nathaniel Clyne, Gary Cahill, John Stones, Danny Rose; Danny Drinkwater, Jordan Henderson (James Ward-Prowse), Jack Wilshere; Adam Lallana (Dele Alli); Harry Kane (Callum Wilson), Daniel Sturridge. BOOKED: Rose 49.

 

2018 FIFA World Cup UEFA Qualifying Group 6 (After 8 rounds)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    Q     England                8     8     0     0     27    4     23    24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Slovenia               8     4     2     2     7     3     4     14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Slovakia               8     4     0     4     7     8     -1    12
4.          Scotland               8     3     1     4     9     13    -4    10
5.          Malta                  8     2     0     6     3     16    -13   6
6.          Lithuania              8     1     1     6     2     11    -9    4

 

"Mark, congratulations on securing qualification for the World Cup with plenty of time to spare," Gabriel Clarke told the manager at full-time. "What lies ahead for you now?"

 

"Thanks for that, Gabriel, but this is only the start of our journey," Catterall responded. "The aim now is to make sure that we win our last two qualifiers and take a perfect record with us to Russia. That'll send out a message to everyone at the World Cup that England are back on the big stage, and that we mean business this time."

 

"So do you think this England team is capable of, dare I say it, winning the World Cup?"

 

"I never said that, Gabriel. And besides, it's far too early to say. Ask me again in about nine months."

[CFuller]

Chapter 12 - Perfection?

 

England might have already qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but for manager Mark Catterall, the hard work was arguably only just beginning.

 

The Three Lions had two more qualifying matches left to complete, with Slovenia and then Lithuania facing at them at Wembley Stadium. Were Catterall's men to claim maximum points from those fixtures, they would complete a second consecutive qualification campaign with an unblemished 100% record.

 

Of course, going through the qualifiers without dropping any points would not necessarily mean that England would be amongst the favourites to lift the famous trophy in Moscow on 15 July 2018. Winning 10 successive matches on the road to UEFA Euro 2016 did not do them much good when they came up against Iceland four matches into the tournament proper.

 

Nevertheless, England would be determined to finish off another perfect round-robin, and head into their World Cup warm-up matches high on confidence. The Football Association had already lined up a couple of marquee friendlies for November - against France in Paris, and Argentina at Wembley. Future opponents would be confirmed after the Group Stage draw in December.

 

Catterall would also have his sights set on guiding the Under-21s and Under-19s through their European Championship qualification campaigns in October. This next international break would see a repeat of the seven-game, seven-day stretch of 12 months previous, with an England team in action on every single day from 4 to 10 October.

 

After two very comfortable wins by an aggregate score of 13-1, the Under-21s' European qualifiers would get going in earnest when they hosted Scotland in Norwich on 5 October. That would be followed four days later by a daunting trip to France. Les Bleus were the favourites to top Group 5 and qualify automatically for the 2019 finals in Italy, though the complexion of the group would change dramatically were David Byrne's Young Lions to prevail.

 

Meanwhile, Matthew Wells would take the Under-19s to Stockholm for the Qualifying Round of their European Championship. Three matches in five days against Northern Ireland, Sweden and Spain awaited them, with Catterall tracking their progress from afar.

 

ENGLAND squad - for matches vs Slovenia (H) and Lithuania (H)

NAME                      POSITIONS           D.O.B. (AGE)     CLUB            CAPS  GOALS HEIGHT WEIGHT     VALUE
Jack Butland              GK                  10/03/1993 (24)  Stoke           4     0     6'5"   14st 11lbs £20.5M  
Fraser Forster            GK                  17/03/1988 (29)  Southampton     8     0     6'7"   15st 8lbs  £11.75M 
Joe Hart                  GK                  19/04/1987 (30)  Man City        73    0     6'5"   12st 10lbs £14.75M 
Michael Keane             D (RC)              11/01/1993 (24)  Man City        7     0     6'1"   13st 0lbs  £26M    
John Stones               D (RC)              28/05/1994 (23)  Man City        18    0     6'2"   12st 1lb   £30M    
Eric Dier                 D (RC), DM, M (C)   15/01/1994 (23)  Tottenham       20    2     6'2"   13st 7lbs  £32M    
Chris Smalling            D (C)               22/11/1989 (27)  Man Utd         35    1     6'4"   14st 2lbs  £28M    
Nathaniel Clyne           D/WB (R)            05/04/1991 (26)  Liverpool       21    0     5'9"   10st 7lbs  £22.5M  
Kyle Walker               D/WB (R)            28/05/1990 (27)  Tottenham       25    0     6'0"   11st 6lbs  £25M    
Luke Shaw                 D/WB (L)            12/07/1995 (22)  Man Utd         13    0     6'1"   11st 11lbs £22.5M  
Danny Rose                D/WB/M (L)          02/07/1990 (27)  Tottenham       13    2     5'8"   11st 6lbs  £26M    
Jordan Henderson          DM, M (C)           17/06/1990 (27)  Liverpool       38    0     6'0"   10st 7lbs  £24.5M  
Raheem Sterling           M (L), AM (RLC)     08/12/1994 (22)  Man City        28    3     5'7"   10st 12lbs £25M    
Danny Drinkwater          M (C)               05/03/1990 (27)  Leicester       7     0     5'10"  11st 0lbs  £19.5M  
Nathan Redmond            M/AM (RL), ST (C)   06/03/1994 (23)  Southampton     1     1     5'8"   11st 6lbs  £15M    
Adam Lallana              M/AM (RLC)          10/05/1988 (29)  Liverpool       37    1     5'8"   11st 6lbs  £19.5M  
James Ward-Prowse         M/AM (RC)           01/11/1994 (22)  Tottenham       2     0     5'8"   10st 5lbs  £18.25M 
Dele Alli                 M/AM (C)            11/04/1996 (21)  Tottenham       23    4     6'1"   12st 1lb   £35M    
Jack Wilshere             M/AM (C)            01/01/1992 (25)  Arsenal         42    5     5'9"   10st 3lbs  £21M    
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain   AM (RL)             15/08/1993 (24)  Liverpool       29    6     5'11"  11st 4lbs  £29.5M  
Daniel Sturridge          ST (C)              01/09/1989 (28)  Liverpool       30    16    6'0"   12st 6lbs  £30M    
Jamie Vardy               ST (C)              11/01/1987 (30)  Leicester       12    4     5'10"  12st 1lb   £12M    
Callum Wilson             ST (C)              27/02/1992 (25)  Chelsea         7     3     5'11"  10st 7lbs  £32M    

 

Shortly before the England squad was to be announced, star striker Harry Kane dislocated his jaw whilst playing for Tottenham Hotspur in a 4-0 UEFA Champions League win over BATE Borisov. Kane's misfortune resulted in a recall for Jamie Vardy, who'd scored four goals in Leicester City's first seven matches of the Premier League season.

 

Vardy was the second-most prolific Englishman in the PL as things stood. Surprisingly, Adam Lallana led the way in that regard, having found the net five times for Liverpool. The 29-year-old attacking midfielder was joined in the Three Lions squad by his new Liverpool team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who'd completed a £32.5million transfer from Arsenal on deadline day.

 

Theo Walcott's return to the England set-up in August was only temporary. The 28-year-old winger's indifferent form for Villarreal in La Liga meant that he lost his place to ex-Arsenal colleague Oxlade-Chamberlain.

 

Chelsea were the clear leaders of the new Premier League table, having won seven games on the trot, but only striker Callum Wilson from their current squad made it into the England team this time around. 54-cap defender Gary Cahill had made just one league appearance for the Blues thus far this term and was dropped in favour of Manchester City's Michael Keane.

 

Tottenham defenders Eric Dier and Kyle Walker were both recalled after missing the last two FIFA World Cup qualifiers due to injury, as was Manchester United centre-half Chris Smalling. However, there was still no sign of Three Lions captain Wayne Rooney, who'd failed to secure a summer move away from Old Trafford and was fast fading into irrelevance.

 

ENGLAND UNDER-21s squad - for matches vs Scotland (H) and France (A)

NAME                      POSITIONS           D.O.B. (AGE)     CLUB            CAPS  GOALS HEIGHT WEIGHT     VALUE
Angus Gunn                GK                  22/01/1996 (21)  Plymouth        4     0     6'5"   13st 12lbs £300K   
Ted Smith                 GK                  18/01/1996 (21)  Southend        0     0     6'1"   13st 5lbs  £350K   
Freddie Woodman           GK                  04/03/1997 (20)  Peterborough    4     0     6'1"   10st 12lbs £1M     
Kyle Walker-Peters        D (RL)              13/04/1997 (20)  Birmingham      2     0     5'6"   9st 12lbs  £5.25M  
Mason Holgate             D (RC)              22/10/1996 (20)  Stoke           10    0     5'11"  11st 13lbs £11.25M 
Ben Sheaf                 D (RC), M/AM (C)    05/02/1998 (19)  Motherwell      0     0     6'0"   12st 6lbs  £675K   
Ben Chilwell              D (LC), WB (L)      21/12/1996 (20)  Leicester       12    0     5'10"  11st 13lbs £6.25M  
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson D (LC), DM          02/02/1997 (20)  Blackburn       2     0     5'11"  11st 13lbs £4.4M   
Brendan Galloway          D (LC), DM          17/03/1996 (21)  Everton         11    1     6'2"   13st 9lbs  £2.9M   
Axel Tuanzebe             D (C)               14/11/1997 (19)  Blackburn       1     0     6'0"   12st 3lbs  £1.9M   
Reece Oxford              D (C), DM           16/12/1998 (18)  Brighton        0     0     6'3"   11st 6lbs  £800K   
Lewis Cook                DM, M (C)           03/02/1997 (20)  Bournemouth     2     0     5'9"   10st 12lbs £11.5M  
Tom Davies                DM, M (C)           30/06/1998 (19)  Everton         2     0     5'10"  11st 0lbs  £4.1M   
Ruben Loftus-Cheek        DM, M/AM (C)        23/01/1996 (21)  Chelsea         24    5     6'3"   13st 7lbs  £5M     
Patrick Roberts           M (RL), AM (RLC)    05/02/1997 (20)  Leicester       13    4     5'6"   9st 1lb    £18.75M 
Izzy Brown                M (RL), AM (RLC)    07/01/1997 (20)  Leeds           2     1     6'1"   12st 1lb   £7.5M   
Sheyi Ojo                 M (L), AM (RLC)     19/06/1997 (20)  Hull            0     0     6'1"   9st 12lbs  £7.75M  
Kasey Palmer              M (C), AM (RLC)     09/11/1996 (20)  QPR             9     1     5'11"  12st 6lbs  £10.5M  
Demarai Gray              M/AM (RL)           28/06/1996 (21)  Leicester       8     1     5'10"  12st 3lbs  £11.75M 
Joshua Onomah             M/AM (C)            27/04/1997 (20)  Tottenham       4     2     6'0"   12st 10lbs £8.5M   
Tammy Abraham             AM (R), ST (C)      02/10/1997 (19)  Reading         14    4     6'4"   12st 10lbs £7.75M  
Marcus Rashford           AM (L), ST (C)      31/10/1997 (19)  Man Utd         15    18    5'11"  11st 9lbs  £31M    
Adam Armstrong            ST (C)              10/02/1997 (20)  Blackburn       7     2     5'8"   10st 12lbs £7.25M  

 

Trent Alexander-Arnold had captained England in the first of their European Under-21s Championship qualifiers in September, but he wouldn't be featuring for the Young Lions again any time soon. The 18-year-old Liverpool right-back damaged his Achilles tendon whilst on loan with Wolverhampton Wanderers in mid-September and would not return to action before the new year.

 

West Ham United defender Joe Gomez would also miss these next two qualifying matches, having failed to recover from a hernia in time. His misfortune led to an opening for highly-rated team-mate Reece Oxford - currently playing for Brighton & Hove Albion on loan in the Championship.

 

Oxford received his first Under-21s call-up, as did Motherwell's versatile utility player Ben Sheaf. Sheyi Ojo was also in line to represent England for the first time at this age level following the Hull City winger's recovery from a neck injury.

 

Striker Adam Armstrong replaced his Blackburn Rovers colleague Dominic Solanke in the squad, while there was also a recall for right-back Kyle Walker-Peters.

 

ENGLAND UNDER-19s squad - for European Under-19s Championship Qualifying Round

GOALKEEPERS: Terry Cowling (Leeds), Steve Hilton (Liverpool)

DEFENDERS: Corey Jordan (Grimsby), Adam Mingay (Mansfield), Alistair Rattray (Southampton), Ryan Sessegnon (Man City), Simranjit Thandi (Leicester), Peter Turner (Chelsea), Josh Tymon (Hull)

MIDFIELDERS: Jason Curtis (Huddersfield), Andre Dozzell (Motherwell), Jonathan Leko (West Brom), Marcus McGuane (Arsenal), Mason Mount (Ross County), Joe Rankin-Costello (Hibernian)

FORWARDS: Ben Brereton (Rotherham), Niall Ennis (Southampton), Glenn Sheppard (Chelsea)

 

England Under-19s were beset by all sorts of injury problems in the build-up to the European Under-19s Championship qualifiers. Midfielder Sadou Diallo, inside-forward Reiss Nelson, playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White and striker Eddie Nketiah were all unable to make the flight to Sweden due to various injuries.

 

After a couple of underwhelming warm-up performances, Catterall made a raft of changes to the Young Lions squad. Of the 18 players who made the cut, four were newcomers - Jason Curtis, Corey Jordan, Glenn Sheppard and Simranjit Thandi. Leicester City right-back Thandi would join a select band of British Asians who had represented an England football team internationally.

[CFuller]

***

 

Sometimes fate can be very cruel. Just tell that to Patrick Roberts.

 

The 2017/2018 season was Roberts' first as a fully-fledged Premier League player, having joined Leicester City in an £18million transfer from Manchester City. The 20-year-old inside-forward had performed solidly if not spectacularly in his first seven top-flight games with the Foxes and was expected to kick on sooner rather than later.

 

In addition, his dominant displays for England's Under-21s in their opening European Championship qualifiers against Latvia and Albania suggested that he would soon be knocking on the door for a senior call-up. Indeed, England boss Mark Catterall had made preliminary plans to bring him into the senior team for the November friendlies against France and Argentina.

 

Then, right at the start of October, Roberts tore his hamstring whilst training with Leicester. He was ruled out of contention for two months, thus delaying his full England debut until 2018 at the earliest.

 

Roberts' injury meant that Josh Sims would once again be brought from the standby list and into the Under-21s squad. The Southampton left-winger, who'd scored on his debut at that level against Albania the previous month, had shown some impressive form for loan club Middlesbrough in the Championship.

 

Another Leicester player would leave the Under-21s' set-up in the wake of their home qualifying match against Scotland... but for more positive reasons, at least from his perspective.

 

Despite regaining his England place, Raheem Sterling's stock at Manchester City had fallen so sharply that he was getting most of his competitive football in their development side. He was among several big-name players - including Joe Hart, Yannick Carrasco and Nolito - who travelled to Brunton Park for a midweek EFL Trophy group game against Carlisle United.

 

City won 2-0, but the match ended on a sour note for Sterling, who dislocated his jaw in an off-the-ball collision with a Carlisle player. That injury forced him to withdraw from the England squad, which irked Catterall no end.

 

Catterall phoned Sterling on the morning after the match, gently asking him, "Why the f***ing hell were you playing for the f***ing reserves?"

 

"I gunno," a pained Sterling replied. "Begause I am got good enough to glay for the first-geam?"

 

"There's no reason why a player with your talent should have to play in that Pointless Trophy just to get gametime. Haven't you asked Pep Guardiola for more first-team football?"

 

"I've gried, but I gon't gink he gikes me very guch. I gink that's gy he grought in Driezmann."

 

"Yeah, Antoine Griezmann's a hell of a player, ain't he? But if Pep don't like you, why don't you ask for a transfer?"

 

Sterling responded, "Begause I gove Mangester Gity. I have galways gonted to glay for gis glub."

 

Catterall scoffed, "Yeah, alright, Raheem. I bet you had pictures of Ali Benarbia and Steve Howey plastered all over your bedroom wall when you were growing up in London, didn't you?"

 

At that point, Sterling's agent Aidy Ward snatched the phone from Sterling's hand and told Catterall, "I think Raheem's had enough interrogation for one day. He's clearly not in a good place after last night."

 

"And neither am I, to be honest," Catterall groaned. "As England manager, how am I supposed to pick my best players if they get injured playing reserve football?"

 

"Injuries can happen at any time in any game, Mark. Anyway, with all the tech and the sports science that's about nowadays, they ain't as common as they used to be."

 

"You're not wrong there. I've heard David Platt say that players only get about 80% of the injuries they used to get in the 1990s... but that's not the point! What was Raheem even doing in the reserves in the first place?"

 

Ward corrected Catterall, "Man City don't have a reserve team anymore; they have a development team."

 

Catterall retorted, "You can dress a pig in a Gucci suit, but at the end of the day, it's still just a pig!"

 

"Look, Mark. Development football is better than no football at all."

 

"Not when you're an England international and the World Cup is eight f***ing months away! Raheem should be playing regular top-flight football for a club that treats him with respect. He shouldn't be going to Cumbria with the reserves and getting his jaw smashed in by a League Two player!"

 

"I'd say that City paying Raheem £150,000 per week is treating him with respect. Why the hell would he want to throw that away just to do more work for less pay for a weaker team?"

 

"Because I'm the England manager, and I don't care who you are and who you play for; I won't pick you if you aren't a first-team regular for your club. That's why Wayne Rooney's out of my team, that's why I left Raheem out for the best part of a year, and that's why I'm prepared to drop him again if need be."

 

"Really?" Ward exclaimed. "Raheem Sterling is the most technically-gifted footballer England has produced since Paul Gascoigne, and you're gonna cast him aside, just because he's not quite as good as Antoine Griezmann?"

 

"As far as Guardiola is concerned, it seems he's not quite as good as [Leroy] Sané or [Samir] Nasri or [Gabriel] Jesus either. Do you see what I'm getting at now?"

 

Ward laughed, "You're in the toughest job in football, Mark. Don't stress yourself over something that don't concern you, my friend!"

 

Catterall sputtered, "Friend? You've got some cheek to call us friends!"

 

Ward then hung up abruptly.

 

Catterall now had to call up a replacement for Sterling. He didn't look too far, delving into the Under-21s to promote Roberts' Leicester team-mate Demarai Gray. The Birmingham-born 21-year-old winger had already won five senior caps for the Three Lions, but he hadn't featured for them since their most recent defeat against Belgium in November 2016.

 

Like his club-mate Roberts, Gray had enjoyed a decent start to the season at Leicester without pulling up any trees. Though the pair were no doubt very talented for their ages, the fact that they were so high in the England pecking order was arguably influenced by a relative lack of homegrown Premier League wingers.

 

Gray's promotion meant that 20-year-old Arsenal player Ainsley Maitland-Niles received his first call-up for England Under-21s. Maitland-Niles - currently on loan at Rangers in the Scottish Premiership - could play either as a central midfielder or a right-winger, though he had also been used as a wing-back in the past.

[CFuller]

***

 

England's Under-19s kicked off their latest pursuit of European Championship glory by travelling to Sweden for the Qualifying Round. They had been drawn into a very tricky Group 9, which contained Northern Ireland and Spain as well as the host nation.

 

England would play all their group matches at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm. First up for them were a Northern Ireland side whose squad featured players from such footballing luminaries as Ards, Institute and Wingate & Finchley. Victory for the Young Lions was of paramount importance if they were to secure a top-two finish and progress to the Elite Round.

 

England did start as brightly as expected, with West Bromwich Albion winger Jonathan Leko forcing a save out of NI's Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Rory Brown in the very first minute. Four minutes later, an effort from Young Lions debutant Simranjit Thandi flew just over the crossbar.

 

Leko missed another opportunity in the 14th minute, when his strike from Niall Ennis' weighted pass thundered off the crossbar. Fortunately for him, England captain Mason Mount was in the right position to bundle the rebound home and break the deadlock.

 

Leko would double his assist tally on 24 minutes, with a sublime weighted lob to fellow Black Country boy Ennis. The pacey striker, who had been signed by Southampton in the summer, duly drove the ball beyond his former Wolves colleague Brown to score his first goal in an England Under-19s jersey.

 

Northern Ireland wasted a chance to pull one goal back in the 28th minute, with Chesterfield striker Josh Tipping putting a tame effort into the hands of England keeper Steve Hilton. Three minutes after that, the Young Lions pulled three goals ahead, with Ennis setting up a simple tap-in for debutant left-winger Jason Curtis, who played for Huddersfield Town.

 

When Norn Iron right-back Caolin Coyle pulled back on Ryan Sessegnon's shirt in the 35th minute, it looked like England would take a 4-0 lead from the penalty spot. Mount only needed to beat Brown from 12 yards out to secure his brace, but the Irish goalkeeper produced a brilliant catch and denied the Ross County attacking midfielder.

 

Despite that penalty miss, the Young Lions still held a sizeable advantage at the interval. Head coach Matthew Wells was now more than happy to see his players conserve their energy in the second half, and keep them as fresh as possible for later challenges against Sweden and Spain.

 

Leko looked to kill Northern Ireland off after 51 minutes, when he latched onto a crossfield ball from Ennis and drove it goalwards. Brown tried to parry the ball away, but Curtis rushed forward and played a follow-up centre for Leko to finish at the second attempt. England were now 4-0 up.

 

Northern Ireland had been run ragged, with their defence proving completely incapable at containing the Young Lions. They also conceded a high number of fouls, with three of their back four receiving yellow cards in the second half. The exception was centre-half Jason Jones, who simply could not get a handle on Ennis at any point in the game.

 

While there was no chance of the Green and White Army saving any points from this match, they did at least have the last laugh. With nine minutes to go, Crusaders forward Neil McKinstry skinned England centre-half Alistair Rattray and cut the ball across to midfielder and team-mate George Peoples, whose low strike earned Northern Ireland a consolation goal.

 

Another goal could've come the minnows' way in injury time, but Hilton produced a solid catch from Jordan Jenkins' hopeful effort. 4-1 was how it ended, and England were left reasonably satisfied with their opening performance in the European qualifiers.

 

Group 9 favourites Spain had also made a strong start, seeing off Sweden 3-1. That meant England could effectively seal qualification for the Elite Round with victory over the Swedes in their second group match a couple of days later.

 

4 October 2017: UEFA European Under-19s Championship Qualifying Group 9 - at Tele2 Arena, Stockholm

England U19s - 4 (Mason Mount 14, Niall Ennis 24, Jason Curtis 31, Jonathan Leko 52)

Northern Ireland U19s - 1 (George Peoples 81)

ENGLAND U19s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Steve Hilton; Peter Turner (Corey Jordan), Alistair Rattray, Simranjit Thandi, Ryan Sessegnon; Marcus McGuane (Andre Dozzell), Joe Rankin-Costello (Glenn Sheppard); Jonathan Leko, Mason Mount, Jason Curtis; Niall Ennis. BOOKED: McGuane 20, Turner 45.

[CFuller]

***

 

Anglo-Scottish rivalries were renewed once again on 5 October at Norwich City's Carrow Road stadium, where England and Scotland clashed in a UEFA European Under-21s Championship qualifying match.

 

England's campaign had begun encouragingly, with a couple of embarrassingly comfortable victories against Latvia and Albania. The Scots' start had been more mixed; they narrowly saw off Albania 2-1 before getting trounced 4-0 in France.

 

The Young Lions selected a different captain for a third successive qualifier, with Reading's Tammy Abraham taking the armband following previous stints from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Axel Tuanzebe. On-loan Chelsea striker Abraham could've opened the scoring after just four minutes, when he narrowly flicked wide a header from Josh Sims' left-wing cross.

 

Abraham sent another shot over the bar in the 11th minute, and then went even closer two minutes later. Sims supplied him with another fantastic cross from the left flank, which he nodded against the crossbar before Scotland left-back Tony Gallacher hacked it away.

 

England would eventually break the deadlock after 17 minutes. The explosive Sims surged past Scots right-back Anthony Ralston and cut the ball across the penalty area for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Joshua Onomah to finish with a left-footed half-volley.

 

A minute after opening the scoring, Onomah attempted to set up a second England goal. His right-wing centre deflected off Gallacher and towards AFC Bournemouth playmaker Lewis Cook, whose powerful drive was tipped over by Scotland captain Robby McCrorie.

 

McCrorie was a highly-rated goalkeeper on Rangers' books, but he didn't exactly cover himself in glory when Abraham beat him three minutes before half-time. Abraham ran onto an excellent through-ball from fellow Chelsea youngster Izzy Brown and then defeated McCrorie at his near post.

 

The one blot on England's record at half-time was a 15th-minute yellow card for Brendan Galloway. The Everton centre-half would be replaced at half-time by 19-year-old Brighton & Hove Albion starlet Reece Oxford, who made his Under-21s debut.

 

Another Young Lion would see yellow two minutes after the restart, with Abraham picking up a caution following his trip on Scotland defender Harry Souttar. Abraham was then fouled in the 55th minute by St Mirren midfielder Kyle Magennis, who received the Tartan Army's first booking.

 

Scotland launched their first meaningful attack on 56 minutes, with London-born Southend United striker Alex Jakubiak blazing a shot well over the crossbar. Two minutes later, Norwich City left-winger Glenn Middleton's fierce drive finally drew a save out of England keeper Freddie Woodman, who was based not too far from Carrow Road at Peterborough United.

 

After 65 minutes, England took off their most-capped player Ruben Loftus-Cheek and fielded a second debutant in on-loan Rangers midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles. The 20-year-old Arsenal prospect had barely been on the field for a minute when he obstructed Scottish substitute Craig Wighton to concede a free-kick.

 

Left-back Calvin Miller, who'd played for Scotland's Under-19s when they played England at the end of August, hoisted the free-kick deep into the Young Lions' penalty area. Souttar leapt up and cushioned a header to midfielder George Byers, whose half-volley reduced the Tartan Army's deficit to 2-1.

 

England would reinstate their two-goal lead in the 72nd minute, thanks to a cunning free-kick from Brown. While Scotland were still readying themselves for the free-kick, Brown quickly knocked the ball across to Sims, who thundered in his second goal in as many Under-21s caps. The Scots were far from pleased, but the goal stood and they were now 3-1 behind.

 

The visitors had one last chance to get back in the game after 79 minutes. Bolton Wanderers winger Adam Frizzell marked his Scotland Under-21s debut by curling an excellent delivery to Wighton, whose header bounced just beyond Woodman's right-hand post.

 

The match would finish 3-1 in England's favour, thus keeping them at the top of Group 5 with three wins from three. France also maintained their 100% start with a 3-0 away win against Latvia in which Lyon's Maxwel Cornet scored twice.

 

Group 5 already looked like being a straight fight between England and France as to who would qualify automatically for the finals in Italy. Their meeting in Sedan four days later would go some way in determining who finished top.

 

5 October 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Qualifying Group 5 - at Carrow Road, Norwich

England U21s - 3 (Joshua Onomah 17, Tammy Abraham 42, Josh Sims 72)

Scotland U21s - 1 (George Byers 66)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Freddie Woodman; Kyle Walker-Peters, Ben Sheaf, Brendan Galloway (Reece Oxford), Ben Chilwell; Lewis Cook, Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Ainsley Maitland-Niles); Izzy Brown, Joshua Onomah (Kasey Palmer), Josh Sims; Tammy Abraham. BOOKED: Galloway 15, Abraham 47, Walker-Peters 90.

[CFuller]

***

 

The European Under-19s Championship Qualifying Round had started well enough for England, but now their credentials would surely be severely tested. Their second match in Group 9 was against host nation Sweden, who were looking to get their campaign up and running following a 3-1 loss to Spain.

 

Sweden's players looked noticeably fresher than England's when play began in Sweden... but the visitors' greater quality would shine through almost immediately. Not even two minutes had passed when midfield playmaker Joe Rankin-Costello slotted the ball through the Swedish defence for Niall Ennis to slip it past the onrushing goalkeeper Robin Gustavsson.

 

England were targeting another early goal in the sixth minute. Andre Dozzell sent the ball across Sweden's penalty area for Ben Brereton, who looked mortified after somehow blazing it over the crossbar. The Rotherham United striker - on loan from Nottingham Forest - would soon make amends.

 

After England captain Josh Tymon intercepted a goal kick from Gustavsson, the Young Lions proceded to rip the Blågult apart again. Rankin-Costello - or 'JRC' to his team-mates - hit a long ball up the left flank towards Ennis, who surged clear of Sweden centre-half Rasmus Häll and drilled a cross into the box. This time, there was no chance of Brereton spurning such a glorious opportunity, and England were 2-0 ahead.

 

The crossbar denied Ennis a second goal after 14 minutes, but strike partner Brereton would double his own tally after 23. The leading goalscorer in League One this season got ahead of Häll to finish a Tymon centre at the near post and make it 3-0.

 

Mind you, Brereton wasn't finished there. Dozzell prolonged Häll's nightmare in the 24th minute by whipping the ball past him and into the six-yard box, where Brereton unleashed an unstoppable volley. With that, his first-half hat-trick was complete, and the contest was surely already over.

 

In a role reversal of what happened to Graham Taylor at UEFA Euro 1992, England were turning the Swedes into the proverbial turnips. Mind you, the Scandinavian side were not quite besegrad just yet.

 

England's defending of a 33rd-minute corner from Bilal Smajic left plenty to be desired. Blågult skipper Nebiyou Perry, who played as a right-winger for Allsvenskan giants AIK, leapt above both Tymon and Dozzell to flick Smajic's delivery into the net from the near post.

 

Despite the disappointment of losing their clean sheet, England restored their four-goal cushion about two minutes before half-time. Hat-trick hero Brereton sidefooted the ball beyond the Swedish backline, and Dozzell calmly placed it into the net for a 5-1 lead.

 

The second half had just got underway when Sweden hunted another consolation strike. Substitute striker Joel Mumbongo, whose family hailed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, got his head to a cross from Perry but could not beat England goalkeeper Terry Cowling.

 

Sweden's bright start to the second period was not a sign of things to come. Indeed, by the 60th minute, they had fallen 6-1 behind. England midfielder Mason Mount played an excellent defence-splitting pass that bounced kindly for Ennis to drive in his second goal of the afternoon.

 

Ennis and Brereton had now notched up three goals apiece in England's first two qualifiers. The latter would not be adding to his tally, as Jonathan Leko came off the bench to replace him for the final half-hour.

 

Leko would have several opportunities to put his name onto the scoresheet. Arguably the best of them came in the 73rd minute, when the West Bromwich Albion winger picked up an incisive pass from Mount. Sadly for him, Gustavsson clawed the ball behind to prevent the scoreline from becoming any more embarrassing for the hosts.

 

England wouldn't add to their 6-1 lead, not that it really mattered. They were safely through to the Elite Round with a game to spare, as were Spain, who saw off Northern Ireland 2-1. The Young Lions would now go head-to-head with La Rojita in a match that would merely decide top spot in Group 9, and perhaps also a favourable seeding for the Elite Round draw.

 

6 October 2017: UEFA European Under-19s Championship Qualifying Group 9 - at Tele2 Arena, Stockholm

Sweden U19s - 1 (Nebiyou Perry 33)

England U19s - 6 (Niall Ennis 2,60, Ben Brereton 6,23,24, Andre Dozzell 43)

ENGLAND U19s LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Terry Cowling; Peter Turner, Alistair Rattray, Corey Jordan (Adam Mingay), Josh Tymon; Marcus McGuane, Glenn Sheppard, Joe Rankin-Costello (Mason Mount); Andre Dozzell; Ben Brereton (Jonathan Leko), Niall Ennis. BOOKED: Dozzell 63.

[CFuller]

***

 

England's job was done. They had already earned qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia, so they could take things slightly easier in their two remaining qualifying matches.

 

Mind you, there was still something to aim for. Victories against Slovenia and Lithuania at Wembley would secure them a perfect 100% record in a World Cup qualifying campaign for the first time in over six decades. Mind you, Walter Winterbottom's side had only needed to win three matches to secure their passage to Switzerland in 1954.

 

Slovenia were first up, and England manager Mark Catterall knew just how difficult opponents they could be. After all, it took a 90th-minute winner from Daniel Sturridge to decide their previous meeting in Ljubljana in November 2016.

 

Sturridge was not quite fit enough to play in the rematch, so Chelsea striker Callum Wilson made his first start for England after seven prior substitution appearances. There was also a second cap for Southampton forward Nathan Redmond, while Manchester United's Luke Shaw deputised for first-choice left-back Danny Rose, who served a suspension.

 

England had their first opportunity to open the scoring after just four minutes. Tottenham Hotspur duo Eric Dier and Dele Alli linked up for a move that resulted in the latter driving his shot just the wrong side of the post.

 

A minute later, it was Slovenia's turn to go on the attack. Fiorentina midfielder Josip Ilicic cut the ball across England's half to centre-back Miha Mevlja, who tried to drive in a shot from 25 yards out. Joe Hart caught it with ease for the Three Lions, and Slovenia would not again get remotely close to beating him before half-time.

 

As the Slovenes came under increasing pressure from England's attackers, left-back Bojan Jokic made a potentially costly mistake in the 15th minute. Jokic, who played for FC Ufa in Russia, won the ball off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as the Liverpool winger dribbled into the penalty area. However, his attempted clearance ended up with Wilson, who let him off the hook with an awful strike that looped over the bar.

 

Four minutes after that, Slovenia centre-back Nemanja Mitrovic headed away a corner delivery from England captain Jordan Henderson. Redmond was first to the loose ball, and he then dribbled around the defence before unleashing an angled shot that clipped the woodwork.

 

Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak - one of the best in his position in world football - produced a stunning reflex save in the 27th minute to keep out a strike from Oxlade-Chamberlain. The 26-year-old Atlético Madrid star demonstrated his agility again on 36 minutes, diving to catch Henderson's header from a Redmond free-kick.

 

With the visitors looking so secure defensively, England fans could only look on worryingly as the first half finished goalless. In addition to that, a couple of English defenders - Nathaniel Clyne and John Stones - had received bookings. Stones' yellow card was his second of the qualifying campaign, and so the Manchester City centre-half would miss his country's next match against Lithuania through suspension.

 

The half-time interval saw Catterall switch from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-1-2, with widemen Oxlade-Chamberlain and Redmond both being sacrificed. On came Arsenal playmaker Jack Wilshere and Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy.

 

The second half had barely started when Clyne attempted to float a cross to Vardy in the Slovenian six-yard box. Mevlja intercepted the cross, but the ball fell to Dier, whose shot was caught by Oblak.

 

Mevlja would make another headed interception in the 58th minute, from a corner by Henderson. Wilson reclaimed the ball for England and tried to lob it up towards centre-back Michael Keane at the back post. The delivery went long, but Keane claimed that Jokic was impeding him unfairly, and the referee agreed. Penalty kick to England!

 

Alli steadied himself for the spot-kick, which he drilled comfortably down Oblak's right-hand side. The goalkeeper dove in the opposite direction, and his clean sheet was ruined. The Three Lions had finally taken the lead, and they wouldn't look back.

 

By the half-hour mark, it was 2-0 to England - or, more specifically, 2-0 to Tottenham. Slovenia's Southampton right-back Petar Stojanovic could only clear Wilshere's outswinging corner as far as Wilson, who nodded it across for Dier to blast home just this third international goal.

 

Srecko Katanec's visitors were left dispirited by those two quickfire England goals. Their only opportunity to fight back was from a 76th-minute free-kick that FC Basel striker Andraz Sporar scuffed pathetically wide.

 

Slovenia captain Blaz Vrhovec had been booked during the first period, and two of his compatriots would join him in the book late in the second half. Left-winger Matic Crnic was cautioned for a shirt-pull on Clyne in the 77th minute, while midfielder Kevin Kampl brought down Adam Lallana three minutes later.

 

Kampl would be guilty of an even costlier mistake in the 86th minute. The Bayer Leverkusen star was the first man to reach Wilshere's free-kick delivery into a crowded Slovenian penalty area, but he couldn't keep it away from Shaw, whose low drive deflected into the net off the post. That was the 22-year-old's first goal for England, in his 14th cap.

 

Three goals in the second half had left England just one match away from a perfect qualifying record. Meanwhile, Slovakia moved one point ahead of Slovenia in Group 6 after coming from behind to defeat Scotland 2-1, thus ending the Tartan Army's hopes. Slovenia and Slovakia would now battle it out in Ljubljana to decide who finished 2nd, though a play-off place would not necessarily be guaranteed for the victor.

 

England's final group match was against Lithuania, who were on course to finish bottom following a 1-1 draw in Malta. It had been a miserable campaign all round for the Baltic side, and they would surely not deny the Three Lions a 10th competitive win on the trot. Surely not?

 

7 October 2017: FIFA World Cup UEFA Qualifying Group 6 - at Wembley, London

England - 3 (Dele Alli pen59, Eric Dier 60, Luke Shaw 86)

Slovenia - 0

ENGLAND LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Joe Hart; Nathaniel Clyne, Michael Keane, John Stones, Luke Shaw; Jordan Henderson, Eric Dier; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Jack Wilshere), Dele Alli (Adam Lallana), Nathan Redmond (Jamie Vardy); Callum Wilson. BOOKED: Clyne 29, Stones 45+1.

[CFuller]

***

 

It was perhaps just as well that England had secured their place in the European Under-19s Championship Elite Round before they played Spain in their final Qualifying Round match in Stockholm. La Rojita had been crowned champions in three of the previous seven tournaments, though they surprisingly failed to qualify for the 2017 finals in Georgia.

 

England and Spain had each won their opening two fixtures in Group 9, and so their meeting would purely determine who had the honour of finishing top.

 

With both sides feeling the effects of having placed twice in the previous four days, the first half of this match was unsurprisingly slow to get going. England, who only needed a draw to secure top spot, were happy to sit back and frustrate the Spanish attackers.

 

Spain's first scoring opportunity did not arise until the 20th minute, when midfielder David Mariscal was brought down close to goal by England counterpart Marcus McGuane's crunching tackle. McGuane received a yellow card that would see him miss the Young Lions' first Elite Round match through suspension, but that was the sum total of his punishment. Rojita captain Manu Morlanes' free-kick failed to seriously trouble goalkeeper Steve Hilton.

 

England survived another scare in the 28th minute, when Sporting Gijón striker Daniel Sandoval headed team-mate Omar Romero's right-wing cross against the crossbar. Romero would hit the bar himself from just outside the penalty area in the 39th minute.

 

When Sandoval rounded England centre-back Adam Mingay on 42 minutes, it looked like he would break the deadlock. That was until Liverpool prospect Hilton heroically tipped the ball behind to keep the Young Lions' heads above water. However, it seemed that it would only be a matter of time before Spain moved ahead.

 

Spain would indeed take the lead seven minutes into the second period. Mariscal's corner was nodded towards goal by Jacobo Revuelta, but it was another of La Rojita's half-time substitutes - Mario Vallina - who got the final touch that diverted it into the net.

 

Hilton had finally been beaten, and his day didn't get any better in the 57th minute. His attempted clearance was swiftly intercepted by Sandoval and flicked towards Vallina, who blasted a vicious effort at goal. Hilton managed to push it against his near post, but the ball deflected across the line off the 16-year-old Merseysider's heel, and he was thus credited with an own goal.

 

Less than a minute after that, a calamitous period for England's defence turned into farce. Mingay cut out a centre from Real Sociedad right-back Álex Ujía, only to fire his clearance against the back of Revuelta and fortuitously into the path of Morlanes. The creative Villarreal midfielder - on loan at Portuguese Primeira Liga side Estoril - then slipped in the easiest of finishes.

 

Six minutes earlier, the match had been goalless. Now, England were 3-0 down, and they would soon lose their star striker Ben Brereton to a gashed head. Though this capitulation would have no effect in terms of qualification, it was still a cause for concern.

 

Then, on 64 minutes, England received an unexpected lifeline. After Ujía tried to nod away a hanging-ball corner from Andre Dozzell, Jonathan Leko passed the ball short to Jason Curtis in a tight angle. The Huddersfield Town wideman stroked in what appeared to be simply a consolation goal for the Young Lions.

 

Spain had taken their foot off the pedal, and they were punished again in the 75th minute. England summoned the energy to hit them on the counter-attack, with substitute striker Niall Ennis latching onto a long ball from midfielder Glenn Sheppard and taking it up the right flank. Ennis then moved the ball inside to Curtis, who in turn set up a point-blank finish for Dozzell.

 

England were now starting to believe that they could equalise from three goals behind. Their big moment would come after 79 minutes, when Spanish centre-back Clemente blocked Dozzell from running onto an Ennis through-ball, only to leave McGuane racing through on goal. McGuane got behind the defence and selflessly played in Curtis, who chested the ball and drove it agonisingly into the side netting.

 

England's opportunity to win Group 9 had gone, and their defeat would be confirmed in the 85th minute. A majestic lob from Vallina over Hilton brought up his second goal, and Spain's fourth, of the afternoon.

 

Mind you, there was still time for the Young Lions to have the final say. Dozzell secured his own double in injury time, volleying an excellent Curtis cross past goalkeeper Abraham Pérez to reduce England's deficit to an admirable 4-3.

 

8 October 2017: UEFA European Under-19s Championship Qualifying Group 9 - at Tele2 Arena, Stockholm

Spain U19s - 4 (Mario Vallina 52,85, Steve Hilton og57, Manu Morlanes 58)

England U19s - 3 (Jason Curtis 64, Andre Dozzell 75,90+1)

ENGLAND U19s LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Steve Hilton; Simranjit Thandi, Alistair Rattray, Adam Mingay, Ryan Sessegnon; Marcus McGuane, Joe Rankin-Costello (Glenn Sheppard); Jason Curtis, Mason Mount (Andre Dozzell), Jonathan Leko; Ben Brereton (Niall Ennis). BOOKED: McGuane 20.

 

2018 UEFA European Under-19s Championship Qualifying Group 9 (Final Standings)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    Q     Spain U19s             3     3     0     0     9     5     4     9
2.    Q     England U19s           3     2     0     1     13    6     7     6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Sweden U19s            3     1     0     2     6     9     -3    3
4.          Northern Ireland U19s  3     0     0     3     2     10    -8    0

 

Though they had missed out on top spot in Group 9, the draw for the Elite Round actually panned out quite well for England. The Young Lions were paired into Group 2 with Greece, Norway and the Republic of Ireland - three teams who would all be rank-outsiders to defeat them.

 

England would start the Elite Round away from home, facing Greece in Piraeus on 19 March. They would then return home to Ewood Park in Blackburn for matches against Ireland on 23 March and Norway four days after that.

 

Finishing top of their Elite Round group would see England progress to the finals tournament in July, and it seemed that the cards were heavily stacked in their favour.

[Diego Imposta]

I've just finished the season with you (spent the last two days reading this!) and I've got say well done. I am hooked on the under 21's character development

[CFuller]

1 minute ago, Diego Imposta said:

I’ve just finished the season with you (spent the last two days reading this!) and I've got say well done. I am hooked on the under 21's character development

I haven’t received much feedback on this story in recent weeks, so thanks for taking the time to show your appreciation. This story is quite an epic, isn’t it?

I really enjoyed managing the Under-21s through their European Championship, taking them from the brink of elimination to finishing runners-up behind a very strong Portugal team. The climax of the play-off with Serbia (specifically Rashford’s last-minute equaliser and extra-time penalty winner) is one of the most memorable moments from my nearly 19 years of playing CM/FM.

[CFuller]

***

 

If England were to qualify for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21s Championship, they had to accrue as many points as they could against France. Those two teams were already well clear at the top of Group 5, and results between them were likely to make all the difference between automatically booking their place in Finland and possibly having to go through the play-off route.

 

England had already blitzed 16 goals past three vastly inferior group opponents, but France were on a completely different level to the likes of Latvia, Albania and Scotland. To name but three of their hottest talents, Nice left-back Malang Sarr and Monaco forward Kylian Mbappé were both Ligue 1 regulars at just 18 years of age, while 19-year-old centre-half Dayot Upamecano was playing for RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League.

 

Les Bleus' captain Lucas was a key central defender with Portuguese giants Benfica. His England counterpart Tammy Abraham was struggling to score goals for Reading in the Championship.

 

Abraham horribly mishit a shot from ridiculously far out in the sixth minute, and he wouldn't get another chance to make amends. Two minutes later, Abraham strained his thigh following a clash with French centre-half Joris Gnagnon. Though he tried to run through the pain, it quickly became clear that he wouldn't be at optimum fitness, and so Barnsley's Adam Armstrong took his place in the England attack alongside Marcus Rashford.

 

In the 18th minute, England left-back Cameron Borthwick-Jackson only managed to clear a cross from opposite number as far as Olivier Ntcham. The powerful Schalke 04 midfielder then went for goal, only for visiting goalkeeper Freddie Woodman to make a comfortable catch that kept the deadlock intact.

 

Neither side would get another shot on target in a somewhat disappointing first period. England had a couple of chances midway through the half, but Armstrong headed over a 22nd-minute corner from Everton playmaker Tom Davies, whose own effort six minutes later narrowly missed Yehvann Diouf's goal.

 

Lyon attacker Maxwel Cornet missed two golden chances in the 30th and 35th minute, despite superb set-ups from Mbappé on each occasion. The biggest miss of the first half, though, came from Upamecano on 42 minutes. After controlling a header from England defender Axel Tuanzebe, Upamecano deftly controlled the ball and smashed it against the upright. Borthwick-Jackson then had to scramble the ball wide before Cornet could run onto it and finish.

 

The same post that Upamecano had hit would receive similar rough treatment from the feet of an Englishman ten minutes into the second half. Armstrong did well to curl a close-range free-kick over France's wall, but he clipped the woodwork and then watched the ball go behind.

 

Two minutes later, French substitute Aldo Kalulu punished a serious goalkeeping error from another Newcastle United loanee. A right-wing cross from Champions League wonderkid Mbappé proved too hot to handle for Woodman, who was spending the season with Peterborough United in League One. Woodman spilled the ball into the path of Caen frontman Kalulu, who gave Les Blues a 1-0 lead after 57 minutes.

 

When Armstrong missed another England opportunity in the 63rd minute, the Young Lions management were roused into taking swift action. To try and give themselves greater presence out wide, they took midfielder Lewis Cook off and brought Josh Sims on as an inside-forward on the right flank.

 

Sims had scored in each of his previous two appearances for England Under-21s after coming off the bench. Lightning would strike once again shortly after the Middlesbrough man's latest introduction. Joshua Onomah's slide-rule pass to Sims was met by an incredible first-time strike that flew towards the top corner and clipped in off the bar.

 

Spurred on by that stunning equaliser, England were now hopeful of replicating their heroics from the previous European Under-21s Championship, where they came from behind to defeat France in the knockout phase.

 

Sims threatened to score again in the 79th minute, when he turned past Lucas and cut inside. However, his final shot was a dismal one that struck the sponsor hoardings. Two minutes after that came another disappointing effort from Rashford, whom Lucas had brilliantly marked out of the game.

 

England were still looking for a winner in injury time, and they looked vulnerable to a counter-attack when Onomah was muscled off the ball by Ntcham. The ball was then moved on to France's substitute midfielders Christopher Nkunku and Alexis Blin, the latter of whom lifted the ball over England centre-back Brendan Galloway's head and deep into the visitors' half.

 

Kalulu was well in front of Galloway when Blin played his through-ball, but another Everton defender - Mason Holgate - was playing him onside. Holgate's misjudgement would come back to bite him when Kalulu latched onto the ball and powered it past the onrushing Woodman, thus clinching the game for France.

 

England really could not have had any complains about that defeat. Though they'd had 56% of possession, Sims' strike midway through the second half was actually the only shot on target the Young Lions had created all game. The usually clinical Rashford had gone missing just when he was needed most, while his fellow attackers were simply not creative enough.

 

Les Bleus' last-gasp winner saw them move clear at the top of Group 5. England dropped to 2nd place, and they were now only three points clear of both Scotland and Albania, who recorded home wins over Azerbaijan and Latvia respectively.

 

9 October 2017: UEFA European Under-21s Championship Qualifying Group 5 - at Stade Louis Dugauguez, Sedan

France U21s - 2 (Aldo Kalulu 57,90+2)

England U21s - 1 (Josh Sims 64)

ENGLAND U21s LINE-UP (4-3-1-2): Freddie Woodman; Mason Holgate, Axel Tuanzebe, Brendan Galloway, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson; Tom Davies, Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Ainsley Maitland-Niles), Lewis Cook (Josh Sims); Joshua Onomah; Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham (Adam Armstrong).

 

2019 UEFA European Under-21s Championship Qualifying Group 5 (After 4 rounds)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          France U21s            4     4     0     0     12    3     9     12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          England U21s           4     3     0     1     17    4     13    9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Scotland U21s          4     2     0     2     5     9     -4    6
4.          Albania U21s           4     2     0     2     5     7     -2    6
5.          Latvia U21s            4     1     0     3     4     14    -10   3
6.          Azerbaijan U21s        4     0     0     4     3     9     -6    0

 

[CFuller]

***

 

England's passage to the FIFA World Cup finals had been as smooth as expected. Nine qualifying matches had already been won, and now Mark Catterall's side needed just one more - at home to Lithuania - to finish with an impeccable record in Group 6.

 

On paper, Lithuania looked easy pickings for the Three Lions. The side ranked 123rd in the world by FIFA had scored only three goals during the qualifiers and won just once - at home to Malta last November.

 

Mind you, the Baltic side had proven themselves to be surprisingly tricky opponents when England last faced them in Vilnius in March. Despite playing through most of the match with only 10 men, Lithuania managed to shut their more illustrious opponents out until the 86th minute, when Daniel Sturridge broke their resolve.

 

Catterall also had to rejig his team somewhat before this final qualifier. Centre-back John Stones was serving a suspension, while three more players - Nathaniel Clyne, Eric Dier and captain Jordan Henderson - would be banned from the opening World Cup group game were they to pick up yellow cards. The manager benched all of the latter three, and he wouldn't call upon them unless he absolutely had to.

 

With Henderson set to watch this match from the dugout, the captaincy was passed on to Joe Hart, who was making his 75th international appearance. The 30-year-old had recently regained his starting place at Manchester City from Claudio Bravo, and he went into this match in decent nick.

 

Also starting this match for England were the relatively inexperienced James Ward-Prowse and Demarai Gray. After seven minutes, midfielder Ward-Prowse found his Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Danny Rose wide open on the left flank. Rose then lifted a centre across to Adam Lallana, whose header hit the side netting.

 

Ward-Prowse showed more of his creative skills in the 10th minute, with an excellent corner delivery to the head of Michael Keane. Only the woodwork denied the City centre-half his first international goal, while young Juventus midfielder Vykintas Slivka cleared the danger for Lithuania.

 

Another big early miss from England came when Sturridge volleyed a Kyle Walker cross wide in the 12th minute. Sturridge had scored eight goals during the World Cup - more than any of his countrymen - but this would not be one of the Liverpool striker's finest days in front of goal.

 

Three attempts at goal between the 23rd and 27th minute summed up Sturridge's night. The first of them was a speculative long-range shot that ended up safely in the hands of Lithuanian goalkeeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas. The second saw Sturridge pull wide a direct ball from Jack Wilshere, who also set up the latter attempt, which was thundered against the bar.

 

As the Three Lions' frustration grew, so did Lithuania's hopes that they could grab a goal against the run of play. In the 29th minute, former Heart of Midlothian winger Arvydas Novikovas - now playing for Jagiellonia Białystok in Poland - fired a free-kick around England's defensive wall. Unfortunately for Novikovas, Hart was in exactly the right position to catch the ball.

 

Lithuania created another opportunity shortly before the half-hour. Midfielder Arturas Zulpa knocked the ball through space to striker Deivydas Matulevicius, who'd only found the net five times in his 39 previous appearances for his country. A poor strike meant the Belgian-based target man wouldn't improve on that record.

 

England advanced further forward after 34 minutes, with Leicester City youngster Gray drawing a save out of Karcemarskas. The 21-year-old fared better three minutes later, burying a Walker cross to finally get his team up and running.

 

Despite pulling ahead, the first half would end on a sour note for England, and specifically for Gray's Leicester team-mate Danny Drinkwater. The combative midfielder was booked in the 44th minute for tripping 20-year-old Giedrius Matulevicius (no relation to Deivydas).

 

Very early in the second half, Arsenal playmaker Wilshere ghosted past Slivka and spotted Gray in acres of space on the edge of Lithuania's penalty area. The Brummie starlet looked on course to double his and England's goal tally until Karcemarskas pushed his shot behind at the last moment.

 

A third Leicester player joined the England party after an hour, with striker Jamie Vardy coming on in Wilshere's place. Vardy's arrival came immediately after Keane rattled the visitors' goal frame for a second time, nodding Chris Smalling's flick-on against the bar.

 

Sturridge was also badly out of luck, even though he now had Vardy supporting him up front. A 67th-minute strike from Ward-Prowse deflected off Lithuania captain Fedor Cernych and into the penalty area, where Sturridge unleashed a half-volley that Karcemarskas somehow managed to push over the bar.

 

There was to be no goal in the end for Sturridge, who vacated his place to Callum Wilson in the 77th minute. The excellent Gray was benched at the same time, with another 21-year-old - Tottenham's Dele Alli - coming on to prolong his record of playing in every World Cup qualifier.

 

England's record of winning every World Cup qualifier was set in stone ten minutes from full-time. An outstanding volleyed cross from Rose was finished at the far post by Vardy, whose fifth international goal left some England fans scouring the Internet for the Lithuanian translation of "chat s***, get banged". (It's "pokalbiai šūdas, gauti susitrenkiau", in case you're interested.)

 

A minute after finding the net, Vardy almost helped his strike partner to do likewise. The Yorkshireman hit a stunning long ball up to Wilson, who got above Lithuania right-back Georgas Freidgeimas and flicked a header inches wide.

 

A third goal would've been the icing on the cake for England, but a 2-0 win was still enough to make it a 10-out-of-10 campaign. The dominant Three Lions were 13 points clear at the top of Group 6, with Slovenia finishing a very distant 2nd after beating Slovakia 2-0 to qualify for the play-offs.

 

England's perfect score of 30 points was matched only by France, who were peerless in a tricky Group 1 that also included the Netherlands and Sweden. Reigning European champions Portugal almost went through the entire qualifying campaign without dropping any points or conceding any goals in Group 3, but they could only draw 1-1 in their final match in Switzerland.

 

With 34 goals (14 of which were scored by some bloke named Cristiano Ronaldo), only Portugal outscored England's goal tally of 32 - a total matched by World Cup holders Germany. Portugal were also one of only three teams with a better defensive record than the Three Lions, the others being France and Group 8 winners Belgium.

 

10 October 2017: FIFA World Cup UEFA Qualifying Group 6 - at Wembley, London

England - 2 (Demarai Gray 37, Jamie Vardy 80)

Lithuania - 0

ENGLAND LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Joe Hart; Kyle Walker, Chris Smalling, Michael Keane, Danny Rose; Danny Drinkwater, James Ward-Prowse; Adam Lallana, Jack Wilshere (Jamie Vardy), Demarai Gray (Dele Alli); Daniel Sturridge (Callum Wilson). BOOKED: Drinkwater 44.

 

2018 FIFA World Cup UEFA Qualifying Group 6 (Final Standings)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    Q     England                10    10    0     0     32    4     28    30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.    Pl    Slovenia               10    5     2     3     9     6     3     17
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Slovakia               10    5     0     5     9     11    -2    15
4.          Scotland               10    4     1     5     16    15    1     13
5.          Malta                  10    2     1     7     4     23    -19   7
6.          Lithuania              10    1     2     7     3     14    -11   5

 

England might have secured a 100% record in the qualifiers, but Catterall was still not satisfied when he expressed his thoughts to ITV reporter Gabriel Clarke.

 

"We made an awful lot more work of that than we should've, Gabriel," he said. "Lithuania are a very rigid team defensively, but they're not very good technically, so I was expecting us to be more dominant.

 

"Daniel Sturridge in particular really let me down tonight. He just didn't work hard enough to get the ball or even to get into a goalscoring position. I'll need my strikers to be a lot more proactive than that if we want to do well at the World Cup."

 

Many of the England players had watched their manager's interview on a television in the dressing room. Upon his return, Catterall was confronted by Sturridge, who looked far from impressed.

 

In his soft Birmingham tones, Sturridge asked, "What was that all about, gaffer?"

 

"I'm just saying it how it is, Daniel," Catterall insisted. "You didn't exactly pull your weight tonight."

 

"Well, if you wanna criticise me, say it to my face first! Don't go mouthing off to the press before I've had a chance to defend myself!"

 

Catterall shook his head and claimed, "Your performance tonight was indefensible."

 

Sturridge had recently recorded an advertisement with Dier for the upcoming PlayStation 4 driving video game 'Gran Turismo Sport'. Catterall referred to the commercial when telling his misfiring striker, "Maybe if you'd spent more time training, and less time playing video games with Eric, you wouldn't have missed so many chances tonight!"

 

"Excuse me?" Sturridge exclaimed furiously. He was restrained by coach Ray Wilkins, who calmly whispered, "All right, young Daniel. Take it easy, young man."

 

"I'll give you some advice, Sturridge," Catterall said. "If you want to be in my next England squad, you'd better knuckle down, get back into the Liverpool team, and start scoring goals again. You don't want to end up like Rooney or Sterling, do you?"

 

Sturridge nodded solemnly, "Fair point, gaffer." He then took his shirt off and headed for the showers.

 

Wilkins then turned to Catterall and asked, "Can I have a word, Catts?" Catterall agreed, and the pair exited the dressing room to talk in private.

 

Wilkins began, "I think young Daniel's going through a bit of a rough time, confidence-wise. Like you said, he ain't getting much football at Liverpool. Jürgen Klopp likes to have that Brazilian lad up front instead - young Firmino."

 

Catterall said, "Roberto Firmino ain't young. He's 26, if I'm not mistaken."

 

"Well, I'm 61, Catts. Everybody's a young 'un when you're my age. And anyway, there've been these reports that Jürgen wants to sign another striker in January. I think he might be going for young [Álvaro] Morata, from Real Madrid."

 

"So it looks like Sturridge might have to leave Liverpool in January for more first-team football."

 

"You'd think so, but I get the feeling that young Daniel wants to stay at Anfield. He's had the best years of his career there, and he still feels he can win things at the football club."

 

"Well, Butch, if Sturridge isn't back in form and starting regular Premier League football by the time the World Cup comes around, he can forget about joining us in Russia. I don't care if he was my top scorer in the qualifiers."

 

Wilkins nodded pensively, prompting Catterall to ask him, "Is there something else you wanna get off your chest, Butch?"

 

"Yeah, that weren't why I dragged you out here. Now here's the thing, Catts... I don't think I can do much more of this coaching lark."

 

"Okay... why not?"

 

"Like I said, I ain't getting any younger, and I ain't getting any fitter either. Coaching the England defence is bloody tiring when you're an old codger like me!"

 

"Go on..."

 

"Anyway, to cut it short, I think I'm gonna call it a day after the World Cup. I need to spend more time with my family, and get some proper treatment for my drinking problem, before it's too late. You know what I mean?"

 

"Yeah, of course, Ray," Catterall agreed. "Your health and family have to come first."

 

"My missus Jackie has been through hell these last few years, and it's affected our kids as well - Ross and Jade. I know my job at the FA is only part-time and all, but they need me at home a lot more than I need to work."

 

"Absolutely. I see where you're coming from. I promised Jenny myself that if things got on top of me, then I'd take a step back immediately. You have to, really."

 

"So, yeah... I'm sorry to put this on you, Catts. At least telling you now gives you plenty of time to find a new defensive coach for after the World Cup."

 

"If I'm still England manager by then," Catterall stressed. "I'm not gonna assume my job's safe just because we've breezed through qualifying."

 

Wilkins smiled, "You've got a great attitude, Mark. You're gonna be a top England manager, with or without me."

[mark wilson27]

A pretty damn good qualifying campaign for the first team. Lets hope you get a decent group draw for the finals.

Can't wait now till the new game comes out, I see an England game coming on haha

[CFuller]

17 minutes ago, mark wilson27 said:

A pretty damn good qualifying campaign for the first team. Lets hope you get a decent group draw for the finals.

Can't wait now till the new game comes out, I see an England game coming on haha

Despite a couple of wobbles against Lithuania and Slovenia, we qualified much more convincingly than Southgate’s team - and we were rather more entertaining, if I say so myself! 

The top seven countries in FIFA’s World Rankings at the end of November will be seeded for the Group Stage draw alongside Russia. The aim is to stay in that top seven and earn a preferable draw, though that might be tough, as we’ve got friendly matches against France and Argentina to play first.

I for one would love to see another England career featuring our esteemed mod in FM18. It’d be very interesting to see if you can turn our U20 and U17 World Cup winners into senior champions. #WilsonIn

[CFuller]

***

 

On the Thursday morning of 19 October, Mark Catterall drove from his home in Staffordshire to the Lancashire coast. He and his siblings were about to meet their elderly mother Barbara to mark the 10th anniversary of their father Brian's passing.

 

Mark was first to arrive at Barbara’s mansion on the Fylde coast, just after 11:00am. Upon opening the door, Barbara - still somewhat sprightly and physically fit for a 69-year-old - hugged her eldest son and smiled, "Oh, Mark, it is great to see you!"

 

"The feeling’s mutual, Mum," Mark said. "You know we’re all coming over today, right?"

 

"Yes, I’m sure the girls will be along soon, but I’m not expecting your brother to come round," Barbara responded, referring to her youngest child - 40-year-old Andrew.

 

"Why, Mum?" Mark asked worryingly. "Why don’t you think Andy’s coming?"

 

"Never you mind, love. Now come on in, and we’ll do you some toast."

 

"Nah, you’re alright, Mum," Mark said as he entered the house. Upon observing the lavish, spotless hallway, he nodded, "I see your home’s as clean as ever, as if I expect anything less."

 

Barbara responded, "I don’t know what I’d do if it didn’t look perfect. You know me, Mark. I’ve always been a perfectionist when it comes to tidiness."

 

"It’s a labour of love, for you, ain’t it?"

 

"Of course. And all the housework keeps me occupied now I’m retired."

 

Barbara invited Mark into the living room, and they sat down together on a nearby settee. Mark noted, "I bought you this place, didn’t I? Spring 1996, if I remember - the year after Blackburn won the Premier League, and a few months before I went to the Euros."

 

Barbara remembered, "Yes, you did. You gave us half the money, anyway. Like I told you at the time, there was no need for you to be so selfless."

 

"I just thought I’d give you and Dad something back after all that work you did looking after us four. Speaking of Dad..."

 

Mark took a deep breath before his voice started to crack. "10 years. Where does the time fly?"

 

Barbara sighed, "I still miss him so much. 35 years we were married, with barely an argument. Every day without him is harder than the last."

 

Mark observed that there was a bottle of Schweppes ginger ale on the living room table. "Dad was always big on ginger ale, weren’t he?" he asked.

 

"Oh yes, Brian loved the stuff," Barbara nodded. "I have a bottle of Schweppes in tribute to him every evening when it’s his birthday, or our wedding anniversary... or today."

 

Barbara then heard the doorbell, prompting her to get off her seat and answer the door. Her inkling, "That’ll be your sisters, love," was correct.

 

Gemma and Joanne - both a couple of years Mark’s junior at 43 - cheerfully greeted their mother in unison, "Hi, mum!" Though they were twins, they did not look identical. Gemma was rather plump with long brown hair; Joanne was significantly leaner with shorter dark hair, and - like Mark - she wore spectacles.

 

"Welcome home, loves," Barbara gushed.

 

"We would’ve been here sooner, but there was a big pile-up just outside Accrington," Joanne said. "Pretty nasty one and all."

 

"Accidents happen. Now come inside and say hello to your big brother."

 

After entering the living room, Gemma smiled, "Alright there, Mark? How are you doing?"

 

"I’m fine, cheers, Gem," Mark replied as he leapt from his seat to hug Gemma. "The family’s great, as always. What about yours?"

 

"Good. John’s been stressing out a bit over work, but other than that... us and the two girls, we’re golden."

 

Mark then turned to Joanne, asking her, "And what about you, Jo? Things still going well between you and... what’s her name, again?"

 

Joanne - who was openly gay - replied, "Frankie? Nah, we broke up in August. F***ing bitch two-timed me with some airhead actress who once had a bit-part on Coronation Street."

 

"I’m so sorry to hear that," Barbara sighed as she put an arm around Joanne’s shoulders. "She seemed such a nice girl and all."

 

Joanne scoffed, "I never really loved her anyway, Mum. Besides, I’ve already moved in with someone else.

 

"Her name’s Katie, she’s 35, and she works for the same company as me. I’ve only been her for about six weeks, but I really think she’s the one, guys. She's the kindest, cleverest, most generous woman I've ever come across... aside from you, Mum, obviously!"

 

Mark nodded, "Send Katie my regards when you get home, Jo. I can’t wait to meet her." He then asked, "Still no sign of Andy?"

 

"I already said I weren’t expecting him to come over," Barbara said as she sat back down.

 

"Haven’t you heard, Mark?" Gemma exclaimed. "Our kid’s only gone and got sucked into some Mormon Scientology cult thing! We ain’t heard nothing from him for about a year!"

 

Joanne provided more of an explanation, "Yeah, he’s joined the Davidickeans. They believe that the Royal Family and most Tory MPs are shapeshifting reptiles who will one day turn Britain into a fascist state. The Davidickeans want to stop that by setting up a rebellion communist society, starting in Crowgrad."

 

"Crowgrad?" Mark asked. "I’ve never heard of that place. Where the hell is it?"

 

"It’s a brand-new town that's sprung up in the middle of nowhere, apparently. In other words, it's in Rutland."

 

About an hour later, the Catteralls walked together along the promenade beside the Fylde coast. Mark and Barbara led the way, with Gemma and Joanne close behind.

 

Barbara told her children, "Your father loved Blackpool, he did. As far as he was concerned, the beach was the Great Wonder of the World."

 

"And that’s why we made this one of his final resting places, didn’t we?" Mark replied.

 

Gemma said, "Yeah, that’s right. I still remember all of us - and Andy as well - taking it in turns to sprinkle some of his ashes into the sand."

 

"And of course, we saved some for Bloomfield Road as well. Blackpool FC meant everything to him."

 

"He would’ve been chuffed to have seen the ‘Pool during that one year they had in the Prem," Joanne stated. "Though I’m glad in a way he didn’t get to see what happened next."

 

Mark growled, "Too right, Jo. I hate what that self-serving c*** Karl Oyston and his sex offender father have done to our club. He can crawl into a f***ing hole for all I care."

 

Barbara rebuked Mark, "Steady on, son. Brian would have washed your mouth out with soap if he’d caught you using such language."

 

"Sorry, Mum. And sorry, Dad, obviously."

 

Gemma then pointed out at a nearby bench and said, "And there’s that bench we dedicated to him."

 

The quartet walked over to the bench, on which there was a plaque inscribed: "In memory of STANLEY BRIAN CATTERALL: 1949 - 2007. Father, grandfather, footballer, Blackpudlian."

 

Gemma said, "Oh yeah, I forgot Dad’s actual first name was Stanley!"

 

Mark explained, "His father was also called Stanley, and this was in the era of Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen... so, yeah, there were quite a few Stanleys in Blackpool around that time. Brian just used his middle name to avoid confusion."

 

Barbara then sat down, followed by her offspring. She then told them, "You know... just before he died, Brian told me what his biggest dreams for you four were. Would you like to know what he said?"

 

"Go ahead, Mum," Gemma said.

 

"Well, Gemma, Dad would’ve liked to have seen you and Joanne run your own businesses. He'd say you two always had that look of entrepreneurs about you."

 

Gemma, who was an executive at a Manchester-based independent music label, smiled, "I’m halfway there, aren’t I?"

 

Joanne - a business analyst - admitted, "I’ve still got some way to go, but yeah, that’s the aim one day."

 

Barbara continued, "And you know that Andrew was a Labour councillor before he... went away? Well, Dad reckoned that he could’ve been an MP, maybe even Prime Minister if he’d put his mind to it."

 

Joanne’s reply was tongue-in-cheek. "He could still be PM, to be fair... but only if Kim Jong-Un rigs the next election and we all become communists!"

 

Mark then sighed, "And let me guess, Mum... Dad wanted me to be England manager."

 

"No, love," Barbara responded. "Dad wanted you to win the World Cup as England manager. As the eldest child, he always expected that little bit more from you."

 

Mark smiled, "His tough love has got me to where I am today. I guess I should go about repaying him now, shouldn’t I?"

[CFuller]

Quote

EDITOR'S NOTE: You know I love to combine real-life stories with in-game events as well as my own imagination whenever I get the chance. This is another of those opportunities. The U17 World Cup is not active in FM, so the players who competed in the Final as listed below are a random combination of real players and newgens. Enjoy!

Chapter 13 - To Be The Best...

 

There was a packed schedule of Premier League and English Football League fixtures on the Saturday afternoon of 28 October 2017. For once, though, not all footballing eyes were on domestic matters.

 

Throughout the month, England's Under-17s team had captivated the nation with their exploits at the FIFA U17 World Cup in India. After sweeping their group, the Young Lions scraped past Japan on penalties in the Last 16, and then recorded convincing victories over United States and Brazil in subsequent rounds.

 

England were now into their first World Cup Final at any level since 1966, and only needed to defeat Spain in Kolkata to lift the trophy. This was a rematch of the UEFA European Under-17s Championship Final, which took place in Croatia in May. Spain left it very late to defeat England - predictably - on penalties, with the Young Lions having led 2-1 until their opponents controversially equalised in the 11th minute of the allotted four-minute stoppage time.

 

Prior to the World Cup, Steve Cooper was known primarily as the Welsh-born England coach who hadn't racially abused his players or slept with them. The one-time Bangor City defender and Liverpool academy coach was now earning a reputation as a shrewd disciplinarian who got the best out of his young charges.

 

The Under-17s were not in Mark Catterall's remit as England manager, but he had been following their progress closely. Now, at 3:30pm BST, he sat down with his wife Jenny and son Luke at home to watch the match unfold live on BBC Two.

 

"Listen carefully, Luke," Mark told his son. "You could be witnessing history here."

 

Jenny added, "England have never won the World Cup in our lifetimes, have they?"

 

"They've not even been in a Final before, love. But if I have it my way, this will be the first of many."

 

"We won't win," Luke said pessimistically. "Spain are really, really good, aren't they?"

 

Mark replied, "Spain develop great players every year, but England are catching up. The players get world-class training at St George's Park, where they're allowed to express themselves and not play like monotonous robots."

 

Jenny hissed, "You're turning into David Platt, you are! Could you explain that again, so that a nine-year-old could understand it?"

 

Mark sighed and simply explained to Luke, "What I'm trying to say is that England are better than you think they are."

 

Mark was not wrong. England got off to a dream start in Kolkata, taking the lead after just ten minutes. Newcastle United left-back Lewis Gibson's cross was deflected by Danny Loader into the path of his strike partner Lawrence Warner, whose deft flick diverted the ball beyond the Spanish goalkeeper's reach.

 

Liverpool youngster Warner had come to prominence earlier in the tournament, with successive hat-tricks in the Quarter Final against the USA and the Semi Final against Brazil. That was the Lincolnshire-born forward's seventh goal of the event, and there would be more to come.

 

In the 31st minute, Warner chested down a right-wing cross from his Liverpool colleague John Harrison. Though primarily right-footed, he lashed in a superb left-footer to send England into an improbable 2-0 lead!

 

Luke was ecstatic after Warner's second goal, cheering, "We're gonna win the World Cup!"

 

"Calm down, lad," Mark said. "It's only two goals. People do say that a two-goal lead is a dangerous one."

 

Mark then heard his mobile vibrate. He checked his phone, and discovered that his assistant manager Michael Burke had texted him to say, "Are you watching BBC2? England are smashing it!!!"

 

Looking over Mark's shoulder, Jenny smiled, "I see Luke's not the only one who's feeling confident then!"

 

Mark said, "Overexcitement - the English disease. We love to build our teams up when they're doing well. We'll see what this lot are really made of when Spain start to come back."

 

Jenny tutted, "Pessimism. Now that is the English disease, Mark."

 

"I'm not being pessimistic, Jen. I'm just being realistic, that's all."

 

As Mark predicted, Spain did indeed come back, with striker Asier Martínez halving their deficit just before half-time. His header from an outstanding right-wing cross by full-back Adrian Madrigal was too good for England goalie David McCall to keep out.

 

Though England still led 2-1 at the break, Sevilla prospect Madrigal would inflict further damage upon them 13 minutes into the second half. This time, it was Celta Vigo's Diego Pampín who converted a wicked delivery into the six-yard box.

 

Having blown a two-goal advantage, the Young Lions seemed to turn into meek kittens almost immediately. Spain continued to put them on the back foot, and it wasn't long before La Rojita were in control.

 

Andrés López had constantly bombarded up the left flank all night for Spain, and when his centre was smashed home at the back post by winger Eduardo Alonso in the 69th minute, England found themselves trailing 3-2.

 

"I told you we wouldn't win," Luke sulked.

 

"It's not over yet," Jenny tried to reassure him, but Mark shook his head.

 

"Their heads have gone," he muttered. "They aren't coming back. I told you we'd see what they were made of when Spain kicked on... and to tell you the truth, they aren't made of much."

 

The death blow to England's fleeting hopes of World Cup glory was struck six minutes from full-time. López's free-kick into the England box was flicked on by Narcís Callarisa to his centre-back colleague Rodrigo Durán, who scrambled it across the goal line for 4-2.

 

That wasn't the end of the Young Lions' misery, though. Sevilla right-winger Alonso had set the tournament alight with his sublime technical ability, which came to the fore again three minutes later. He rounded off a quickfire Spanish counter-attack with a well-executed low shot that McCall could only help divert into the net. With that fifth goal, La Rojita had effectively wrapped up the World Cup.

 

"5-2," Jenny sighed. "That's just cruel, isn't it?"

 

Mark shrugged his shoulders and replied, "They're ruthless; that's what Spain are. That Alonso fella is just out of this world. Believe me, he's going to be the Spanish Ronaldo."

 

"You mean the fat Brazilian one or..."

 

"You know which one I mean, Jen!"

 

Luke was devastated at the manner of England's collapse, and groaned, "We'll never win the World Cup! Never!"

 

Mark rubbed Luke's back and told him, "Don't say things like that. We'll have more chances in the future."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Some of those England players are really talented - Lawrence Warner, John Harrison, Seidu Opare. Remember those names, son, 'cos you'll be hearing a lot more of them as you grow up."

 

"And what about the big boys, dad? Can they win the World Cup? Next year?"

 

Mark took a deep breath and then told his son, "It'll be tough, but never say never, Luke."

 

Jenny added, "You won all your qualifying games, so you must be doing something right."

 

"Yeah, but it'll mean f-all if we can't do it against the stronger teams. That's why next month's friendlies are so important."

 

"You've got Spain in one of those games, haven't you?"

 

"France and Argentina, actually. We're going to play Paul Pogba's mates in Saint-Denis, and then Messi's taking his buddies to Wembley."

 

Luke gasped, "Messi? THE Lionel Messi? WOW! Can you get him to do a video for me?"

 

Mark laughed, "I don't know how much English he speaks, and my Spanish is a bit rusty, but I can try asking him for you!"

 

"Cheers, dad. It'd be bangin' if he said yes."

 

Mark turned bemusedly to Jenny and asked, "Bangin'? He ain't been listenin' to my Arctic Monkeys records, has he?"

 

"I don't think so," Jenny replied. "It's probably something he picked up from the other kids at school."

 

Mark smiled, "That's a relief. I was wondering for a minute if he'd picked up any other words from the Arctics! They aren't exactly child-friendly, are they?"

[Diego Imposta]

Still really enjoying this, not got long to catch up with you. House of Flying Daggers looks maybe a bit too long for me to start at the beginning while the new FM is so, well, new. That said, if there aren't any FM18 plans from you then I'll get stuck in soon enough. 

It's hard asking for feedback here and it seems even harder to get it so... I would really like to see some sort of counsel with Catts and his staff about how they would pick the players they do, maybe for an important game. That's not a criticism of who've you've picked as I've not played in a few years, just what sort of alternatives didn't make the grade and why.

England always seem to have a very small pool of players that they choose from and most of them are no more successful than when they broke into the team, so why hang on to them?