The U19 Head Coach talks of Euro qualification delight.
England |
2-1 |
Scotland |
Ranger 66, Moses 73 |
|
McDonald 82 (pen) |
UEFA European U19 Championship
Elite Qualifying Round
7pm, Monday 1 June 2009
Bramall Lane, Sheffield United FC
Click here for tournament details
Brian Eastick last night spoke of his joy at taking the U19s to the European Championship Finals for the second consecutive year.
A win over Scotland at Bramall Lane saw the Young Lions finish their Elite Qualifying Round with a 100 per cent record and they will now head to Ukraine in July to contest the title.
Goals from Nile Ranger and Victor Moses at Bramall Lane proved enough to see off Scotland, who came into the match knowing that a win would be good enough to take them to the Finals so Eastick was happy with the way his team handled the occasion.
"We’re delighted to be through, we got three wins with a young team and to get those three wins in six days is great credit to them," said Eastick.
"I felt it was very nip and tuck in the first half and there wasn’t a great deal between the teams and you could probably argue that Scotland were slightly better in possession of the ball.
"But I felt we were the better team in the second half and at 2-0 up we could’ve really seen the game out.
"Of course, their goal gave them a bit of incentive and I was disappointed to concede that goal.
"We’ve been at the hotel for ten days and there’s been really good camaraderie between us.
"Billy Stark (Scotland Coach) came over and offered his congratulations and I’d have done the same, so there is no ill feeling between the two teams and just one of respect."
It has been a good year so far for all of England’s development teams, with the U16s winning the Victory Shield and Montaigu Tournament, the UI17s reaching their European Championship Finals, the U20s with a World Cup to look forward to and the Under-21s currently preparing for the European Championship later this month too.
"It’s about giving players the opportunity to go and play in European Finals and the more Finals we can reach, the more experience they can get in coping with situations and dealing with them," added the Head Coach.
"That is what international football is all about. If you’re going to be a top international player, you’re going to need to come off the back of a long season and then go straight into a tournament like a European Championship or World Cup.
"So to get there is a terrific experience for the players."
The players will now have a break before the Finals take place in late July, but Eastick will have a squad get together before they make the journey east.
"We’ll have a two or three day training camp before the Finals, but the important thing is that we get the players we want," he added.
"Because I genuinely think if we can get our best squad we can go there with a very good chance of doing well."
England: 1 Jason Steele (c), 2 Kieran Trippier (5 Jordan Spence, 76) 3 Joe Mattock (18 Matthew Briggs, 80), 4 Matthew James, 6 Martin Kelly, 8 Danny Drinkwater (15 Dean Parrett, 46), 9 Nathan Delfouneso, 10 Nile Ranger, 11 Daniel Rose, 12 Victor Moses, 14 Gavin Hoyte.
Substitutes not used: 7 Andrew Tutte, 13 Declan Rudd, 16 Martyn Waghorn, 17 Andros Townsend.
Scotland: 1 Michael Andrews, 2 Jonathan Brown, 5 Ross Perry, 4 Daniel Wilson, 3 Paul Hanlon (c), 7 David Wotherspoon, 14 Stephen Stirling (9 Leigh Griffiths, 58) 15 Jamie Ness (13 Bradden Inman, 82) 18 James Forrest (16 Lee Currie, 70) John Fleck, 8 Alex McDonald.
Substitutes not used:11 Johnathon Russell, 17 Craig King, 12 Mark Ridgers, 6 Callum Booth.
Referee: Carlos Clos Gomez
Assistant Referees: Juan Jose Gallego Galindo & Marco Tropeano
Fourth Official: Albert Toussaint
Attendance: 2817