Mattock's Euro mission

England v Germany
U19 International Friendly
7.00pm, Tuesday 18 November 2008
Weston Homes Community Stadium, Colchester United FC

England ace Joe Mattock has outlined the Young Lions’ aim for the forthcoming season, to get back to the European Championship Finals and win it.

The Leicester City defender was part of the U19 squad which travelled to Czech Republic for the Finals in July only to miss out on progressing beyond the group stages despite some impressive performances against the likes of Italy and Greece.

Whilst Mattock, who has also played for the Under-21s, missed out on last month’s First Qualifying Round in Northern Ireland through injury, he had a close eye on proceedings and is now focusing on the rest of the season, starting with Tuesday's friendly game with Germany in Colchester.

Now back to full fitness, Mattock feels that this season’s U19s squad are certainly good enough to go one step further than last year after previously reaching the European Final as U17s two seasons ago and then the quarter final of the World Cup last year, which Mattock unfortunately missed through injury.

“We’ve definitely got a good enough side,” revealed the 18-year-old.

“There are some really good players in the squad and I think nearly all of the players have been involved in the first team with their clubs now.

“So we have a fairly experienced team and hopefully that can stand us in good stead over the season.

“I’ve been following the team’s progress whilst I’ve been out and was glad to see the lads get through the qualifiers last month.

“I played in the U19s Championship last year, through the qualifying rounds and then the Finals, so I know how hard it can be and hopefully we can go on and do well in the competition again.

“In last year’s Finals, we didn’t really do as well as we would’ve liked in Czech Republic, but hopefully this season we can qualify again and go on to do better and get further on in the stages and then hopefully win it.”

The Squad