Gate-way to success

England v France
UEFA European U19 Championship
The Oval, Belfast
18 July 2005

Middlesbrough defender Anthony McMahon wants to follow in the footsteps of his club captain Gareth Southgate and says former England international is the perfect role model.

McMahon will himself be pulling on the Three Lions of England this week when the U19s begin their UEFA European Championship campaign in Northern Ireland and is looking to emulate the 57-cap defender.

”He does everything right every single day,” said McMahon when he spoke to TheFA.com.

”For my first two years I’d just watch him carefully. He comes in and has his own routines, stretching and preparing. It’s just perfect, he misses nothing out and gives himself the best chance and you can tell by his performances on a Saturday.

”He’s the one I look up to and want to follow. I want to be captain of Middlesbrough one day and of England – that’s my aim.”

The 19-year-old skippered the ‘Boro youth team to FA Cup glory last year and has been a regular in the England development set up since making his debut with the U16s against Scotland in 2001. He also featured in England U17s European Championship assault two years ago.

England were knocked out in an agonising semi-final shoot-out with hosts Portugal, but McMahon is optimistic that the lesson learned then can only help the team now and he can’t wait for the first game against France on Monday.

”Though I didn’t play [in Portugal] as much as I’d have liked, when I did play it was a good experience for me,” he said. “It was hard going out on penalties, but this happens in football and it gives you a chance to learn in a tournament situation.

”Hopefully, this time we can do even better than we did in 2003, we want to get to the final at least, that’s our aim, but we want to win the tournament and go on to qualify for the World Championships.

”To play in a European Championship is great experience. Once I got the letter saying I was selected I couldn’t wait to come away,” he added.

”There’s no better feeling than playing for your country. You have big games playing for your club but when you come away with England and pull on a shirt, it’s such a great feeling.

”Playing for England has helped me at club level too, I’ve gone on to play for the Middlesbrough first-team, playing in the Premiership and in the UEFA Cup against some big teams, Sporting Lisbon and Lazio. It’s a great experience for someone so young.”

England play their opening UEFA Championship match at 5pm on Monday afternoon.  TheFA.com will be in Belfast and will bring you all the latest news.

England U19 Squad, UEFA European U19 Championship, July 2005