England

2-0

Croatia

Sinclair 22 (pen), Clark 74

 

 


International U19 Friendly
7pm, Tuesday 5 February 2008
County Ground, Swindon Town FC

England U19 striker Scott Sinclair spoke of his delight at being able to perform in front of friends and family on Tuesday evening, following the friendly win over Croatia.

The Chelsea starlet originally hails from Bath, so with the Young Lions in action at Swindon Town’s County Ground, it gave some of his nearest and dearest a chance to get along and see him in action.

The U19s' most recent games on English soil this season have taken place at Doncaster, Barnsley and Scunthorpe so Tuesday’s game was ideal for Sinclair, given his family’s geographical proximity to Wiltshire.

“It was nice to be just along the road, so my family could come and watch,” revealed Sinclair.

“They haven’t always had the chance to come and watch me this season, with the games being in the north, but there are a few lads in a similar situation to me in the squad, so it was nice for us to have a game in the south.

“There were a few of them here tonight, obviously my mum and dad, my brothers, aunties and uncles, but it’s just a great feeling for them to be here and watching me play for England.”

The 18-year-old got the scoring underway too, netting from the penalty spot after being bundled over in the area himself following a jinking run from the flank.

With the Young Lions looking to build up to the second round of qualifiers for the European Championship, it was a decent result to build England’s confidence even further.

“It was a great result and now we can go into the next game and hopefully carry that on,” added Scott.

“The pitch wasn’t the best for us, but everyone played really well. We got the ball down and tried passing it on a boggy pitch, so fair play to the lads and well done.

“We have one more friendly and then we go to the qualifiers, so if we can keep performing, then hopefully we’ll reach the final.”

The game attracted a crowd of just over 11,000, the highest attendance at the County Ground this season, giving some of the younger local fans a chance to see players who could be the next generation of stars.

And Sinclair was pleased to see such a positive reaction to the national team arriving in Swindon.

“That’s what you want as a footballer,” he said.

“You want to play in front of as many fans as possible and to get the chance to do it for your country with good players around you is a really good feeling.

“There was a good atmosphere and with 11,000 people there, it gave a great buzz and we’re glad to win in front of them.

“There’s always noise and loads of young people here, so I’m just glad that we performed in front of them and go home having won the game.”