Portugal

v

England

 

 

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifier
9pm, Tuesday 20 November 2007
Agueda, Portugal

James Milner has been impressed by the new crop of England players who have stepped up to the Under-21s age group after the previous team came so close to reaching the Final on the UEFA Championship in June.

The Newcastle United midfielder, who scored a penalty and collected his record 34th cap in Friday’s 2-0 win over Bulgaria, is delighted to see how quickly Stuart Pearce’s new-look side has gelled. Now five qualifiers into the 2009 campaign, they find themselves topping the group with maximum points without conceding a goal.

The next test, however, is in Portugal on Tuesday night. A win will take England nine points clear of their opponents at the top of Group Three and virtually wrap up a place in the play-offs. Milner says after this season’s run, England are brimming with confidence.

“We know it will be a tough game,” said Milner, “Portugal are always strong, we've watched the videos of them and we know we'll be prepared. We know they will build up from the back and will be good going forward. We need to make sure they don't get too much time on the ball.

“A draw would be a good result but we'll be going for a win. We go into every game looking for a win. The main thing is keeping another clean sheet.

“But the run we've had in this campaign and the last, if you are not confident now you never will be.”

Milner continued: “We have had a lot of new players since the summer and it was a time when we could have lost our way and taken time to bed some new faces in, so fair play to the lads who have come in.

“It shows the quality at Under-21 level and the spirit in the squad that they come in and feel settled. Players can come in and do the job without feeling daunted. Joe Mattock is a perfect example of that.

“During this campaign there have been times we haven't played well but have ground out results and kept clean sheets. That's when the team spirit comes in and you get those results when things aren't going your way.”

Milner and the rest of the squad trained in the rain in Agueda on Monday and had their first look at the venue for the match. The Estadio Municipal, home of Portuguese Third Division outfit RD Agueda, holds 10,000 fans, but is open to the elements with the majority of stands uncovered and Milner believes the conditions may favour the English players more used to playing in the wet.

He added: "The pitch looked decent enough. Hopefully it will get marked up before we play! But the weather might give us an advantage as well."

Having made his Under-21s debut in a 2-2 in Sweden aged just 18, Milner has been a regular in the squad ever since, helping him amass so many appearances, as well as scoring four goals.

Meanwhile at club level for boyhood team Leeds United, where he became the youngest scorer in Premier League history just shy of his 17th birthday, and current club Newcastle United, as well as loans at Swindon and Aston Villa, he has made over 200 appearances.

The 21-year-old now hopes his experience for club and country will help him make a step up to the senior squad and feels there are other players capable of gaining promotion in the future.

“That's why we are in the Under-21s - we want to get in the full squad and keep improving,” he says.

“We're here to get international experience and learn about the set-up and different styles of countries, then take it into the full squad if you make it that far.

“There is a lot of quality at the Under-21s, we've shown that with how we performed in the summer and the start we've made in this campaign. If we work hard and keep improving there's no reason why players can't step up again.”