Captain on finishing his GCSEs and leading England into the World Cup Finals.

By James Marshall in Pachuca

Young Lions captain Nathaniel Chalobah spoke to TheFA.com about the togetherness in the England camp ahead of the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in Mexico and its start this weekend. 

The Chelsea defender has had a busy couple of weeks, including helping England to reach the semi-final of the European U17 Championship Finals in May whilst still revising for his GCSEs and then getting ready to captain his country in a World Cup.

Chalobah even had to link up with the rest of his team-mates in Mexico a few days later, after waiting behind to complete his final exam in mathematics.

“It has been a busy time for me in recent weeks," he explained. "Revising and keeping myself fit has been quite stressful at times, but it was a great feeling when I finished my last exam knowing that I was heading out here to Mexico and captaining my country in a World Cup Finals.”

With the squad having a week-long training camp in Mexico City to help them acclimatise before moving on to their World Cup base in Pachuca earlier this week, the articulate youngster then explained how his first week in Mexico has gone.

“The first couple of sessions in the training camp were difficult, getting used to the high altitude and the heat was a problem at first, but I seem to be getting fitter with every training session," he explained. 

"I came through the Ivory Coast game well in my opinion, the first ten minutes were difficult but after that I felt a lot stronger and fitter as the game went on.”

Chalobah, who already has an U17 Euro winners medal from last year, is pleased with the team spirit and insists the victory against Ivory Coast will help the team in their opening game against Rwanda on Sunday.

“We have a good group of boys over here, obviously you have players from different clubs and backgrounds but we know each other really well," he said. 

"We have spent a lot of time together in the past and we all know each other’s strengths and we have a great team spirit.

“The lads are full of confidence and to get a victory and a good run out against the Ivory Coast will definitely help us in the first game against Rwanda.”