History boys
Sunday, 30 May, 2010
England's European heroes each spoke to TheFA.com after historic achievement.
Glenn Lavery
UEFA European U17 Championship
The Final
Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz
By Glenn Lavery in Liechtenstein
On Sunday 30 May 2010 the 18 players below wrote themselves into English football history.
On a wet afternoon at the Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, these 18 players were part of a squad that beat Spain 2-1, courtesy of goals from Andre Wisdom and Connor Wickham, to become the first-ever England side to lift the UEFA European U17 Championship and after thrilling a crowd of almost 4,000, each player spoke to TheFA.com about what this historic achievement meant to them.
1 Sam Johnstone
“It’s good to win it, especially because it’s been so long since an England side has won a European trophy. I would have liked to have played in the Final, but that’s football at the end of the day. There’s hardly anything between me and Jack [Butland]. He’s a great ‘keeper and he’s done really well in the games he’s played. He had my full support, as I do his when I play. But I’m proud of the role I played in getting us this far and I’m just delighted to have won this tournament with this group of lads because we’ve been together since the [2008] Victory Shield. Everyone’s just buzzing. I don’t think there’ll be much sleep going on tonight! I can’t really believe it. It’s crazy.”
2 Bruno Pilatos
“I’m delighted. I’m very proud of the lads. We did well because we handled the pressure of a Final really well, even when we went 1-0 down and then we went ahead and stuck it out till the end, so that was pleasing. I can’t believe it to be honest.”
3 Luke Garbutt
“I’m buzzing. All the lads are really happy. I’d been booked towards the end of the game and I was just concentrating on their winger, not diving in and just showing him down the line so I didn’t know it was the end of the game. But then I saw everyone rush towards the bench and then I think we all just went mental. It’s incredible.”
4 Conor Coady (Captain)
“I’m made up. I’m just delighted with everything that’s happened. I think I ran over to the dugout and slid on my knees and then I just got piled on and I couldn’t breath. It’s just unbelievable. I can’t believe we’ve done it. Lifting that trophy was just unreal. It’s everything I’ve dreamt about and I’m so proud to have done it. I can remember every bit of it. I went up and I was shaking people’s hands and the fella gave me the trophy and I just thought ‘let’s get it up there!’ so I gave it a kiss and then just put it straight in the air. I’ve loved every minute of this tournament and to captain the side as well; I’m just totally made up. It’s been a great experience for us all and I think it will help us as players a few years down the line.”
5 Nathaniel Chalobah
“I’m absolutely delighted. We haven’t won the trophy before and it means a lot to everyone. We’re like one big family and we all deserve this. When they went 1-0 up it really kicked us on and we knew we had to step it up. I think we started with a lot of nerves out there, but we got back into the game and that lifted our confidence. Andre’s goal gave everyone a boost. We all just wanted to push for the winner and make history, which is what we did. It’s amazing. Words can’t really describe it. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
6 Andre Wisdom
“Spain have got a very attacking team with some of the greatest players in the world at our age and playing against them was a great experience. It was quite tough and I’m still feeling the effects of the game now! Their goal took a little deflection off me but I forgot about it as soon as it happened, because that’s what you’ve got to do as a defender. Then, when the ball came in from Josh’s corner I thought ‘right, I’m getting my head on this’ and I’m just happy for the team. My celebration was a bit mad. I don’t know what I was doing, but I don’t score many goals and then I just scored in the biggest game of my life, so I think I just went a bit crazy. Winning this trophy is my biggest achievement in the game, most definitely. We’ve been away for three weeks now, training hard and playing well and this is what we’ve achieved. It’s fantastic. Unreal.”
7 Will Keane
“I’m delighted. It’s a great achievement for everyone; the staff and the players. We’ve all put a lot of hard work in throughout the year and I think it’s deserved. It was a relief when the whistle went because they were really putting us under pressure. I was more nervous because I was on the bench at the time, but it was a great feeling. I knew we could create chances, so I was always confident that we could win it. I’m just delighted that we did.”
8 George Thorne
“It was an exciting game. We are two of the biggest footballing nations in the world. I think we showed our team spirit out there. Everyone was defending for their lives and I think it was our day really. I’m buzzing to be fair. You can never really think that you will win it and it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s just a great feeling.”
9 Benik Afobe
“I can’t believe it. Winning trophies is the best feeling in football. We knew we could come from behind, we just had to keep on going and take our chances when they came and that’s what we did. We all knew that we had the potential to do it, but now we have, it’s difficult to describe. It’s just out of this world. Unbelievable.”
10 Saido Berahino
“It’s great. It feels amazing to win it. I just can’t believe it. We were all on the bench waiting for the ref to blow the whistle and when he did we just went mad. I can’t really explain it. Everyone was looking forward to this tournament and hopefully winning it and that’s what it came to. We’ve made history and we can all be proud of ourselves.”
11 Rob Hall
“It’s great. We’ve just made history and everyone’s happy. We were all just hoping for the whistle to go and when [the referee] blew it, I just couldn’t believe it. It was hard, but now it’s just an unbelievable feeling. Everyone’s still buzzing and it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
12 Ben Gibson
“All the lads are on a massive high. Everyone knew that we could do it because we definitely had the potential. Now we’ve actually done it and it’s great to be a part of it. Everyone’s still buzzing. It will take a while to sink in and I don’t think we fully realise how beneficial winning this trophy could be in five or ten years’ time. We’re just going to enjoy the moment and over the next few days and weeks it will really sink in.”
13 Jack Butland
“I’m ecstatic. Absolutely over the moon. We all got a bit nervous towards the end but the lads were awesome. Even if we made a little mistake, we all helped each other out and I think we deserved to win it. When the [full-time] whistle went I just couldn’t believe it. I was so relieved. We’d just beaten Spain. In a Final. First-ever time European Champions. Unbelievable. An incredible feeling.”
14 Tom Thorpe
“I don’t think we fully realise what we’ve just achieved, it’s unreal. The experience we’ve had from this whole tournament has been fantastic. John [Peacock, the Head Coach] put me on for the last couple of minutes and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous but you just want to do your best for the boys. I got a few touches I think and I cleared one ball and you just want to make sure you give everything you can to make sure you win it. It will take a while to sink in. Everyone’s still up in the sky. Everyone just dropped to their knees at the end, sliding everywhere and going crazy. It was brilliant. It’s unreal.”
15 Josh McEachran
“The whole team has done really well for the last two weeks. The last England team to win a European trophy had Paul Scholes and Gary Neville and just look at what that team went on to achieve. Hopefully we can go on to do the same.”
16 Ross Barkley
“I’m made up. Everyone is. We knew we had to settle it down towards the end. We had to stop their counter attacks and when we couldn’t, we just had to defend for our lives. I was so relieved when the game ended. This could benefit our careers loads.”
17 Connor Wickham
“I’m buzzing still. We’re champions of Europe and that’s a great feeling. To score two goals to get us through the semi-final and then to score the winning goal in a Final is amazing. It caps the season off perfectly. To be crowned a European Champion with England is a bit surreal, but I’m delighted. It’s a great achievement. I’m proud of what we’ve done and I know our families are as well. We’ve never won it before and were the first England team to lift the trophy. It’s great.”
18 Luke Williams
“I’m over the moon, buzzing. We’ve worked so hard for it and then to finally achieve it is brilliant. We’ve been talking all week about how good a squad we have and to finish the tournament as winners is hard to describe. It’s only the second time I’ve been involved with the squad and to be involved in something as big as this, I’m really proud. It’s been a great experience. Just seeing the Spanish first team in the crowd, just shows you how big an event it was. All the scouts would have been there and this is massive for us. I’ve had a few text messages to reply to anyway. I’ll have a big enough phone bill when I get back!”