Head Coach Noel Blake selects squad for First Qualifying Round.
UEFA European U19 Championship
First Qualifying Round
Albania, Belgium, Cyprus, England
8-13 October 2010
Malmedy & Vise, Belgium
Click here for fixtures
By Nicholas Veevers England U19s get their European Championship campaign off to a start next month when they travel to Belgium for the First Round Qualifying of the 2010-11 competition.
This stage of the competition sees a four-team group battling it out for a place in next year's Elite Qualifying Round, with the top two sides from the league mini-table progressing.
England take on Albania in their first game in Vise on Friday 8 October, before facing Cyprus in Malmedy two days later. They will then face hosts Belgium in the final match of the group on Wednesday 13 October in Vise.
After reaching the semi-final of last season's Championship, Head Coach Noel Blake will be keen to take this year's group to the Finals in Romania next July, and this is the first step along the way.
The Young Lions got their season off to a winning start earlier in September, when they took on Slovakia at Crewe Alexandra's Gresty Road. A fine team performance that night culminated in a 2-0 victory, with Liverpool pair Michael Ngoo and Jonjo Shelvey on the scoresheet.
The 18-man squad which will travel to Belgium contains the majority of the squad which were involved in that victory with the added experience of midfielder John Bostock, who was part of Blake's squad for last season's competition and actually scored in the semi-final against Spain.
There are also first U19 call-ups for Spurs midfielder Harry Kane and Ipswich Town striker Connor Wickham.
Squad in full:
Name
|
Club |
Benik Afobe |
Arsenal |
Ross Barkley |
Everton |
John Bostock |
Hull City (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) |
Aziz Deen Conteh |
Chelsea |
Ezekiel Fryers |
Manchester United |
Sam Johnstone |
Manchester United |
Harry Kane |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Louis Laing* |
Sunderland |
Angus MacDonald |
Reading |
Josh McEachran |
Chelsea |
Jack Mills |
Reading |
Michael Ngoo |
Liverpool |
Bruno Pilatos |
Middlesbrough |
Jonjo Shelvey |
Liverpool |
Jed Steer |
Norwich City |
Luke Williams |
Middlesbrough |
Andre Wisdom |
Liverpool |
Connor Wickham |
Ipswich Town |
*
Withdrawn injured and replaced by Tom Thorpe of Manchester United.**
** Withdrawn injured and replaced by George Thorne of West Bromwich Albion.