Chalobah's Euro target

Thursday, 24 May, 2012

Young Lion wants to add to his already considerable achievements.

By Nicholas Veevers in Bolton

UEFA European U19 Championship
Elite Qualifying Round
25-30 May 2012
England, Montenegro, Slovenia, Switzerland
Deepdale, Preston & Spotland, Rochdale
Ticket line 0844 856 1966 (Preston) and 0844 826 1907 (Rochdale)

They often say that success breeds more success and for England and Chelsea star Nathaniel Chalobah, everyone involved in the latest U19 squad hope that proves to be the case this summer.

Chalobah, along with Stamford Bridge team-mates Todd Kane and Pat Bamford, was allowed to link-up with the England squad a few days later than the rest of the group after being part of the Chelsea squad which travelled to Munich for last weekend’s Champions League Final.

And both Chalobah and Kane were part of the matchday squad before joining in with the London club’s celebrations on the Allianz Arena pitch following their dramatic shoot-out win against Bayern Munich.

“It was an amazing night, one that I’ll never forget,” explained Chalobah.

“People say that in football you will get more lows than you do highs, so you have to enjoy the moments that you do get like that.

“Me and Todd were 18th and 19th men and there was a little doubt over Florent Malouda in the build-up, so we would have been back-up if they weren’t able to play.”

Chalobah himself has been in and around the Chelsea first-team squad over the course of the campaign, after impressing in his role as captain of both the reserve and youth team at Stamford Bridge, leading the Blues to FA Youth Cup victory on the domestic front, and he admits that for all of the younger players at Chelsea, the senior stars are a shining example.

“We look up to those senior players as role models and when you see the training and everything that they do, week-in and week-out for both their club and their country, we use that as a way of looking at what we’re expected to do in our careers as footballers,” he added.

“It’s something that we learn from them every single day in can hopefully portray that in the way we play football and our lifestyle.”

There has also been a fair amount of international success for Chalobah over the last few years too.

He was part of John Peacock’s U17 team in 2010 who beat Spain in the European Championship Final to lift that title, whilst still a year younger than most of his team-mates and opponents.

Last season, as U17 captain, he led the team into the semi-final of the 2011 Euro Finals in Serbia and qualification for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Mexico, where he proved to be one of the tournament’s top performers as victories over the likes of Argentina and eventual Finalists Uruguay took England to the quarter final stage.

Now, he’s aiming to add an appearance at the U19 Euro Finals to his roster this summer by helping the U19s through the Elite Qualifying Round, starting this Friday against Slovenia at Preston North End’s Deepdale home.

“Hopefully we’ll get a lot of support at the game, which is important because it gives the lads a lot of confidence and I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

“The boys have been training really well this week and everyone is just raring to go now.

“I think we’ve got a very good squad, everyone has gelled really well and we want to reach the Finals.”

Tickets are still available for all three England games, priced at just £3 for adults and £1 for concessions.

England fans can purchase their tickets for the two Deepdale games against Slovenia (25 May) and Switzerland (30 May) via mypne.com and 0844 856 1966 or in person at the stadium ticket office.