Men's Under 21s
Men's Under 21s
The FA

Calum ready for the challenge

U21s defender says Young Lions squad are confident ahead of semi-final with Germany

Sunday 25 Jun 2017

Calum Chambers is confident England Under-21s can continue their Euro run with victory over Germany in Tuesday’s semi-final.

The Arsenal defender has been an ever-present alongside Alfie Mawson in central defence as the Young Lions topped their group to set up a last-four clash with Stefan Kuntz’s team.

England v Germany
  • UEFA European U21 Championship
  • Semi-Final
  • 5pm BST, Tuesday 27 June 2017
  • Tychy City Stadium, Poland
  • Live on Sky Sports

And Chambers revealed there’s been a real buzz around the England camp since they reached the semi-final and even more so once they found out who they would be facing.

“It’s a massive game and everybody’s looking forward to it,” said Chambers, who admits he remembers watching previous senior fixtures between the two nations whilst growing up.

“Once we got through, we were ready to take on anybody and once it was Germany, it has that little edge.

“Everyone’s excited about it and I think we can go into Tuesday with a lot of confidence, we’re looking forward to this challenge.”

The Young Lions and Spain remain the only two teams in Poland who have yet to lose a game in this year’s competition.

And the 22-year-old believes that England have built on their opening day draw with Sweden and found momentum with victories over Slovakia and Poland.

“It’s a strong team, we’ve been defensively strong and we’ve got a lot of threat going forward,” he added.

“This team has that feel about it when you play, there’s a confidence about us from the past experiences that we’ve had as a whole group and a squad, that we can go into games and get results.

“That’s due to the experience we’ve got of playing together and things like the Toulon Tournament last summer.

“That’s helped us get through the group stages, so there is a feel-good factor about us at the moment.”

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The Chambers-Mawson partnership at the back has in many ways provided the bedrock for England’s success, and only conceding one goal in the Finals so far.

But the former Southampton man believes the competition for places in Aidy Boothroyd’s squad is what helps to spur him on, with the likes of Rob Holding, Jack Stephens and Kortney Hause all pushing for a place in the team in his position.

“I think we [Chambers and Mawson] enjoy playing with each other and we’re both very vocal,” he explained.

“There’s a lot of competition for places in this team and in that position especially.

“We had the training camps two or three weeks ago and to just see the competition on the other side of the pitch, you’ve got to be on your toes.

“We were all competing to be the starting eleven for that first game so I was over the moon to be starting and it’s just going to make you play better, knowing that we’ve got the quality of players that are ready as well.

“We’ve got a good squad and we want to go on and win the tournament and make a positive impact."

Tuesday's game kicks-off at 5pm BST and will be shown live on Sky Sports.

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By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels in Krakow, Poland