Both goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and semi-final goalscorer Demarai Gray agree England should head home from Poland today proud of their showing at the European Under-21 Championship.
Aidy Boothroyd’s Young Lions suffered a penalty shootout defeat to Germany in the semi-final, following a 2-2 draw after extra time.
The team’s progress to the last four was an improvement on each of their last three showings at the tournament though – a period in which they recorded just one win.
And that fact is not lost on Everton-bound Pickford.
“As a group of lads, we’ve done ourselves proud,” said the 23-year-old.
“We’re disappointed not to be in the final, but the last three tournaments with the U21s we haven’t got out of the group, so we’ve got further this time and we’ll take positives from it.”
Gray added: “I’m proud of the boys and everybody should be proud of themselves because we dug deep.
“We knew Germany were a good team and we took them to extra time. It’s just a bit unfortunate on penalties.
“I think all the lads should be proud of themselves.”
Gray, one of the youngest members of the squad, turns 21 today.
And though he will not be celebrating as he had hoped, the Leicester City winger was not too downbeat about the outcome.
