England U17s midfielder Callum Cooke admits he was disappointed that he was unable to help his side hold on to victory against Portugal despite his two goals – but says he is determined to put that right by defeating Germany on Sunday.
Both nations are level on four points after their opening two games of the Algarve Tournament, setting up a winner-takes-all clash at the Municipal Stadium in Lagos.
And after firing the Young Lions into the lead twice on Friday against the Portuguese before they were pegged back on both occasions, Cooke says a victory against Germany is the best response his team-mates can give.
Back at the team hotel in Albufeira, the Middlesbrough midfielder told TheFA.com: “It’s a great feeling to score just one for your country, but to get a brace is unbelievable. It’s something I never thought I’d do, and I’m over the moon on a personal level, although we are all disappointed to let them concede so soon afterwards.
“It’s a great feeling to score just one for your country, but to get a brace is unbelievable.”
Callum Cooke
“My mum and dad have come over to watch the matches, so that makes it even more special and I’m sure it was great for them too.
“With the warm weather and them being the host’s, they were going to have a lot of the ball and we had to stay disciplined. In the heat it was quite tiring, but the effort from the lads can’t be faulted. It was disappointing not to hold on to the victory, but it was a tough game and we need to take the positives into the Germany match.
“Sunday will be a fantastic game for the neutrals and we can put the disappointment of the Portugal game behind us and get the result and win the tournament.”
Cooke has been a big football fan all his life, and he says to be involved in any England-Germany match is an ‘honour’, and it makes it extra-special that the fixture will be a tournament decider.
He said: “It is going to be a great game. Every player wants to be involved in an England v Germany game.
“It is one of those fixtures that you dream of being involved in when you are young.”
Callum Cooke
"It is one of those fixtures that you dream of being involved in when you are young and it will be a top experience to be a part of it. It’s a famous rivalry and it promises to be a tough test.
“We’ve got a great group of lads here, and we will prepare right, and we believe that we can get a result against them.”
Cooke has been a key member of John Peacock’s squad over the last few months, and with the Elite Round qualifiers for the European Championship on the horizon in March, he believes that the week in Portugal has been the perfect warm-up.
He added: “With the Elites coming up every game is important and this week has been brilliant preparation for that. It has set us up nicely with three tough tests, and I think we needed this challenge to prepare us for it.
“We’ll be giving everything, like we do in every game, to try and make our country proud and we are determined as a group to reach the Euros in the summer.”
