After scoring his first two England goals and having a hand in Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s opener, Brandon Barker reflected on a good day all round as the U19s demolished Luxembourg 8-0.
The victory, coupled with Belgium’s 3-2 win over Belarus, means Sean O’Driscoll’s side have qualified for the final stage of Euro qualifying next spring.
And the Manchester City forward netted a penalty and a free-kick to help guide England a step closer to the finals, which will be staged in Greece next year.
Luxembourg 0-8 England
UEFA U19 Championship
First Round Qualifying
Sunday 12 October
Avenir Beggen FC, Luxembourg
Barker said: “I was happy with today. I thought it was really good the way we went about the game. After being 5-0 up at half-time we could have just sat back in second half but we managed to get another three goals.
“They were my first goals for England so I’m delighted. I was pleased to play a part in the first goal as well. It was a really good day overall.”
He continued: “It was a massive relief to get my goal because I thought it was never going to come. The free-kick was something I had been practising in training and I just kept missing. I thought it was about time one of them went in.
“I can’t think of any better feeling than scoring for England. I’m buzzing.”
Loftus-Cheek broke the deadlock early on and his Chelsea club-mate Charlie Colkett doubled the lead before the 15-minute mark.
Barker and Patrick Roberts each converted a spot-kick within three minutes of each other and the former curled home a delightful set piece to give O’Driscoll’s charges a comfortable cushion at the break.
Loftus-Cheek added his second shortly after the restart, Bradley Fewster tapped home from close range in the 88th minute and Roberts rounded things off in added time.
England and Belgium have both qualified for the elite qualifying round and both nations go head-to-head on Wednesday to see who finishes top of the group.
Barker added: “We’re really looking forward to the Belgium game now. We all want to play. We’re not going to go into the game knowing we’ve already qualified. We want to win, we want to top the group and put down a marker.
“This is definitely the best England squad I’ve been a part of.
“Anyone can come in anywhere and perform. We can all trust each other to do well for the team.”
