Izzy Brown said he was both shocked and honoured to be asked to captain England Under-19s by head coach Sean O’Driscoll.
The Chelsea striker donned the armband for the Young Lions’ 3-2 Euro qualifying win over Denmark on Thursday night.
It was the first time Brown, who scored England’s opening goal, has skippered his country.
England v Azerbaijan
UEFA U19s Elite Qualifier
5.30pm GMT, Saturday 28 March
Henry Jeanne Stadium, Bayeux
He said: “Sean asked me how I’d feel about being captain.
“It came as a shock to me. I was surprised he asked me but I was delighted. It’s a huge honour. My family were really proud when I told them and that’s all you can really ask for.
“When I led the team out it didn’t feel real. I’ve captained Chelsea U19s in the Champions League, but never England.
“It’s an amazing honour for an 18-year-old to captain their country, especially as I’m playing a year up as well.”
Brown led from the front, and produced a cool finish just after the half-hour mark to cancel out Marcus Ingvartsen’s early opener for Denmark.
He also hit the crossbar with a fierce effort shortly after.
England fell behind once more, but bounced back courtesy of a Magnus Pedersen own goal and a stunning left-foot strike from Manchester City right-back Ashley Smith-Brown.
The Chelsea hotshot added: “It was a difficult game. The pitch wasn’t the best but we dealt with it well and showed great character to come from behind.
Man City's Ashley Smith-Brown scored England's winner
“It was a great finish from Ash to be fair. He’s actually been doing that in training quite a bit at the moment so you can’t say it was lucky.
“The boys dug in deep. We all gave 100 per cent and when you work hard good things happen. We were a bit lucky with the deflection for the second goal, but sometimes you need that bit of luck.”
England take on Azerbaijan on Saturday and France next Tuesday, with only the top-placed nation making it through to the Euro finals, which are being staged in Greece in July.
O’Driscoll is without U19s regulars Bryn Morris, Dele Alli, Brandon Barker and Kean Bryan, while Reading midfielder Aaron Kuhl is experiencing his first-ever call-up to an England squad.
And Brown, who recently helped Chelsea reach their fourth successive FA Youth Cup Final, believes his team-mates will click the more time they spend together.
He said: “This team is still gelling together because we’ve got a couple of new players here and a few players are missing. It’s going to take us time to gel but we’ll keep getting stronger and stronger throughout the week.
“I’m sure we’ll keep scoring goals because we’ve got a great attacking threat.
“We’ve got a great group of players both here and back in England. Our strength in depth is unreal. I’m very confident that we can make it to the Euros.”
