England U19s' Jay Dasilva, Ben Brereton, Lukas Nmecha, Mason Mount and Aaron Ramsdale share Euro joy

Tuesday 18 Jul 2017

England Under-19s became the latest batch of Young Lions to lift their respective title, beating Portugal on Saturday to secure the European Championship.

Keith Downing’s side won all five of their games at the tournament finals in Georgia, breezing through a group including Germany, Netherlands and Bulgaria before they saw off Czech Republic in the semi-final.

And second-half goals from Aston Villa’s Easah Suliman and Manchester City’s Lukas Nmecha secured a 2-1 win in the final to see England lift the trophy and register the country’s first men's title in the current format of U19s football.

The squad returned home on Sunday and headed straight back to their respective clubs to join in with their preparations for the new season.

Saturday’s success follows on from the U20s’ World Cup win in South Korea in June, a second successive Toulon Tournament victory, the U17s missing out on their own Euro title by virtue of a shoot-out defeat to Spain and Aidy Boothryd’s U21s also losing on spot-kicks in their Euro semi-final.

We caught up with some of the key men in Downing’s squad following the victory, to hear about their recollections of the game, the tournament, the moment the whistle went and their hopes for the future.

Jay Dasilva - Chelsea FC

“It’s a great feeling to win a tournament like this, it’s the first time I’ve won one with England and one of the proudest moments of my career so far.

“It was a very proud moment lifting that trophy, all of the boys are buzzing and it’s a great way to cap off a good summer for England. Hopefully this is something that we can build on and keep getting better and better.

“It was pure ecstasy, relief and just seeing all of the boys and everyone together on the pitch was amazing.

“We’re dedicating the win to Trevoh Chalobah, as he was a big miss once he’d had to leave us through injury. We were motivated and wanted to dedicate this for him. It’s a nice thing to do.

“There was more confidence and belief in the squad having seen their (U20s, U17s, U21s) successes before us, it made us more confident and gave us a boost to try and achieve what they had done.

“We took it game-by-game and built up the momentum and it showed we had the belief and the confidence to do it.

“It proves that we have the talent in the youth teams and now hopefully it’s time to have a chance and when we get one, it’s up to us to take it."

Ryan Sessegnon - Fulham FC

“I’m very proud and I think we’ve done the country very proud, especially with the way we won and going out there and winning five games.

“I dropped to my knees with relief at the whistle, it was a great feeling to just learn that we are European champions.

“To win any tournament at any level is great, especially for your country, it’s a very good achievement.

“People will look at that and think we can now go and push on in our careers at first-team level with our clubs.

“It’s been a good summer for the youth of England with the U17s, U21s and U20s, so it’s good for the managers, especially in the Premier League to give the players a chance as we’ve proved that we can do it."

Ben Brereton - Nottingham Forest FC

“It’s a great moment for me personally and for the whole of the England squad. It’s a moment that I’ll never forget and I’m speechless really.

“It’s been a great experience for me, in a different environment and a different kind of football. I came in not knowing anybody and now I’m mates with everyone and I think that will stay the same.

“I feel in good shape coming back, I’ve had a few minutes under my belt and feel a lot sharper going into the new season at Forest.

“It’s one of the best moments in my career, after scoring my debut goal for Forest, this might just top it.

“I can’t wait for the new season ahead now, buzzing.”

Mason Mount - Chelsea FC

“Obviously it’s an unbelievable achievement and we’re very happy.

“I was 100 per cent confident we could do it, just from the morale in the group, there was such a confidence that we’d get through the group and the semi-final.

“Getting a goal and five assists, it’s been a good tournament. It’s for the group, that’s all I care about, us winning.

“The subs have come on and made an impact in every game and that’s what we need in tough games so having people to come in and impact on the game is massive.

“The next step for me is to play men’s football, go on loan [to Vitesse Arnhem] and improve at the next level.”

Lukas Nmecha - Manchester City FC

“It’s amazing, the whole team has just been amazing.

“Everyone put their shift in, all the subs did well again. I was on the bench for the first few games and so were a few of the other lads who played today, so it shows we have a strong squad.

“I didn’t expect Mason to pass it [for the winning goal] as he usually puts them away himself. So a big thanks from me and it won us the game!”

Aaron Ramsdale - AFC Bournemouth

“Honestly, the last half-hour is all a blur so I’m quite thankful I had my phone to get the memories because I don’t remember much!

“I just remember hugging everyone and I’m elated, we’ve just won something with England which is the best you can get, so the next step is to go on and win with the other age groups.

“We’ve just got so much confidence as a group. Half of the team win trophies every season with Chelsea so they know what it’s like to win and calm everybody down.

“The other half have played first-team football, where it’s all about winning because if you don’t win, then the manager gets sacked!

“From the qualifiers in March, when we blew away Norway and Spain, that’s when we started focusing on doing something in the Finals.

“We knew how tough it would be, but it shows how good we are as a team and how much depth we’ve got, because we were missing some big players from the team in March in Trent Arnold, Tom Davies, Chrissy Willock and Sam Field.

“I always got told by the goalkeeper coach that it’s all about concentration and the boys in front of me have done an unbelievable job.

“It was just a chance for me to use this as a stepping stone and maybe catch the eye of a manger for a loan next season or even catch the eye of my own manager at Bournemouth.”

By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels

Young Lions' Euro pride