Tammy Abraham takes a slight pause at the question.
The England Under-21s striker had just been asked if there any envy on his part at missing out on an U20s World Cup winners’ medal, after watching his former team-mates win the title in South Korea on Sunday.
Chelsea youngster Abraham had helped the squad to qualify for the tournament when he was part of the same U19s team at the Euro Finals in Germany last summer.
But his goalscoring form during a season-long loan spell with Bristol City last season had seen him picked for U21 duty in October and he’s kept his spot in Aidy Boothroyd’s squad ever since.
“Yes, it’s bittersweet, it’s true,” admits the 19-year-old.
“But obviously I’m here to win the Euros and we’ve got a lot of good players so we’re in with a chance.
“I’m proud to have helped them [U20s] get to the tournament of course, but obviously I’m so proud to be here as well.
“It’s a great achievement, I’m sure they’re proud of themselves. The whole country is proud of them, they deserved to win it.
“It’s massively inspiring. We’re going into a massive tournament now with the U21s and it would be nice to end it on a blast.”
Last season was certainly the campaign when the south Londoner made his mark on the game, scoring 26 goals in the Championship for Bristol City.
And with the confidence gained from such a prolific spell, he’s now hoping to make a mark on the Euros and help the Young Lions to follow last week’s titles at the U20 World Cup and in the Toulon Tournament.
“Hopefully what I’ve done all season is paying off and we can win the tournament,” he said.
“I’ve had a good season, played well. Winning this would top off my season.
“The boys are buzzing and confident, we’ve had a great season, we just want to top it off with a win.
“Some of the lads have played in the Premier League, in top teams, we have an amazing team. Hopefully we can show that. We’re all excited. We just have to prove it.”
