Aidy Boothroyd paid tribute to the team ethos in his England U21 squad, after winning the Maurice Revello Tournament for the third year in a row.
The Young Lions came from behind to beat Mexico by 2-1 in Martigues and follow in the footsteps of Gareth Southgate’s U21s in 2016 and Neil Dewsnip’s mixed age group last year.
And the head coach says it’s all great preparation and experience for his players as they continue to target a spot in next summer’s Euro Finals in Italy and San Marino.
“To win it three times in a row is really good feeling,” said Boothroyd, who included a number of new faces in the squad for the trip to Toulon.
“We’re preparing the team for Euro 2019 and we still have to qualify, with difficult games to come, but we’ve really enjoyed the tournament here.
“It’s been really good for us and a brilliant experience for our younger players."
The two nations had shared a 0-0 draw in the group stage of the competition, and England had to show their character after falling behind to an early goal after less than 80 seconds.
But Boothroyd revealed what he thought the turning point was, after a difficult opening.
“Mexico are a very good team and we knew we’d have to be at our best to beat them,” he added.
“The turning point was during the first drinks break where we changed our formation and managed to score two goals quickly..
“The game lasts 80-plus minutes and we knew in the last game against Mexico we finished the stronger team so we thought we could wear them down.
“But they were very, very good. It was a tough game for us and a game we’re pleased to win, obviously.
“We think of ourselves as a team, no individuals, that is our biggest strength.
“The biggest plus is we’ve managed to teach our players a new system, very similar to our senior team, as we want it to be seamless for those guys that go through to the first team.
“They’ve taken a lot of information on and done really, really well so we’re very happy.”
