Never has the saying 'hard work pays off' been more apt than when Dominic Solanke netted for England Under-19s against Germany.
The Vitesse Arnhem striker, on-loan at the Dutch side from Chelsea, put in a solid shift on his own upfront following the dismissal of team-mate Jonjoe Kenny during the 3-2 victory on Friday.
The youngster, who turns 18 in a few days, chased down what looked to be a lost cause after the ball had been fed back to the keeper.
Croatia U19s v England U19s
3pm, Monday 7 September 2015
Sveti Josip Radnik Stadion, Zagreb
His determination to make up the ground was rewarded as the shot-stopper panicked and Solanke stole it before slotting home to give his side a 2-1 advantage.
"The saying I always remember is 'if you work hard then you get your reward'," the goalscorer told TheFA.com.
"I'd chased down the keeper quite a few times and I saw that he wasn't the best with his feet. I spotted he had taken a dodgy touch and just carried on going.
"I managed to get the ball off him and score my goal so I was glad it worked out in the end.
"Everyone did well on Friday, especially after going down to ten men. We had to really grind out the win and in the end it was a good achievement."
Highlights: Germany U19s 2-3 England U19s
Solanke came into the international break with his confidence sky-high after notching his first goal for Vitesse against SC Cambuur the previous week.
Having endured a frustrating spell awaiting his international clearance, which prevented him playing in the opening few games of the season, the forward hopes he is at the beginning of a hot streak.
"That goal definitely gave me a boost. I went away with Chelsea in pre-season before going to Vitesse, and I had to wait a while for my international clearance to come through.
"I've been working on my sharpness and that's coming now and I was pleased to get my first goal for the club last week.
"Then to score again against Germany, I'm delighted, and hopefully I can just keep carrying that on."
England's line-up in Germany
Solanke could have the chance to continue that run when he and his England team-mates take on Croatia in Zagreb on Monday afternoon.
And with their European Championship qualification campaign beginning next month, the hotshot says the competition for places is massive.
"We've got a really talented bunch of boys at this age group and we just gel as a team, and it helps that we have played together a while now," he added.
"With the qualifiers coming up everyone wants to play and try to impress.
"An away game in Croatia will not be easy, we know we'll have to give everything, but hopefully we can go and get another win."
