As England head in to tonight’s UEFA Under 17 European Championship final with Holland, LFE casts it eye over several young Lions who ply their trade at Football League clubs.
Dael Fry (Middlesbrough):
Tall centre-half who is highly regarded at his club and shown his versatility for his country by playing out of position at left-back during the qualifying win over the Czech Republic back in March. Has previous against Dutch opposition having toured The Netherlands with LFE last summer, performing well in Boro’s friendly win over Ajax and the youngster who regards Jonathan Woodgate as his hero will be keen for a repeat of that success this evening.
Joe Gomez (Charlton Athletic):
Rangy, 16-year-old centre-half who played in five out of the six European Championship qualifiers, during which England conceded just the one goal. His mum is a teacher and will be keen to show England have learnt some lessons from their group game defeat to the Dutch 6 days ago. Almost certain to be in contention for Charlton’s first-team next term if his development continues in the same vein.
Lewis Cook (Leeds United):
Another player to come through the Leeds United Academy and it is surely only a matter of time before he joins fellow England youth internationals Tom Lees, Sam Byram and Alex Mowatt into Brian McDermott’s first-team. Renowned for being a tough tackling combative midfielder who protects his defence, Cook has been in England squads for the last three years.
Callum Cooke (Middlesbrough):
Attacking midfielder who is at his best when running at opposition defences. The 17-year-old has been a mainstay of John Peacock’s squad for some time and scored both goals in the 2-2 draw with Portugal during the Algarve Tournament.
