While the majority of Liverpool players enjoy the final days of their summer break, an academy trio are now hoping to turn England’s perfect U19s Euros start into a place in the final.
It’s been a rare summer without a senior international competition but the under-19s European Championship is in full swing, with three Liverpool representatives in the England squad.
It has been an impressive tournament to date for the Young Lions, who progressed to the semi-final with a game to spare and in doing so, booked their place in the U20 World Cup in 2023.
And on Saturday evening, England turned out for their final group game with both Jarell Quansah and Luke Chambers named in the starting XI against Israel, earning another clean sheet and win.
Chambers was making his first start of the competition at left-back while Quansah remained as the right-sided centre-back, on a night that was under doubt due to a deluge of rain.
The Young Lions again struck early to take ascendency, with a poor clearance from the goalkeeper allowing Alfie Devine to feed Man City‘s Liam Delap for the opener after just six minutes.
The 1-0 scoreline would remain after the final whistle despite a number of chances to add to the tally, ensuring England kept a perfect record with their third clean sheet and victory.
With Quansah having featured for 180 minutes prior to the final group game, he was asked to play just 45 minutes on Saturday after being substituted at halftime, while Chambers played the full 90.
The centre-back made a notable covering run behind Chambers early in the first half, ensuring his counterpart was kept wide and left with nothing but a wild shot over the bar, in another impressive defensive display.
Harvey Davies, meanwhile, remained out of the matchday squad for the third time with both Matthew Cox and Teddy Sharman-Lowe ahead in the pecking order.
What comes next?
England are now in the semi-finals of the competition and are to meet Italy on Tuesday, June 28, while France and Israel contest the other match later the same day.
A win will put the Young Lions in contention for the trophy with the final to take place on Friday, July 1 – England would be fighting for a record 11th U19 European Championship title.
And Quansah is to remain at the heart of manager Ian Foster’s defence as they push, first, for a final place.
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