‘Crazy experience': Elliott and Carsley say England Under-21s have belief to retain Euros
Lee Carsley is confident that England's Under-21 side have the belief to make history by winning a second European title in a row after Harvey Elliott's double against the Netherlands secured a place in Saturday's final.
A superb piece of improvisation from the substitute Noah Ohio had cancelled out the Liverpool forward's opener in the second half but it was Elliott who had the final say five minutes before the end to take his tally in this tournament to four goals. Having arrived in Slovakia without several of the players who helped them qualify and one of the youngest squads in the tournament, England now have an opportunity to match the achievements of Dave Sexton's teams in 1982 and 1984.
Sign up to Football Daily
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football
after newsletter promotion
But Carsley, who spent six months as interim manager of the senior England team before returning to his post with the Under-21s when Thomas Tuichel was appointed, insisted that they will not be overawed by the occasion when they face Germany, who beat France 3-0 in the other semi-final.
'We've got so much quality,' said Carsley. 'But more importantly, we've got a squad that believe that they can win. There's more belief, which is important if we're going to go that one step more, which is generally the hardest step now – getting over the line. But I'm so proud of them and hopefully everyone has enjoyed watching us during this tournament.'
Elliott, who with Toulouse defender Charlie Cresswell is one of two surviving members of the squad that won in Georgia two years ago, was again outstanding and he confirmed that this group of players has been playing without inhibitions.
'The moment we have fear is the moment that it goes wrong,' Elliott said. 'I feel like we can take on any team and we go into every game thinking we can win because we have the players and the squad to do it.' Asked whether this represented one of the best moments of his career, he added: 'Emotionally and mentally it's up there. To be able to put us into another final is a crazy experience.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
37 minutes ago
- Reuters
Mbappe to miss Salzburg game but likely fit for knockout rounds, says Alonso
PHILADELPHIA, June 25 (Reuters) - Kylian Mbappe will miss Real Madrid's final Club World Cup group-stage game against RB Salzburg as he continues his recovery from illness but should be ready for the knockout phase if they progress, manager Xabi Alonso said on Wednesday. The French forward returned to training earlier in the day, after being struck down by acute gastroenteritis last week, but Alonso said the decision to skip Thursday's match was made to prioritise the player's full recovery. "It was his first day back in boots, his first day running a little, and he did well," Alonso told reporters at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field. "But he's not fully recovered yet. "We talked about it after training and he prefers to rest and recover properly for when we go through. And if we make it to the round of 16 he'll be available, but he was still in the recovery process and wasn't perfect for tomorrow." Mbappe, who received treatment in hospital in Miami last week, has already missed Real's 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal and their 3-1 victory over Pachuca, a win they achieved despite playing most of the match with 10 men. The Spaniards lead Group H with four points, ahead of Salzburg on goal difference, with Al-Hilal on two points and Pachuca yet to secure a point. Alonso, who recently took the reins at Real following Carlo Ancelotti's departure to manage Brazil, said they had two objectives for Thursday's game. "The first is to win and finish top of the group. The second is to continue improving as a team ahead of the knockout stage," he added. While Manchester City are looming as potential opponents in the round of 16, Alonso said his side would not even think about the permutations. "It's a bad idea to do the math tomorrow," he said. "The only decision is to finish first and give it your all. We're going out to win."
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Lauren Hemp is the Lionesses' quiet star who could have been a cricketer, writes TARA ANSON-WALSH - but she's ready to take centre stage at the Euros
Lauren Hemp wanders into a padel club in Manchester on a sunny Saturday afternoon to very little fanfare. She's greeted at the door by the owner, but beyond that, people are too preoccupied with the sweaty battles going on inside their glass cages to pay much attention to what's going on outside – or to the Manchester City and England footballer who has just walked into their midst. And this is just the way Hemp likes it – without too much fuss. 'I do get nervous speaking,' Hemp says as she sits down to talk with Mail Sport, which is perfectly understandable. The women's game has grown at a breakneck pace, and many players are still growing accustomed to the intense media scrutiny that comes with being an England player. 'I feel like on the pitch is where I feel most comfortable,' she says. 'When I get on the pitch all my nerves go away, and I feel so confident – that's the way I express myself. 'Off it, I feel like I'm quieter, more reserved. I get on with everyone I meet, but I don't take centre stage. I'm not one to put myself out there. I'm pretty chilled and laid-back. But then when I'm on the pitch, it feels like something just changes. A spark ignites in me.' The problem is, Hemp deserves far more recognition. At just 24, she's already a European champion and World Cup finalist. She's the youngest player to reach 50 goals in the Women's Super League (WSL), has won a record four consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards – more than anyone in the competition's history, male or female – and was nominated for the Ballon d'Or last year. Add an FA Cup and League Cup to that list for good measure. Those who follow the women's game closely understand just how vital Hemp is to the Lionesses' hopes of defending their Euros title this summer. After playing every game of the Euro 2022 success in her first major tournament, including whipping in the corner for Chloe Kelly's final winner, her star has been on an infinite, upward trajectory. Yet her quiet nature off the pitch has often left her overshadowed in the wider public eye, as louder personalities have dominated the spotlight. That said, a fully fit and fired-up Hemp is really all England need. At just 5ft 5in, she's one of the quickest players in the game. When Mail Sport asked the Lionesses which teammate they'd back for pace, the response was unanimous: 'Hempo'. Her directness is refreshing at Manchester City, where the team's possession-heavy style can sometimes test the patience of fans. A naturally left-footed winger with extraordinary ball-carrying ability, Hemp never shies away from taking on defenders – and whenever she gets on the ball, seats inevitably start to bang. Hemp topped the WSL assist leaderboard for the second consecutive time this season – an incredible feat given she spent half of it on the bench, playing just 10 of the 22 league games. And when she's not setting up her England or City teammates, Hemp is scoring the goals herself – her opener in the 2023 World Cup semi-final against Australia was one of the tournament's defining moments. Asked what she attributes her meteoric rise to, Hemp replies: 'I don't know. I feel like whenever I get accolades like PFA Young Player of the Year, one thing I haven't done – which I wish I maybe did do – was celebrate it. I've always thought, 'You won that, nice one, right on to the next.' I've always thought about the thing after. 'I've made the Ballon d'Or list, and now I want to get one step closer. Things like that – just taking every game as it comes, and every accolade that I get along the way is great, and I want to win as many trophies as I can. Equally, I don't put too much pressure on myself. I remind myself that I love playing football, and that's how I perform at my best.' Hemp's sporting prowess When we meet at The Padel Club near the Trafford Centre, Hemp unexpectedly arrives dressed in jeans. Having only recently returned from injury, she wisely decides to sit out – unwilling to risk the summer ahead. Still, padel has become a part of her life, and just talking about it stirs her natural competitiveness. 'There's a padel court near where I live and me and my girlfriend (former Liverpool player Ashley Hodson) tried it one day. Turns out I was actually quite good. I let her be on my team and we took two other players on,' she says, grinning. 'I used to like tennis as well. I think I'm one of those annoying kids that was good at every sport. But it's nice to get together and do something other than football. I play a lot with my City teammates.' The Norfolk native is under-selling herself. She was more than just 'good' at other sports – she might have gone on to play cricket professionally. As for football, it was only because her dad used to take her to Norwich to watch her older sister Amy – a promising youth footballer whose career was cut short by double ACL injuries – that she ended up giving it a try. 'I wasn't really interested in playing football, to be honest. I'd be on the sidelines, not even watching the game. But when I was around seven, my dad took me to a trial, and I just joined in with my sister for a bit. Turned out I was actually pretty decent,' she laughs. 'As a kid it was always cricket in the summer, football in the winter. But as I got older, football became more of a full-time thing and I couldn't commit to both. 'It got to the point where I had to make a choice. When I was 15, Norwich City's Girls' Centre of Excellence – where I was training – shut down, and I had to think seriously about my future and how to get the best out of myself. 'There weren't any teams around me where I was going to be able to keep playing football, so I took the decision to join Bristol City, but I was really sad to stop playing cricket. I'd even started going to England camps – little weekend things – for cricket as well.' After two standout seasons at Bristol – where she was named PFA Young Player of the Year in her debut WSL campaign – Hemp moved to Manchester City in 2018, and the focus has remained firmly on football ever since. Return in time for Switzerland Now we turn to this summer's Euros and the difficult, drawn-out rehab that nearly cost her a place. 'I tore my meniscus last November. I had a scan on it, and I was told I was going to be out for two to three months with a repair. I got it repaired and I was coming back, I was back on the pitch and I was feeling good, feeling confident,' she says. 'And then it was getting a bit irritable when I was out on the pitch and I thought, 'This is a bit weird'. I was coming up to being ready to play. I had a scan and I was told I had to get a re-surgery. 'The recovery was a lot less than the time I had originally – it was around four to six weeks – but I ended up being out for a lot longer than I thought it would be. It was about six months in total. 'The bit that was probably the hardest was thinking that I'm so close to being back and then that being taken away – and then feeling like I was back to square one, even though it wasn't. That was probably the hardest part. Because if I'd been told at the start it was going to be six months, I'd have been able to mentally prepare myself for that. But when you're on the way back and you're thinking that you're nearly there – that was tough.' Still, she kept her sights on the summer, as England prepare for a difficult group stage against France, Netherlands and Wales. Hemp kept her sights on the summer, as England prepare for a difficult group stage against France, Netherlands and Wales 'Of course, my priority was always with City, but long term I was thinking about this summer – and that was a real driver for me. And then to finally get the call from Sarina to say that I was going to the Euros, it was a massive relief. I was so happy and I was quick to call my parents and tell them, because it means so much to me to play for England.' As the conversation winds down – after detours into her worst padel opponent ('Grace Clinton!') and childhood heroes ('Kelly Smith, Karen Carney, Jill Scott') – we come to one final question: how does she want to be remembered? 'The thing that I pride myself in is doing anything for the team, and I want people to think that no matter what, I'd run through a brick wall for my team,' she says, before adding: 'I'd love to go down as one of the best wingers in the world.' At just 24, and with the trajectory she's on, that goal feels well within reach. But first it's off to Switzerland where Hemp can get back to doing what she does best, letting her football do the talking.
Times
3 hours ago
- Times
James Anderson denied win by Kent's tail in first game as captain
This season, perhaps, it could only be Lancashire. After seeming on the brink of their first Championship victory of 2025, James Anderson's side had to settle for a draw against Kent at Blackpool where Grant Stewart's gloriously violent 130 transformed the game. Such an outcome seemed the stuff of fantasy just before three o'clock when Harry Finch had walked off Stanley Park after making a four-ball nought and the visiting team were 116 for seven, still 149 runs in arrears. Then it seemed that Anderson was about to lead his side to an innings victory in the 42-year-old's first venture into captaincy. But only 19 wickets had fallen in the first three days and Stewart now joined the splendidly gutsy Joey Evison with the task of batting for a couple of hours or so on what was still a true surface. They succeeded in thrilling fashion, Stewart whacking Mitchell Stanley for three successive sixes just after tea and reaching his second hundred of the season off 79 balls, with nine fours and eight maximums. Anderson had only bowled four overs until just before the second new ball became available but he returned to have Stewart caught at cover by Tom Bailey to revive his side's hopes. However, Wes Agar came out to join Evison and the pair had added a further 30 runs by the time the players shook hands. At that point, Kent were 63 runs ahead, Evison was 77 not out and only a handful of overs remained in the day. For Kent and their head coach, Adam Hollioake, the draw ends a dismal run in which they had lost four successive games, two of them by an innings. However, they could be forgiven if they regarded this result as a quasi-victory. Certainly the outcome will have come as a disappointment to the Australian off spinner, Chris Green, whose four wickets for 104 in 38 overs had put the skids under Kent. His captain, however, was in more sanguine mood. 'I think we played some great cricket throughout the week,' Anderson said. 'But their lower order played really well today. We knew the new ball was coming but we only had a short time with it to get those last couple of wickets. 'Obviously, the lads are disappointed not to get the win. But I just think the way we approached this week felt different to the rest of the season. And I feel if we keep playing like that, we're going to win games.' Edgbaston (final day of four): Warwickshire (11pts) drew with Somerset (14) A game that was slowly expiring 26 minutes after tea suddenly sparked into life, if only for a further 15 overs, when first Tom Latham returned a well-taken low catch to Craig Overton for 52 and the new batsman, Jacob Bethell, was needlessly roused into a hook by Migael Pretorius's bouncers six overs later, skying a top edge to mid-wicket for 12. Set 377 at 5.46 per over, a target never remotely on, Warwickshire were now 131 for four with 23.2 overs to come. They had lost both openers in the first 31 balls, as Jack Leach's left-arm spin shared the new ball with Matt Henry's pace, but Latham and Sam Hain had apparently stifled all Somerset hopes of a fourth championship success on the bounce in an unflustered 98-run stand. As it was Hain, facing 157 balls for an eventual unbeaten 68, needed Ed Barnard to stay with him until the draw was eventually conceded at 5.43pm. At times a ring of ten men surrounded the bat but, on a slow pitch, alarms were few. Somerset's tactics faltered badly in the morning as they tried to establish a target. Surrendering two early wickets after a busy start, they lost a further three later after unduly assiduous retrenchment. The Australian Corey Rocchiccioli, bowling impressive off spin, helped the confusion with five for 67 on his Warwickshire debut as an overseas player, signed for the four rounds of Kookaburra-ball games. In a more unusual scene on the county circuit, Jonny Bairstow bowled only his second-ever over — 11 years after his first — in Yorkshire's County Championship fixture against Nottinghamshire. The Yorkshire captain, who is the county's first-choice wicketkeeper, handed the gloves to Finlay Bean for the final over of the day but had little to show for his efforts, finishing with figures of 0-6. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
