Sweden's Elanga impressed by Northern Ireland
Anthony Elanga said Northern Ireland are a "really good young team" and praised goalkeeper Pierce Charles despite Sweden's 5-1 win over Michael O'Neill's side on Tuesday night.Nottingham Forest striker Elanga was on the scoresheet in Sweden's friendly victory in Stockholm.Despite the scoreline, the former Manchester United player thinks the beaten visitors are heading in the right direction under O'Neill."I've been watching Northern Ireland and I think they're really good, they've got a really good manager."You've got a really good, young team that play football, play good football. I really enjoy watching you guys play."Elanga knows a number of O'Neill's squad and believes 19-year-old goalkeeper Pierce Charles, who won his sixth cap at the Strawberry Arena, is an "amazing" prospect."I know a few of the players, Ethan Galbraith who I played with at United, the Charles brothers [who were products of the Manchester City youth system]."He [Pierce] is an amazing goalkeeper by the way, he's got a bright future."Sweden's victory came despite being without Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski and Sporting Lisbon striker Victor Gyokeres.Despite the attacking absentees, Elanga said he was "not at all" frustrated to start the game on the bench, especially with Nottingham Forest's FA Cup quarter-final against Brighton on Saturday."Coming on, I wanted to make an impact and score and that's what I did."Important to stay fit and healthy because I've got a lot of games coming up for Nottingham Forest."
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