greg . 2025-06-29 01:03:36

Lee Carsley eyes Under-21 Euro hat-trick as England pipe Germany to go back-to-back

Lee Carsley spoke of his pride in his stars after they beat Germany 3-2 after added time in Bratislava, to lift their second successive Under-21 European Tournament title, but the coach now has his sights set on creating extra record books in two years' time.

England were made to work hard to retain their title, losing a two-strike advantage thanks to goals from Nelson Weiper and Paul Nebel, but a 91st-minute header from Jonathan Rowe was enough to see them over the line.

It was Rowe's first strike in the tournament, and Carsley applauded the Marseille forward for taking his chance when it presented itself.

Carsley said to reporters amid the post-fixture media briefing: "Jonathan's done so well when he has got an opportunity at Marseille, and he fully deserves to be in the squad.

"He probably thought that he was out of the choices, but he has extra than deserved to be part of it.

He has started a many matches, came on as a sub, made an impact and his enthusiasm around the hotel and preparation has been contagious.

"Germany will look back at the final with few regret, namely that the tournament's top goalscorer, Nico Woltemade, was unable to muster one shot on prospect in the 120 minutes of play.

 Speaking over how he kept the forward quiet, Carsley explained: "The two central defenders (Jarrell Quansah and Charlie Cresswell) and Alex (Scott) and Elliott (Anderson) should take a lot of credit for that.

"We tried to almost throw a trap around him when the ball was near him since we knew how threatening he was.

"We probably spoke over him for maybe five minutes in total since I always want to think over our threats.

"Their success in Slovakia has been built around a lone forward setup, headed by Jay Stansfield.

In the second half, he was replaced by a extra defensive athlete in Brooke Norton-Cuffy.

Rowe, brought on at the start of added time, made an instant impact in the number nine position with his strike.

Carsley's tactical decision to go forwardless for the last 28 minutes of the fixture was England's best chance to victory the fixture.

"I always try and keep as multiple attacking stars on the pitch since I wanted to victory, I wanted to result.

I always think the longer you can keep Harvey (Elliott) and James (McAtee) on, the extra chance you have of option creating or netting a strike.

"In my mind, the substitutions are every over attacking and I don't want this generation of England stars to see a fixture out, I want us to result again, I want us to try and victory the fixture by netting goals rather than taking them chances of going to penalties or leaving anything to chance.

"They definitely took that on board; every time we attacked, we tried to result.

"England's achievements in going back-to-back mirror those of the 1980s when under Dave Sexton, they were able to achieve the same feat.

The tournament has grown since later, and six matches in 16 days has been a whirlwind for the side.

Carsley attributed the victory to his whole squad and their belief in getting the job done, during never ruling out the possibility of going for the never-done-before hat-trick in 2027.

He added: "I am never thinking over moving on too quickly.

It was a great prospect to go for Dave Sexton's two in 82 and 84 and the majority important thing is that the Under-21s keep winning, keep producing stars for the senior squad.

"It's a brilliant thing to go for, I am definitely looking forward to that.

It's a great prospect to go for, I don't think it's been done before.

"But, we have to give this squad so much credit.

I am so satisfied with the stars.

"Read extra from Bratislava on Betopick.