Support our England under-21s

You may not realise it but English Football really has something to shout about. Our England under-21 squad have reached the semi finals of the UEFA European U21 Championships. What an achievement for the team and for manager Stuart Pearce. But is the whole country applauding them? Well, they would if the good news was being shared a bit more.

If England’s first team had reached the semi finals of such a big tournament, it would be splashed all over the newspapers and the bunting would already be out. Union Jack sales would have soared through the roof and we would all be pouring over our diaries to make sure we were free for both the semi final clash and the finals. There are, of course, die-hard fans who have been supporting the under-21s in their quest to lift the European U21 crown, a prospect which is looking more and more likely.

But this is our England side of the future we are talking about. Stars like Theo Walcott and James Milner. There should be more publicity and more support. All football fans should be behind them and wishing them well. Moreover, the matches should be on terrestrial TV. Let’s face it, until Fabio Capello took over as England manager, watching the under 21 squad was often more entertaining than watching their elders. They certainly put in a scintillating performance against Spain to reach the semi finals with a convincing 2-0 win in Gothenburg.

A huge surprise was Pearce’s decision to leave out Theo Walcott from the starting line up. Reading between the lines, he obviously wanted to give Walcott a test of character and it must have been quite a shock when his name went down as a sub on the board.
But as Pearce later explained, he treats every player the same and gives no one special treatment, no matter what their ability. His tactic seemed to work. Pearce was delighted with Walcott’s reaction. He wanted him to come out and fight for his place and he did. “I saw what he was about as a man and a player,” said Pearce.

Walcott came on in the second half as part of a double substitution with Frazer Campbell. England had played well in the first half but Spain could have taken the lead but for Neduon Onuoha over-hitting a back pass which had to be cleared off the line by Joe Hart. Milner then opted to take his own penalty after being fouled in the box but goalkeeper Sergie Aseyo went the right way.