England Under-21 interim manager Ben Futcher praised his side’s “unbelievable character” after they came back from a second-half deficit to defeat Ukraine 2-1 in a crucial 2025 UEFA European Championship Qualification match.
On the ropes after Taras Mykhavo’s 71st-minute goals for the visitors, the Young Lions had to respond or risk losing out on a chance of automatic qualification for the 2025 U21 Euros.
Respond they did, and in particular did Manchester City youngster James McAtee, who paid a touching tribute to former Sheffield United teammate George Baldock in his celebration for the two goals he bagged in the 88th and 92nd minutes.
After a visibly emotional McAtee was lauded by his teammates and went through a painful post-match interview, Futcher was keen to heap praise on the 21-year-old starlet.
“It’s been difficult for Macca. He’s a fantastic footballer,” said Futcher.
“He’s a very lively character, he’s wanted to be around the camp, wanted to train, wanted football. I’m absolutely delighted he’s got the two goals. It’s a fitting tribute to a friend of his.”
Futcher continued: “It’s not how we wanted it to go, but to get two late goals to win the game is a great feeling [and] the players are delighted. We made it difficult for ourselves, but we showed unbelievable character.
“It would have been easy to die it down a little bit, but we didn’t; we kept going; we kept throwing attacking players on. The character, the personality and belief was outstanding - I thought the players deserved it.”
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Qualification all-but secured
While the result all but confirmed England’s automatic qualification for next summer’s tournament in Slovakia, there is the small matter of a final qualifier against Azerbaijan on Tuesday to fully confirm their passage courtesy of the best second-placed team route.
They could still overhaul Ukraine if the visitors to Bournemouth now fall to defeat in their final match away to Serbia, but Futcher explained that he was pleased with achieving the initial priority of beating the Group F leaders.
“I'm delighted that we’re [almost there], I don't think we're officially qualified, but that was the remit, tonight was about winning the game,” said Futcher.
“We knew how difficult it was going to be. They'd won eight out of eight, so it was always going to be a tough night and it was. But the character the lads showed, do you know what? It was outstanding. They're absolutely buzzing in there, and rightly so.”
Looking past the result, England’s talented side also showed flashes of brilliance at times, with striker Liam Delap constantly looking threatening with the ball, wingers Jaden Philogene and Omari Hutchinson dangerous, and substitutes Morgan Rogers and Jamie Gittens offering plenty late on.
Futcher said: “[I’m] extremely proud because I thought for long periods we were very good.
“I thought we missed opportunities and gave a goal away from a set play. The more we go for it, the more it opens up. It was a tough shift for the lads, but as I said, we stuck at it and we got the two goals that were massive and the result was really important tonight.”
Futcher added: “We certainly wanted to play with energy tonight and I thought we did. We moved the ball well at times. I'd like us to be a little bit more ruthless. I thought we should have gone a goal up first half and we missed a good chance in the second half.
“We made it a little bit more difficult for ourselves than it needed to be, but as I say, they're a very good team and at the end of the day we got the result, showed good character, two good finishes by James McAtee and it turned out to be a good night.”
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Carsley quotes taken "out of context"
Amidst all the late drama at the Vitality Stadium, it was easy to forget the big story coming into the Friday night fixture.
Lee Carsley had been the talk of the town after his comments following the England senior team’s 2-1 defeat to Greece the previous night, letting slip in his post-match interview that he would “hopefully” return to his role as U21 manager after his six-match senior interim spell.
With Futcher stepping up from his U20 managerial role to be the U21 interim boss, his future will also be dictated by the Football Association’s ultimate decision on Carsley.
Futcher said: “I've seen that interview. I think it's probably taken a little bit out of context, what he said, if I'm being honest.
“But my remit was to step in while Lee was with the seniors, to try and get qualification for the tournament. So that's my job.
“I'm just kind of stepping in, trying to help out, trying to help a really talented group of players qualify and perform well. So that's where I'm at and I'll take it, you know, one camp at a time.”
