Dwight McNeil Selected For England’s European U21 Championships Squad
Burnley Football Club have this morning confirmed that winger Dwight McNeil has been included in Aidy Boothroyd’s 23 man squad to represent England at the European U21 Championships hosted by Hungary & Slovenia. The group stages of the tournament will take place in this months international break, with the eight-team knock-out phase being played at the end of the season.
The Clarets midfielder will be looking to help England secure a top-two place in Group D, which is being staged in Slovenia to reach the quarter-finals at the end of May. Speaking about being selected for the tournament Dwight McNeil said, “It’s always special when you are selected to represent your country. It’s a big tournament and hopefully we can perform on the big stage.
It’s always nice to go there having played well in your recent games. It’s a different environment with a different style of play but I think I adapt well there and it’s a good team to be around. We did well in the group, winning every game except for drawing one, so we’ll be going there with a lot of confidence. We’ve got a good strong team with a lot of experience as well and hopefully we can go all the way.”
England, who last won the Championships in 1984, reached the finals by topping their qualifying group with nine wins from their ten matches, will now face Portugal, Croatia and Switzerland in their bid to reach the last eight of the tournament for only the second time since 2009. The England squad for the tournament is as follows:-
England squad:
Goalkeepers – Josef Bursik (Stoke City), Josh Griffiths (West Bromwich Albion), Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United)
Defenders: – Max Aarons (Norwich City), Ben Godfrey (Everton), Marc Guehi (Chelsea), Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth), Ryan Sessegnon (Tottenham), Steven Sessegnon (Fulham), Japhet Tanganga (Tottenham), Ben Wilmot (Watford)
Midfielders – Tom Davies (Everton), Ebere Eze (Crystal Palace), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Dwight McNeil (Burnley), Oliver Skipp (Tottenham)
Forwards – Rhian Brewster (Sheffield United), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), Noni Madueke (PSV Eindhoven), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal)
Tournament details
The tournament will be split into four groups with England included in group D alongside Portugal, Croatia and Switzerland with Englands group games taking place between the 25th & 31st March 2021. Should Dwight McNeil and the rest of the England team progress to the Knockout stages of the competition, then they will return to Hungary or Slovenia after the Premier League season finishes on the 31st May 2021.
Group A – Hungary (hosts) Germany Romania Netherlands
Group B – Slovenia (hosts) Spain (holders) Czech Republic Italy
Group C – Russia Iceland France Denmark
Group D – Portugal Croatia England Switzerland
England Group D fixtures:
Thursday 25 March; England v Switzerland, Koper, Slovenia. KO: 3pm (local)
Sunday 28 March; Portugal v England, Ljubljana, Slovenia. KO: 9pm (local)
Wednesday 31 March; Croatia v England, Koper, Slovenia. KO: 6pm (local)
Knockout phase (31 May–6 June)
Monday 31 May: Quarter-finals
QF1: Winner Group A vs Runner-up Group C (Budapest)
QF2: Winner Group C vs Runner-up Group A (Székesfehérvár)
QF3: Winner Group B vs Runner-up Group D (Maribor)
QF4: Winner Group D vs Runner-up Group B (Ljubljana)
Thursday 3 June: Semi-finals
SF1: Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2 (Székesfehérvár)
SF2: Winner QF3 vs Winner QF4 (Maribor)
Sunday 6 June: Final
Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 (Ljubljana)
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