England Under-21s have proved they have the fight to defend their European title.
The mass brawl at the final whistle, coupled with a brilliant Euro 2025 quarter-final victory over Spain on Saturday, removed any doubt these Young Lions could be a soft touch.
Charlie Cresswell promised pre-game there would be no lack of fight from England after their limp 2-1 loss to Germany and the Young Lions lived up to the billing.
Cresswell was at the heart of protecting his team-mates, with players willing to fight for each other following a late challenge on Tino Livramento seconds before the final whistle sounded on their 3-1 victory.
Similar scenes followed England’s Euro 2023 final victory over Spain and the defending champions are not willing to let their title go quietly.
They now face the Netherlands in the semi-finals on Wednesday after a performance full of class, style, guile and fight.
“There’s better ways to build camaraderie,” manager Lee Carsley joked afterwards. “But we had something similar in the final [in 2023]. Emotions run high in those scenarios, you don’t want anyone to get sent off or throw a punch.
“You can see what it means to the players, we probably have to give them a bit of leeway. Thankfully it didn’t go over the top, it’s still not nice to see. We are always trying to encourage younger players to take up football but the passion was just a bit much.”
James McAtee, scorer of England’s early opener, also epitomised the mood, the Manchester City midfielder ready and willing to dish it out.
He said: “We were the two big teams in the tournament, so them kicking off, we can’t just sit back and just let them do it. We have to give them a bit back, so I’m happy with the boys.”
