Latest news with #Under21
New York Times
12 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Whitecaps make offer for Canada, Fulham rising talent Luc De Fougerolles
Some Canadian national team players have arrived at the Gold Cup out of their desire to win a trophy and hopefully push themselves up the pecking order on Jesse Marsch's 2026 World Cup roster. Others, like Luc De Fougerolles? The 19-year-old won't run from the fact that he needed to come to this tournament. Advertisement A devastating knee injury kept him out of most of his season with Fulham's Under-21 squad. The mature, talented and physical center back only got his first serious run of games late in the spring. De Fougerolles accepted Marsch's call with the eagerness you'd expect. 'This season was a tough one. Whenever I was playing I felt really good,' De Fougerolles told The Athletic. 'It's great to have (Canada games) now, because otherwise I'd have just been just getting back to it and then done for offseason.' De Fougerolles has logged just five appearances for Canada, the majority of which came this month. But if the explosiveness and smarts he's shown are anything to go on, he may have a promising and impactful national team career ahead of him. His physicality and knowhow on the ball have quickly made him one of Canada's rising stars. '(De Fougerolles) is an incredibly intelligent player,' Marsch said after a standout showing against Ukraine. 'He has the right kind of behaviors and habits.' And now, playing for Canada at the Gold Cup could change De Fougerolles' career path. De Fougerolles is out of contract with Fulham at the end of the month. The Athletic has learned the Vancouver Whitecaps have made an initial offer to sign De Fougerolles to a multi-year contract. A source with knowledge of the offer said the MLS side met with De Fougerolles in Vancouver ahead of Canada's Gold Cup opener. It's believed De Fougerolles is exploring multiple offers for his future, all of which have one common thread: no more youth soccer. 'I need first-team football,' he said defiantly. The dual-national was born in England and joined Fulham's academy when he was 8. Current Canada assistant coach Mauro Biello first became aware of De Fougerolles in 2022, and Marsch has quickly given De Fougerolles opportunities to assert himself. Advertisement Continuing as one of Canada's top young players at the Gold Cup could land him his desired first-team minutes, and this summer, he's getting what's he pined for all year: a chance to play consistently. 'When you are playing with a first team, the need to win for the fans, for yourself, for the players is so high compared to Under-21s, which is more about developing,' De Fougerolles said. While some players utilize strong club seasons to propel them into the national team setup, De Fougerolles' path could be the inverse. Without a full season of games t to bolster his resume, so much of what De Fougerolles wants could be derived from his Canada performances. 'A lot of the players in my Under-21 team are great players, but they just don't have the kind of international (experience) that I have where they can play first-team games. Clubs will be looking at me seeing I've played (games for Canada),' De Fougerolles said. 'If I can play well, it'll definitely help.' De Fougerolles has proven to be a natural fit under Marsch, coming out of his shell in the process. He's not afraid to step out of the back line and is as comfortable on the ball as any modern center back must be. There is a sense of aggression in his game that undercuts his lighthearted persona and boyish grin. 'In training, I always hear (Marsch) in my ear when I'm not tight enough to a striker, not jumping on the midfield or when I should,' De Fougerolles said. 'When I'm in camp, I then I feel like I have to win more duels as well. I can go for it and I'm not worried about what's behind me. I just go and press people and I feel that when I get back to Fulham, it puts me in a really good step because a lot of the players are not really expecting it especially in training: smashing a few people and winning the ball.' Advertisement He used his time off the pitch with injury to bulk up, having constantly surprised Canada's trainers with how much size he has added between camps. And he's not afraid to lean into his physicality, as evidenced by the crunching tackles he landed against Ukraine, Ivory Coast and Honduras. The result is a player who hardly looks like a teenager for Canada. At his best, he has straddled the line between depth center back and starter. Marsch's training sessions are continually exhaustive and demanding. Within those sessions, Marsch has continually challenged his depth players to push assumed starters for more playing time. That's where De Fougerolles comes in. Moïse Bombito and Derek Cornelius remain the odds-on favorites to be Canada's starting center back tandem at the World Cup. Yet De Fougerolles' rapid progression and comfortability in a starting role suggests he could be called on immediately should one of them take a step back. Outside of the locks, Joel Waterman provides dependability in the back. Kamal Miller's game has leveled off as of late, but he's a key cog in the culture of the team and has the World Cup playing time no other Canadian center back can boast. Jamie Knight-Lebel remains full of potential, but he needs more playing time, possibly with Bristol City, to develop more confidence and aggression. Where De Fougerolles fits for Canada in 2026 remains to be seen. That he started alongside Canada's best available players against Ukraine and also started in Canada's Gold Cup opener likely slots him third on the depth chart. He wants to take the experience playing with and against full-time senior players for Canada to show he is ready for the next stage of his career – whether that's in Vancouver or elsewhere. 'I know how good I am and I know what I could be doing,' he said. 'I'm just ready to show people.' De Fougerolles admits his next step could catch him by surprise. And frankly, he's fine with that. Advertisement He formed a friendship with national team forward Liam Millar after the two roomed together at De Fougerolles' first Canada camp. Both players came up through Fulham's academy. Eventually, the two suffered similar injuries, which they traded notes on. Yet throughout their friendship, Millar has shared insight on his path, including detours into Switzerland and the pros and cons of various loan deals. 'I call and text him for advice,' De Fougerolles said. 'I'm quite interested in the different routes you can take.' Playing in MLS, should that be the avenue De Fougerolles considers, could make him familiar with his North American surroundings ahead of a pivotal World Cup on home soil. The Whitecaps trying to sign him suggests De Fougerolles could play regularly in their starting XI under a tactically strong and attack-minded head coach in Jesper Sørensen. The flip side is that for a player raised in a strong English academy, moving across the Atlantic now could make it difficult to hop back over. De Fougerolles doesn't run from the fact that he'd like to play first-team soccer in England eventually. It's worth wondering if staying in England, possibly re-upping with Fulham and going out on loan a lower-tier league, presents a more likely path for De Fougerolles to eventually crack Fulham's first-team squad. 'It's obviously not fully my decision to make,' De Fougerolles said. 'If Fulham want me around, I'll gladly stay and be around the team. But a loan would be amazing. Just to play 40 professional games, I feel like that's part of the game that maybe I'm missing with Under-21s. It's less competitive. So if I were to go to a League One or a Championship team, I think every game would be competitive and that experience would really put me on a good start.' So much of De Fougerolles' club future will be determined over the next two weeks while playing for Canada. He's keeping a level head throughout, with his sights set on something even bigger. 'Everyone's looking towards next summer and they want to have the best year possible next year,' De Fougerolles said. 'So I feel for me, to really push myself and improve I'd have to be playing first-team football somewhere, whether that's at Fulham or somewhere else definitely, because I think I would learn so much and I'd be going to the World Cup in a really good place.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Knauff galvanises Germany as England limp into Euro Under-21 last eight
When Lee Carsley expressed his hope that England's Under-21 players could give Thomas Tuchel 'something to ponder' with their performances while defending their European title in Slovakia, their first-half showing against Germany's second-string side wasn't what he had in mind. Trailing 2-0 at the break after goals from Ansgar Knauff and Nelson Weiper, there was even a brief moment when the result of the group's other match between Slovenia and the Czech Republic might have determined whether they progressed to the quarter-finals. But a significantly improved performance in the second half, as Alex Scott set up a frantic finale that could not quite produce an equaliser, at least gives Carsley something to build on as they prepare to face Spain in the last eight on Saturday night. Having beaten the pre-tournament favourites, who are looking for their record sixth title at this level, in the final two years ago in Georgia, the England manager will know that his side cannot defend like they did against Germany. Advertisement Related: England 1-2 Germany: European Under-21 Championship – live reaction Carsley said this week that this group 'needs more leaders' so leaving James McAtee, the captain, on the bench as one of four changes from the side that was held to a 0-0 draw against Slovenia on Sunday was perhaps an attempt to throw some of the less experienced squad members in at the deep end. Archie Gray and the influential Tino Livramento were also handed a rest, with Jack Hinshelwood and Aston Villa's Samuel Iling-Junior replacing them as full-backs. Although Germany impressively sealed progression to the last eight by scoring seven times in their opening two matches, it was still a surprise to see their coach, Antonio Di Salvo, field a completely changed side to their wins over Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Yet having already defeated Spain in a friendly back in March thanks to a hat-trick from Nick Woltemade – the towering Stuttgart striker who already has four goals in this competition – they didn't seem concerned about potentially losing top spot in the group. It was easy to see why within three minutes as the left-back Lukas Ullrich caught Jarell Quansah napping with a perfectly weighted ball over the top. A deft piece of control and precise finish from Knauff gave Germany an early lead. Quansah was almost on the end of a flowing move involving Ethan Nwaneri as England attempted to hit back. But despite enjoying the lion's share of possession and the stand-in skipper Harvey Elliott's best efforts, they struggled to create chances as Jonathan Rowe – again filling in as a central striker after Liam Delap was diverted to the Club World Cup – found himself isolated. Advertisement It needed a last-ditch intervention from Iling-Junior to deny Knauff a second before Weiner was allowed to head home the Eintracht Frankfurt forward's cross minutes later despite the attentions of Hinshelwood and Charlie Cresswell. Carsley was probably nervously checking the score in the group's other match just in case when a floodlight failure with 45 seconds left of stoppage time brought a premature end to the first half. Thankfully for the hosts in Nitra, power was fully restored for the start of the second half as McAtee was summoned from the bench along with the Birmingham striker Jay Stansfield and Genoa's Brooke Norton-Cuffy. England finally began to look more of a threat as news that the Czechs had taken the lead against Slovenia filtered through, with Norton-Cuffy, a former Arsenal academy player, providing some much-needed impetus down the right flank. A second goal for the Czechs removed any remaining jeopardy as Carsley threw on Liverpool's Tyler Morton and West Brom's Tom Fellows, who was called up as a late replacement for Jobe Bellingham. Scott should have done better with a great chance just after he had been booked for a late challenge before Hinshelwood headed over with the goal gaping. The Bournemouth midfielder gave the travelling England supporters something to cheer when he tapped home following a mazy run from Omari Hutchison. Cresswell came closest to completing the comeback as England laid siege to the German goal in the final 10 minutes but could not direct his header away from the goalkeeper Tjark Ernst.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Knauff galvanises Germany as England limp into Euro Under-21 last eight
When Lee Carsley expressed his hope that England's Under-21 players could give Thomas Tuchel 'something to ponder' with their performances while defending their European title in Slovakia, their first-half showing against Germany's second-string side wasn't what he had in mind. Trailing 2-0 at the break after goals from Ansgar Knauff and Nelson Weiper, there was even a brief moment when the result of the group's other match between Slovenia and the Czech Republic might have determined whether they progressed to the quarter-finals. But a significantly improved performance in the second half, as Alex Scott set up a frantic finale that could not quite produce an equaliser, at least gives Carsley something to build on as they prepare to face Spain in the last eight on Saturday night. Having beaten the pre-tournament favourites, who are looking for their record sixth title at this level, in the final two years ago in Georgia, the England manager will know that his side cannot defend like they did against Germany. Carsley said this week that this group 'needs more leaders' so leaving James McAtee, the captain, on the bench as one of four changes from the side that was held to a 0-0 draw against Slovenia on Sunday was perhaps an attempt to throw some of the less experienced squad members in at the deep end. Archie Gray and the influential Tino Livramento were also handed a rest, with Jack Hinshelwood and Aston Villa's Samuel Iling-Junior replacing them as full-backs. Although Germany impressively sealed progression to the last eight by scoring seven times in their opening two matches, it was still a surprise to see their coach, Antonio Di Salvo, field a completely changed side to their wins over Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Yet having already defeated Spain in a friendly back in March thanks to a hat-trick from Nick Woltemade – the towering Stuttgart striker who already has four goals in this competition – they didn't seem concerned about potentially losing top spot in the group. It was easy to see why within three minutes as the left-back Lukas Ullrich caught Jarell Quansah napping with a perfectly weighted ball over the top. A deft piece of control and precise finish from Knauff gave Germany an early lead. Quansah was almost on the end of a flowing move involving Ethan Nwaneri as England attempted to hit back. But despite enjoying the lion's share of possession and the stand-in skipper Harvey Elliott's best efforts, they struggled to create chances as Jonathan Rowe – again filling in as a central striker after Liam Delap was diverted to the Club World Cup – found himself isolated. It needed a last-ditch intervention from Iling-Junior to deny Knauff a second before Weiner was allowed to head home the Eintracht Frankfurt forward's cross minutes later despite the attentions of Hinshelwood and Charlie Cresswell. Carsley was probably nervously checking the score in the group's other match just in case when a floodlight failure with 45 seconds left of stoppage time brought a premature end to the first half. Thankfully for the hosts in Nitra, power was fully restored for the start of the second half as McAtee was summoned from the bench along with the Birmingham striker Jay Stansfield and Genoa's Brooke Norton-Cuffy. England finally began to look more of a threat as news that the Czechs had taken the lead against Slovenia filtered through, with Norton-Cuffy, a former Arsenal academy player, providing some much-needed impetus down the right flank. A second goal for the Czechs removed any remaining jeopardy as Carsley threw on Liverpool's Tyler Morton and West Brom's Tom Fellows, who was called up as a late replacement for Jobe Bellingham. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Scott should have done better with a great chance just after he had been booked for a late challenge before Hinshelwood headed over with the goal gaping. The Bournemouth midfielder gave the travelling England supporters something to cheer when he tapped home following a mazy run from Omari Hutchison. Cresswell came closest to completing the comeback as England laid siege to the German goal in the final 10 minutes but could not direct his header away from the goalkeeper Tjark Ernst.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Rangers new boy Lyall Cameron ready to make his mark at Ibrox and get club 'back where it belongs'
Lyall Cameron has pledged to return Rangers to the top of Scottish football after finally arriving at the club from Dundee. The 22-year-old midfielder signed a pre-contract agreement in February and will now aim to become an integral part of new manager Russell Martin's side. A Scotland Under-21 international, Cameron says no-one has to tell him of the level of expectation that's now on his shoulders. Vowing to deliver for the Light Blue legions, he said: 'It's amazing to walk in the door, it's a privilege really. I have been looking forward to it for a long time. 'It was a no-brainer as soon as Rangers came in, I was desperate to be here. It is obviously a massive club and the history and everything about it is just amazing. 'Being from Scotland, I know what the club stands for, so I just wanted to jump at the chance. 'It is a new project, they are looking to build, improve and win leagues again and I really wanted to be a part of it. 'I want to come here, make an impression, do as well as possible and get this club back to where it belongs.' Cameron arrives in Glasgow with more than 150 first-team games under his belt, with loans spells at Peterhead and Montrose added to his appearances for the Dundee first team. Despite playing in a Dark Blues side who were battling relegation until the final day of the Premiership season, he delivered 14 goals and nine assists. And he believes that impressive return gives him the confidence that he can cope with the next challenge of his career. 'From a personal perspective, my numbers were good for a midfielder, so I enjoyed it in that way,' he said, 'but it didn't come without difficult days, to be honest. 'We had quite a few bad results and we were hanging around the bottom of the league where no-one wants to be. It is a learning process and I feel like I have learned a lot of things at Dundee which can benefit me going forward in my career. 'I have played in Scotland for three years now, I know what other teams are going to bring, what it is like to go to different places, so that is a benefit for me. 'Playing for Rangers is totally different, you are dominating the ball, whereas at Dundee I was maybe not doing that as much. But it's a thing that I think suits my game, so hopefully I can show that. 'I am grateful for the support I got from the (Dundee) players, staff and fans, but it is a new project, and I think it was time for me to move on and to come to a club like this.' Meanwhile, Rangers are hopeful of concluding deals for two transfer targets as manager Martin begins to build his squad for next season. The Ibrox club are looking to sign Bournemouth right back Max Aarons, who spent last season on loan at Valencia, and Peterborough winger Kwame Poku. A loan deal is the most likely possibility for Aarons, 25, who moved from Norwich to Bournemouth in a £12million transfer in 2023. Poku's contract at Peterborough expires in a fortnight's time. Rangers believe they are in pole position to sign the 23-year-old, despite interest from several clubs. They would pay a minimal training compensation fee to the English side should the deal go through.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Lee Carsley urges England Under-21s to handle the ‘biggest moments' in Euros bid
Lee Carsley has challenged his England Under-21 players to show they have what it takes to handle the 'biggest moments' and get the result needed against Germany to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. Having opened their title defence with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic, England were then left frustrated by being held to a goalless draw by Slovenia on Sunday. Germany, meanwhile, have already made sure of progress to the last eight with two victories and would finish top of Group B if they avoid defeat to England in Nitra on Wednesday night. Carsley hinted he could again freshen up the side, but is confident all of his players have the needed mindset to get at least the point required to book a quarter-final spot against either Spain or Italy. 'We all know what the game is about and how much weight it carries, so we try and remove a bit of that for the players, but they have looked very focused,' Carsley told a press conference. 'We talk about the players having personality on the ball and getting the ball, because it is really important that in the biggest moments of the biggest games, that is what we are trying to prepare these players for. '(For them) to hopefully go on and have senior careers, then they have got to be able to handle these kind of experiences and situations, so I feel we are capable of that.' Carsley added: 'We still want to win the group, so that's the challenge that we set the players. 'We have shown in patches that we have been good, but we can definitely be better. 'The chances that we have created, but then didn't take (against Slovenia) is disappointing. 'Maybe if we had come off that game scoring a couple of goals, then we would probably have a different feeling, but I am sure that there is a lot more goals in this team.' Having beaten Slovenia 3-0 in their opening group game – in which Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade scored a hat-trick – Germany then again impressed with a 4-2 win over the Czechs. 'They are very well organised and have got some very strong players physically,' Carsley said. 'They are probably a little bit more direct than what we are used to watching from German teams that have gone on in the past, but they are really effective with what they do.' Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson, who has started both group matches so far, feels England can step up the challenge. 'We have got to go out there and perform. It is a big game for us,' Anderson, 22, said. 'It is all about trying to get through the group now. 'We have got so much quality in the team and is about showing it on the pitch, so it is about being brave and able to express yourself.'
