Courtesy of a 2-1 win against hosts France in Sunday’s final, England’s Under-21 side won the Toulon Tournament for the first time in 22 years.
Lewis Baker, who spent the 2015/16 season on loan from Chelsea at Vitesse Arnhem, headed home the opener on eight minutes. Another Blues’ youngster, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, then doubled his side’s advantage.
Abdou Diallo got one back for the French, but Gareth Southgate’s charges stood firm to win the game and secure England’s first Toulon success since 1994.
England’s side in the final was a strong 11, with the likes of Arsenal’s Calum Chambers, Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse and Norwich City’s Nathan Redmond.
Here’s the side in full: Pickford, Iorfa, Targett, Chalobah, Chambers, Hause, Watmore (Swift 65′), Ward-Prowse (c), Loftus-Cheek (Stephens 90′), Redmond, Baker.
When England last won the competition back in 1994, the line-up for their 2-0 final win against Portugal was as follows: Oakes; Makin, Nethercott, Campbell, Gordon; Sinclair, Parlour, Redknapp, Matteo; Dyer, Bart-Williams
Alas, that ’94 young England side never developed into a side capable to winning trophies. While one wonders if the newly victorious batch of youngsters can build on their Toulon success, maybe it’ll at least boost Roy Hodgson’s senior side ahead of Euro 2016.