England’s young(ish) lions are two steps from Euro Under-21(ish) glory

HE’S 21 UNTIL HE BECOMES 23

England are into the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championships – although some might say they have already won the real competition, by sneaking the oldest player in the tournament on to their team sheet. Max

Aarons was born on 4 January 2000, while Football Daily was still trying to rid the Millennium Bug from its desktop computer and recovering from too many Tin–WKD cocktails on the big night.

The Norwich defender is 23 years old (23-and-a-half, in fact), which feels a bit like cheating, although tournament rules allow it. Any player who was 21 or under when the qualifiers began is eligible for the finals, so only us dinosaurs born pre-Y2K are barred. When it comes to top-level international sport, marginal gains are imperative so England are making the loophole count, with 12 of the 23 players in their U-21 squad aged 22 or over.

England are yet to concede a goal in the tournament, with Aarons starting two of their four games on the way to the semi-final, using his experience to keep out those pesky kids. Head coach Lee Carsley can boast two more January 2000ers in Morgan Gibbs-White and Ben Johnson. Both are more than seven years older than Theo Walcott was when he went to the actual World Cup in 2006 – a competition we doubt any of this England squad can recall with much clarity.

Few have noticed England’s breezy journey to the final four because TV suits forgot to put the tournament, hosted by Georgia and Romania, on anywhere. It could result in a first triumph since 1984, when Dave S£xton’s side had 25-year-old Gary Bailey in goal.

This time around, England have beaten the Czech Republic, Israel and Germany in the group stage, then edged out Portugal 1-0 in Sunday’s quarter-final. Next up in the last four, England have to beat Israel again in order to book a spot against either Spain or Ukraine in Saturday’s final in Batumi. Here’s to the brave boys/grown adult men. It’s coming home!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

17 March: “Obviously we’re hoping that there’s a bit of fresh impetus, a few different ideas, maybe we surprise the opposition a little bit by doing something different” – Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish waves goodbye to manager Patrick Vieira.

3 July: Mr Roy is appointed as permanent manager once again.

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