Lee Carsley challenges England Under-21s to complete European hat-trick

England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley has challenged his side to repeat the trick after they defended their European Championship title with a 3-2 win over Germany in Bratislava.

Harvey Elliott and Omari Hutchinson gave England a 2-0 first-half lead before Nelson Weiper and Paul Nebel drew Germany level.

Germany came close to snatching it late on when Nebel rattled the woodwork.

Substitute Jonathan Rowe then made an instant impact from the bench in extra-time as his header put England ahead with Germany nearly salvaging an equaliser in the dying moments when Merlin Rohl was denied by the crossbar.

Carsley expressed his pride at his players’ achievement.

“I’m proud of the players, the commitment they’ve shown over the last 28 days and all the instruction we’ve tried to put into them so quickly, they’ve taken it on board,” he told Channel 4 post-match.

“They’ve got so much belief, we spoke about it when we were at St George’s that this squad believe that they can win and that’s the kind of players we need.

“I’m so proud of them, so happy for them. To be European champions for the second time is a great achievement and I suppose the challenge now is to do it again in two years.

“Any setback we’ve had, the players have just got together. I think I said at the start of the tournament, the longer we stay in, the better we play.

“I didn’t think we played great tonight, I thought we sat a little bit too deep and didn’t have as much control as I would’ve wanted, but we probably won’t remember that in a couple of days.”

Carsley’s side had won the tournament two years ago in Georgia and steered his side to back-to-back titles with a thrilling victory in Bratislava.

The 51-year-old had an interim stint in charge of the senior England team following Gareth Southgate’s departure last year and at the start of June, he signed a new deal through to the end of the 2027 European Championship.

When asked what was next and if he could work alongside Thomas Tuchel, Carsley replied: “I’m not sure, I’m going to try and enjoy tonight. I love my job, I’m very proud of the job that I do, I love working with the players.

“Obviously I’ve had a chance with the senior team and loved that. So the best thing I can do is help the pathway and try to help the senior team.”

Marseille forward Rowe ensured England wrapped up the title, flicking a header home two minutes after coming off the bench in extra time and he hailed his team’s mentality.

“Everyone’s exceptional, the mindset from the minute I came into the camp, I could just tell that everyone had the same mindset,” Rowe said.

“We all wanted to win, we’ve done that now, job’s finally finished and we can all celebrate.”