Published 04 July 2022 2 min read
Men's U19
Harvey Vale's tribute to his family after England's U19 EURO joy
The Young Lions captain spoke emotionally after helped England to U19 EURO title in Slovakia
England MU19s captain Harvey Vale paid tribute to his parents and family for the time and commitment they showed to put him on the path to EURO glory.
The Chelsea midfielder led the Young Lions to this year’s UEFA U19 EURO title in Slovakia on Friday evening, after a 3-1 extra-time victory over Israel.
The result made it a clean sweep of five wins from five games for Ian Foster’s side at the tournament, with Vale skippering the side in all but one match.
And the Sussex-born schemer was backed by 13 members of his family on Friday, as they made the trip to Trnava to cheer him on.
"I've had 13 people here, my whole family, I think my mum is crying,” said Vale, after the game.
"So thank-you for supporting me ever since I was a little boy, doing those long car journeys which I know you guys didn’t always want to do.
“It means everything to me and it's led to this point so thank-you.”
The Chelsea midfielder led the Young Lions to this year’s UEFA U19 EURO title in Slovakia on Friday evening, after a 3-1 extra-time victory over Israel.
The result made it a clean sweep of five wins from five games for Ian Foster’s side at the tournament, with Vale skippering the side in all but one match.
And the Sussex-born schemer was backed by 13 members of his family on Friday, as they made the trip to Trnava to cheer him on.
"I've had 13 people here, my whole family, I think my mum is crying,” said Vale, after the game.
"So thank-you for supporting me ever since I was a little boy, doing those long car journeys which I know you guys didn’t always want to do.
“It means everything to me and it's led to this point so thank-you.”
02 Jul 2022
3:00
Highlights: England MU19s 3-1 Israel
Watch back as the Young Lions become U19 EURO champions in Slovakia
England camp up against their toughest test of the tournament in the final too, having to come back from being a goal down at half time before taking the match to extra time thanks to Callum Doyle’s equaliser.
And when Vale’s cross picked out Carney Chukwuemeka to put the Young Lions ahead before Aaron Ramsey made it 3-1, there were scenes of joy from the whole squad.
"I feel like I can't even describe it at the moment,” he added.
“It's been a dream of mine since I was a little boy to win a trophy with England.
"It's unbelievable and hopefully this is just the first of many now.”
Not only did the squad come home with the trophy, but their performance also saw them secure qualification for next year’s FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
And when Vale’s cross picked out Carney Chukwuemeka to put the Young Lions ahead before Aaron Ramsey made it 3-1, there were scenes of joy from the whole squad.
"I feel like I can't even describe it at the moment,” he added.
“It's been a dream of mine since I was a little boy to win a trophy with England.
"It's unbelievable and hopefully this is just the first of many now.”
Not only did the squad come home with the trophy, but their performance also saw them secure qualification for next year’s FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
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