Watch England Under 18s contest UEFA final today with 4 young Newcastle stars hoping to make the difference

Four young Newcastle United stars were chosen for the England Under 18 squad to contest this UEFA tournament and now looking forward to today’s final. A trio of 17-year-olds with midfielder Sam Alabi plus attacking players Kyran Thompson and Michael Mills selected. Plus 16-year-old NUFC goalkeeper Roman Dowell.

The young Three Lions competing in the UEFA Friendship Cup in Switzerland during the September and October international window.

The England Under 18s having now completed their three group matches and set for the final on Saturday after ending the group stage with a perfect record.

The eight-team tournament is being hosted by UEFA at their base in Nyon.

Today’s final is at 4pm and both Spain and England had perfect group records.

Spain defeated Ivory Coast, Brazil and Canada.

Whilst for England Under 18s, this was their route to today’s final:

England 3 Colombia 2 (Roman Dowell man of the match, Michael Mills scoring the opening goal and Kyran Thompson an assist, Sam Alabi coming on as a sub in the second half)

England 2 Egypt 1 (England giving other squad members a chance with Dowell sitting this one out and the other three NUFC teenagers coming on as subs in the second half.  Michael Mills had only been on the pitch five minutes when he raced clear of the defence before coolly beating the goalkeeper to score the winning goal)

England 2 Korea Republic 1 (All four United players started this final group game. Sam Alabi with a superb powerful strike from 25 yards to give England the lead. Roman Dowell though was once again clear man of the match, some stunning saves that helped England make it a perfect trio of group wins)

England Under 18s taking on Spain Under 18s, UEFA making the final available to watch HERE.

Great work going on in the younger age levels at Newcastle United, time and resources put into recruiting the best young talent locally and across the UK, as well as from overseas. There are some excellent young players with real first team potential for the future.

The England Under 18s squad for the UEFA Friendship Cup:

Goalkeepers: Roman Dowell (Newcastle United), Ben Vickery (Manchester City)

Defenders: Marlow Barrett (Manchester City), Calvin Diakite (Chelsea), Jacob Howard (Leeds United), Freddie Lawrie (Manchester City), Marli Salmon (Arsenal), Oscar Sandiford (Tottenham Hotspur), Jake Wain (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Sam Alabi (Newcastle United), Samuel Alker (Leeds United), Hugo De Lisle (Leicester City), Erik Farkas (Liverpool), Max Little (Southampton), Tyrese Noubissie (RC Strasbourg)

Forwards: Joel Drakes-Thomas (Crystal Palace), Jashayde Greenwood (Chelsea), Ryan Kavuma-McQueen (Portsmouth, loan from Chelsea), Michael Mills (Newcastle United), Jeremy Monga (Swansea City, loan from Manchester City), Phoenix Offiah (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyran Thompson (Newcastle United)

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