MUAMBA CONFIDENT AHEAD OF PLAY-OFF
Fabrice Muamba believes that whoever England Under-21s draw on Friday for their October play-off on the road to the European Championship Finals in Sweden, the three lions are confident they will advance.
The Bolton midfielder was one of the stars when the U-21s defeated Portugal 2-0 last Friday, and was delighted to make his first outing on Wembley's hallowed turf. The win booked England’s place at the top of their European Championships qualifying group in their final game.
England's youngsters’ hopes are high, after conceding only one goal and two points from eight group games, that they can make it to the tournament in Sweden next summer.
In the 14-club draw England could face Italy, Turkey, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Serbia, Germany, Wales, Denmark, Belarus, Israel or France.
The 20-year-old, born in Kinshasa, Zaire, said: "We are really confident we can win the play-off. We are very well organised as a team and really confident in our ability. We believe we can go through to the tournament.
"We wanted to win the game against Portugal and the boys did a good job - it was more of a team performance than about an individual. The boys put in a great shift in there and we deserved to win."
And Muamba was pleased that he was able to fulfil a childhood dream. He added: "It was pleasing to play in this wonderful stadium and I was happy. I was looking forward to playing here - it was an accomplishment I had wanted to do my whole life and I really enjoyed it. It was great.
"Even when we trained on the pitch in the week it was a great feeling - tonight it was even better. Friday was very, very special and the atmosphere was great. It was fantastic to have 30,000 fans cheering you on."
Fabrice Muamba believes that whoever England Under-21s draw on Friday for their October play-off on the road to the European Championship Finals in Sweden, the three lions are confident they will advance.
The Bolton midfielder was one of the stars when the U-21s defeated Portugal 2-0 last Friday, and was delighted to make his first outing on Wembley's hallowed turf. The win booked England’s place at the top of their European Championships qualifying group in their final game.
England's youngsters’ hopes are high, after conceding only one goal and two points from eight group games, that they can make it to the tournament in Sweden next summer.
In the 14-club draw England could face Italy, Turkey, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, Serbia, Germany, Wales, Denmark, Belarus, Israel or France.
The 20-year-old, born in Kinshasa, Zaire, said: "We are really confident we can win the play-off. We are very well organised as a team and really confident in our ability. We believe we can go through to the tournament.
"We wanted to win the game against Portugal and the boys did a good job - it was more of a team performance than about an individual. The boys put in a great shift in there and we deserved to win."
And Muamba was pleased that he was able to fulfil a childhood dream. He added: "It was pleasing to play in this wonderful stadium and I was happy. I was looking forward to playing here - it was an accomplishment I had wanted to do my whole life and I really enjoyed it. It was great.
"Even when we trained on the pitch in the week it was a great feeling - tonight it was even better. Friday was very, very special and the atmosphere was great. It was fantastic to have 30,000 fans cheering you on."
Labels: Bolton, England Under-21s, Fabrice Muamba, football
