Jake Forster-Caskey believes the England Under 21 team have the ability, confidence and togetherness to win this summer’s European Championship in the Czech Republic.
This is the England team’s fifth straight appearance in the finals.
They have failed to get out the group stage in the past two editions but there is a belief within Gareth Southgate’s side that such an embarrassing early exit will be avoided this time.
There confidence is such that Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Forster-Caskey believes they can bring home the trophy.
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“I believe we can win it,” he said. “I think everybody believes that we can win it.
“We’re all full of confidence and we’re training well. I think anything can happen.
“We’ve got some great individuals here, the likes of Harry [Kane] and other players that have been to the first team and come back down.
“We’ve got some great players and great team spirit, so hopefully that takes us far in the tournament.”
The squad are based at Olomouc and open their campaign Thursday in a Group B opener against Portugal.
Southgate has stuck with the players that got them to the finals, rather than selecting eligible senior players, such as Raheem Sterling, Jack Wilshere and Phil Jones, and that has resulted in a close bond in the squad.
Forster-Caskey, though, was never concerned about losing his place to a more experienced compatriot and is determined to make his mark this summer.
“The players have got us here and the players are in the first team are first-team players,” he said.
“Maybe that was a difficult one to choose from, but we’re a tight-knit group and we’ll just do the best we can when the games come around.”
Portugal will be a tough first test, as they made the finals with the only perfect record in qualification.
Southgate’s men, though, will head to Uherske Hradiste with the confidence boost gained from a 3-1 victory against Portugal in a November friendly, when Danny Ings scored a double.
The two-week-long tournament opens Wednesday with the Czech Republic taking on Denmark at Prague’s Stadion Eden.
The hosts will be seeking to go one better than their last competitive meeting with Denmark at the venue, a 2-2 draw in November.
The 20,800-seat stadium, home to the Slavia Prague club, is sold out for Wednesday night’s match which marks the hosts’ return to this level after an absence of four years.
“Almost everywhere you can feel that a big event is going to start,” Sparta Prague midfielder Ladislav Krejci told Uefa.com.
“There are adverts on TV, billboards, fans are talking about it, it is great to see that such a big tournament is going to be played in our country. For all of us, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.”
Under 21 European Championship groups and fixtures
Group A Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Serbia
Fixtures (in UAE time)
Wednesday
Czech Republic v Denmark, 8pm
Germany v Serbia, 10.45pm
June 20
Serbia v Czech Republic, 8pm
Germany v Denmark, 10.45pm
June 23
Czech Republic v Germany 10.45pm
Denmark v Serbia, 10.45pm
Group B England, Italy, Portuga, Sweden
Fixtures (in UAE time)
Thursday
Italy v Sweden, 8pm
England v Portugal, 10.45pm
June 21
Sweden v England, 8pm
Italy v Portugal, 10.45pm
June 24
England v Italy, 10.45pm
Portugal v Sweden, 10.45pm
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