Arsenal training
Arsenal training
A late call-up only counts when the coach uses it. Sixteen minutes in a winning side is a debut. It is also a start.
Youth camps run on two games in four days. The second one is where the new names appear, once the first XI has been settled.
England’s age-group sides have won every match of this break. Arsenal have had someone in most of them.
Andre Harriman-Annous made his England Under-20 debut as a substitute in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over France. Ife Ibrahim started for the Under-19s in a 2-1 win over Norway and played the opening hour. Max Dowman came on for the last half-hour and saw the game out.
Harriman-Annous replaced injured West Brom striker Jimmy-Jay Morgan in the squad. He was an unused substitute in Friday’s 3-1 win over Italy, then played the final 16 minutes against France. That result kept England’s 100 per cent record in the Euro Elite League. Only Poland and Germany have also won their first two games. England face Germany on Saturday at 4.30pm.
Ibrahim’s debut was a start. Dowman had already scored the winner in Friday’s 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland, playing 81 minutes. The Under-19s play the United States on Friday and Belgium on Monday.
Elsewhere in the camp, Ethan Nwaneri played 69 minutes in the Under-21s’ 4-2 qualifier win over Kazakhstan. The Under-17s beat the Republic of Ireland 5-1 and Israel 2-1, with goalkeeper Alexei Phillips and defender Marcell Bernard among the Arsenal names used. The Under-21s face Slovakia on Friday and the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday.
Harriman-Annous has already had senior-pathway minutes with the Under-21s, including a Vertu Trophy outing against Barnet. A first England Under-20 cap in a game England had to win is the next step, not a first-team announcement. Ibrahim’s hour against Norway is the same kind of marker at Under-19 level.
Dowman remains the name opposition coaches already know. Scoring the winner against Ireland and then coming on to protect a lead in Norway is a full break, not a cameo. He is still the one being managed between club and country.
No quotes have come from the two debutants. The results are the statement. England won. Both got on. Germany on Saturday is the next test for Harriman-Annous if he is used again. Ibrahim has two more friendlies to show the start against Norway was not a one-off.