England men's captain Harry Kane leads the praise for Young Lions' U21s Euros triumph as Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand and Prime Minister Rushi Sunak hail their 'wonderful' achievement
- England Under 21s beat Spain in the final to be crowned European champions
- Former and current Three Lions players took to social media to praise the team
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Gary Lineker and Harry Kane were among some of the big names to congratulate the England Under 21 team following their Euros triumph.
The young Three Lions won their first silverware in 39 years with a 1-0 win over Spain in the final thanks to Curtis Jones' goal.
Lee Carsley's side were unsurprisingly lauded by fans, former and current England players as well as the Prime Minister.
Former striker and BBC Match of The Day presenter Gary Lineker Tweeted: 'Wonderful. Congratulations', with clapping emojis.
England's all-time top goal scorer and current captain Harry Kane wrote: 'Yesss lads! What a win! Done the country proud.'
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England Under 21s were crowned European champions on Saturday after beating Spain
James Trafford produced an incredible late double save as England won the Under-21 Euros
Rio Ferdinand, who was capped 81 times by the senior team simply said: 'Booooom!!!', with clapping signs.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also congratulated England and he signalled out goalkeeper James Trafford, who made a crucial save late in the match.
'They’ve done it! Congratulations England U21s on becoming European champions', Sunak tweeted.
'And to go a whole tournament without conceding - James Trafford take a bow'.
England were leading 1-0 courtesy of a goal in first half stoppage time after Cole Palmer's free-kick deflected in off Curtis Jones.
It looked like England would be able to see out the win in Georgia but there was late drama as following a VAR check defender Levi Colwill was penalised for a foul in the area.
Abel Ruiz stepped up to take the penalty in the ninth minute of second half stoppage time but Trafford managed to save it and then responded by keeping out the rebound.
It is the first time that England have won the Under-21 Euros since 1984 and just the third time that they have won the trophy overall.
After the game, Man City youngster Trafford made the astonishing claim that he predicted his penalty save earlier in the day.
‘I told everyone this morning I was going to save a pen,’ Trafford said. ‘I knew I would save. It was pretty easy really. I told all my mates back home I was going to save one.
‘The clean sheet record means a lot to us because it would take a massive effort to get broken. We are a very good team and we believe nobody can score against us and we showed that.’
Manager Lee Carsley added: ‘We’ve practised pens for 10 mins every day for the past month. James had had mixed success but the amount of work that goes in by the goalkeeping department has really helped and it’s testament to them.'
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