McAtee skippers England to win in U21 Euro opener | OneFootball

James McAtee's first tournament outing as England's Under-21 captain ended in a 3-1 victory over Czechia in Slovakia.

Our Academy graduate was named as the Three Lions skipper for the tournament by Lee Carsley last week and began life in the role with a typically assured 70-minute display on Thursday evening.

Playing in the No.10 role, McAtee was tasked with linking midfield with attack and roaming into pockets of space to move the opposition defence around.

It was his assist that was crucial in Harvey Elliott breaking the deadlock in the 40th minute, laying the pass off for Elliott to strike low and hard.

Tino Livramento and Jonathan Rowe then combined for England's second shortly after half-time before Daniel Fila restored hope for Czechia just a few minutes later.

However, it was England who got the next goal of the game and ensured a victory through centre-back Charlie Cresswell's towering header with around 15 minutes to go.

The three points put England alongside Germany as the early favourites to progress through Group B after the latter defeated Slovenia 2-0.

The top two in each group will qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament, which culminates in Bratislava on 28 June.

McAtee and England are next in action on Sunday when they play Slovenia in a 17:00 (UK) kick-off. UK viewers can see every England match live on Channel 4.