Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha has been called up to the England Under-17s squad for this summer’s European Championships.
The tournament starts next week in Albania, with Neil Ryan’s young Lions set to begin the campaign with a group-stage clash against Belgium on 20 May. England will then play Italy and Czech Republic before the knockout stages begin.
The team meets up later this week and will travel to Albania on Friday. Ngumoha is the only Liverpool representative in the squad, which features four players from Manchester City and three Tottenham Hotspur protegees.
Ngumoha played in all six qualifying matches, netting two in the 5-0 win over Northern Ireland in March.
The 16-year-old joined Liverpool from Chelsea last summer and has impressed at youth level this season, making 25 appearances across the various age groups. The teenager netted two in the Under-21s’ final league game of the season at Aston Villa.
Ngumoha has also trained regularly with the first-team squad and was included on the bench for Liverpool’s Carabao Cup tie against Southampton in December. The following month, he made his first-team debut in the FA Cup win over Accrington Stanley.
At 16 years and 135 days, Ngumoha became the youngest player to start a game for Liverpool and play in the FA Cup.
“He’s been with us now for half a season. Every time when he comes training with us we see what his qualities are,” Arne Slot said after the 4-0 win over Accrington, when asked about Ngumoha.
“He can dominate one-v-one situations, he is very quick on his feet, he can change directions really fast.
“I’m always happy if a player makes his debut that he shows what we see on the training ground as well, so the fans could see it.
“And I think the fans liked what they saw; you could feel this in the stadium in the first half already and when I took him out from the reaction of the fans they liked what they saw as well.
“So, special day for him – making your debut, win. He will sleep well tonight, I assume.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Since his inclusion in the senior team, the winger was named in Liverpool’s Champions League squad, but didn’t feature in the competition. He has mainly played for the Under-21s since the turn of the year – an impressive feat given he is just 16.
Ngumoha will continue his development with the England squad in Albania and fans can stream the games live on live on UEFA.TV.
England Under-17 squad in full
Goalkeepers : Landre Awesu (West Ham United), Freddy Bernal (Chelsea), Jack Porter (Arsenal)
Defenders : Kaden Braithwaite (Manchester City), Brad Burrowes (Aston Villa), Jun’ai Byfield (Tottenham Hotspur), Malachi Hardy (Tottenham Hotspur), Bendito Mantato (Manchester United), Freddie Simmonds (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Midfielders : Max Dowman (Arsenal), Landon Emenalo (Chelsea), Finlay Gorman (Manchester City), Louis Page (Leicester City), Seth Ridgeon (Fulham), Luca Williams-Barnett (Tottenham Hotspur)
Forwards : Harry Gray (Leeds United), Reigan Heskey (Manchester City), Harry Howell (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ryan McAidoo (Manchester City), Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool), Alejandro Rodriguez (Olympique Lyonnais)
