Thomas Tuchel praises Lewis-Skelly’s “amazing” England debut | OneFootball

Myles Lewis-Skelly had the perfect England debut on Friday night, scoring a goal, helping the team to a clean-sheet win, winning Player of the Match, and receiving praise from his manager.

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Myles Lewis-Skelly admitted he was “lost for words” after his England debut on Friday night, and it’s not hard to see why.

Pretty much everything went right for the Arsenal youngster on his debut, as he became the youngest-ever England debutant to score for the team.

That goal came just 20 minutes into the match, with the 18-year-old latching onto a Jude Bellingham through ball to slide a first-time finish through the goalkeeper’s legs for 1-0.

Playing as a left-back, Lewis-Skelly would also have been pleased to get through his appearance without England conceding.

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Fellow Arsenal man Declan Rice had his own time to shine later in the match, assisting England’s second goal in the 2-0 win. But this was Lewis-Skelly’s night, and it was the youngster who was handed the Player of the Match award after the game.

“He’s fearless,” Rice said of Lewis-Skelly afterwards. “He does everything right off the pitch, he prepares himself. He’s only 18, I try to look after him as best as I can, but I knew he was going to play like that tonight, because of the confidence he has in himself and the way he’s trained all week.”

“He was amazing in the camp, he’s full of confidence, full of humour, and such an open and mature character,” England boss Thomas Tuchel added.

“You see everything that you see on the pitch, off the pitch. He was straight away a part of the group, very impressive, he does it with a natural confidence.

“This is how he plays football. It was a great performance, he’s full of courage, full of quality. And even more so that with his little run behind the line he could be decisive and open this game for us. Amazing.”

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

The break isn’t over yet, and England have another World Cup qualifier against Latvia on Monday. Given the current shortage of left-back options, Lewis-Skelly may well be asked to start once again.

If the Hale End graduate approaches that game with the same fearlessness as this one, that shouldn’t be a problem.