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» English Football League well represented in last 16 of European Championships
A TOTAL of 32 players from EFL clubs will contest the final stages of
UEFA Euro 2016, a record figure for clubs outside of English football’s
top-flight.
Leading the way are Northern Ireland with 12 players from clubs
across all three divisions of the EFL including Reading’s Oliver
Norwood, Jamie Ward of Nottingham Forest and Leeds United’s Stuart
Dallas.
On Saturday, in Paris, they will take on a group-winning Welsh squad
that includes 7 EFL players including Reading full-back Chris Gunter and
Dave Edwards of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Fresh from their memorable late victory over Italy, the Republic of
Ireland, whose squad includes 10 current EFL players, will face hosts
France in Lyon with Norwich City pair Robbie Brady and Wes Hoolahan
likely to play a key role once again having combined to score Ireland’s
stunning winner over the Azzurri.
They’ll be joined by Derby County duo Jeff Hendrick and Richard
Keogh, Blackburn Rovers’ Shane Duffy and Daryl Murphy of Ipswich Town
who are all set to feature prominently. Facing them in the French squad
will be Moussa Sissoko of Newcastle United who impressed in Les Bleus’
final group match with Switzerland.
From further afield, Aron Gunnarsson of Cardiff City and Charlton
Athletic’s Johann Berg Gudmundsson are likely to line-up for Iceland
against England, with goalkeeper Tom Heaton from last season’s EFL
Champions, Burnley included in Roy Hodgson’s 23 man squad, 16 of whom
have played in the EFL during their senior careers with a further four
players (Daniel Sturridge, Jack Wilshere, Chris Smalling and Raheem
Sterling) having being developed in full or in part by an EFL club’s
youth system.
EURO 2016:
Only Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford and Eric Dier have had no involvement with an EFL club.
EFL Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey said: “I think our clubs and their
fans will be rightly proud to see so many familiar faces appearing in
the last 16 and beyond. Never before have we been so widely represented
at a major championship.
“It’s testament to the development and recruitment of players across
our clubs and reflects the growing status of our competition in the
global game. The Premier League is undoubtedly a world leader, but it is
also a source of strength to English football that it also has the best
second, third and fourth tier competitions in world football too.
“We are fully committed to developing more and better home grown
players for English football and, in doing so, we’ll continue to deliver
outstanding talent for the other Home Nations and the Republic of
Ireland along the way.
CREDIT TO:http://zapsportz.com/english-football-league-well-represented-in-last-16-of-european-championships/
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