Lee Cattermole Helps England U21 Qualify

Wigan Athletic midfield man Lee Cattermole was a 56 minute substitute as England Under 21`s beat Portugal Under 21`s 2-0 to reach the play-offs for the 2009 European Under-21 Championship

England took the lead in the 44th minute with a penalty by James Milner and this was followed up in the 63rd minute by Milners Aston Villa team mate Gabriel Agbonlahor

Lee Cattermole came on in the 56th minute replacing Boltons Fabrice Muamba and quickly settled into the midfield and received a yellow card



England Under 21 boss Stuart Pearce said after the game:

'We knew from the offset that this would be the most difficult campaign anyone has to go through to reach a finals.

'But if we can get through the play-offs we know there are only seven teams standing in our way in Sweden next summer.

'Our first port of call was to get through this group, which we knew would be tough and proved to be so.

'We've got out the group and now we'll wait on next Friday's draw to see where that takes us.

'We're pleased we've topped the group but it means nothing to us at the moment. We want to win the tournament next summer.'

The England U21 team was:

Hart, Cranie, Steven Taylor, Mancienne, Andrew Taylor, Huddlestone, Muamba (Cattermole 56), Noble, Milner, Adam Johnson (Kightly 86), Agbonlahor (Campbell 76).
Subs Not Used: Heaton, O'Hara, Stearman, Lennon.

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