Shea Charles, a young midfielder for Northern Ireland, embraced the chance to start in their opening match of the European Championship by using the lessons he learned from watching teammates Fernandinho, Rodri, and Kalvin Phillips play for Manchester City.
Dion Charles scored twice as Northern Ireland defeated San Marino 2-0 on Thursday. Charles improved throughout the match and at times in the second half controlled the center of the park.
The 19-year-performance, old’s which earned him his fifth cap and a first under Michael O’Neill, was outstanding. It has been difficult to break into Pep Guardiola’s team given the elite players at City, but it hasn’t stopped Charles from learning the game at the club.
Before Fernandinho departed Manchester, Charles said the two would talk about the positional aspects of the game, and he still picks up tips from Rodri and Phillips.
They play in my position, that’s why. The most important thing is to observe them, learn from them, and ask questions, stated Charles.
“Game reading, game intelligence, and a strong passing range are absolutely vital,” the coach said.
Charles said when asked about his future and breaking into the City side, “Yes, it will be challenging, but I’m confident in my own talents. Practicing with them and continuously picking their brains is just a terrific experience.
Currently, I’m just going to finish the season, and then we’ll see what happens. Hopefully… Although staying in City is definitely the main goal, anything can happen, so we’ll see.
We can be certain that O’Neill values the teenager highly because he gave him such a significant part to perform to begin the Euro qualification campaign.
The manager made a bold decision to start the teenager ahead of more seasoned midfielders, despite the fact that San Marino is the poorest international team in the world according to the FIFA rankings.
It will be interesting to observe whether O’Neill sticks with Charles when Ireland plays Finland on Sunday.
“I had a great time there, and it’s always satisfying to do well, especially when you’re away from home. I just hope we can go out on Sunday and have another successful outcome,” Charles added.
“It’s wonderful that we were able to convert one of our early opportunities. Before the game, Michael advised them to take it easy and wait for their turn.
We will now focus on Finland in the hopes of having a successful outcome.
This is how he is on the pitch off the pitch also; he’s extremely comfortable and very relaxed, which is what you need in a young guy, said George Saville, who played alongside Charles in midfield. He pays attention, and if he wants it, he can have a great future.
Conor Bradley, the second adolescent who started and did well, also received plaudits from Saville.
He stated, “I’ve watched a few of Bolton’s games and Conor has been excellent this year. He’s really aggressive in the way he attacks down that right side.
The Millwall midfielder continued, “Getting the three points is a good start. We’ve only been playing together for three days, there are a lot of fresh faces and young players, and we played well, the manager told us after the game. We could have punished them more when we were two goals up by scoring more goals, but this is the beginning of a new season, so we’ll focus on the good.
“In the first half, we appeared spirited, generated opportunities, and Dion’s opening goal was a wonderful finish. After the break, the second straight was beneficial for us. We needed to be a little more adventurous with the ball and try to score more goals in the final 20 minutes, but three points is still a win.
“It will be fantastic to play Finland at home. You are aware of how great it is for us to have yet another good opportunity at Windsor. We’re going to be upbeat and attack it because we just had a comfortable victory.
