West Ham Academy Director Terry Westley has heaped praise on youngsters Nathan Trott and Domingos Quina after the pair reached the UEFA European U19 Championship final.
Trott’s England beat Portugal in a hard fought 2-1 victory on Sunday to cap off a fantastic summer of football for the Three Lions youth. Despite being an unused substitute throughout the tournament, Westley praised his inclusion in the squad after only switching his international allegiance from Bermuda earlier this year.
Speaking on whufc.com, Westley said: “Nathan was very late in terms of getting clearance to play, but they really like him and trust him so he went straight into their squad.
“It’s a great experience for him and it should have given him the appetite to go on and become the number one goalkeeper in that team. He is highly, highly thought of.”
The Academy director also commented on Quina, who played a part in all five of is country’s games at the tournament and put in an impressive Man of the Match display versus the Czech Republic.
“Dom is playing a year above his age, as he is an U18, but Portugal have skipped him a year,” Westley observed. “To have won the U17s and then lose narrowly in the U19s final the following year shows what his country think of him.”
Both players remain in contention for a spot in the first team’s pre-season tour of Europe, which started last week.
