Calum Scanlon notched his first international assist to help England U19s secure a dramatic late victory over Japan on Saturday.
The full-back made his seventh appearance for Simon Rusk’s side as the Young Lions made it two wins from two in Marbella for the international break.
Scanlon made his England U19s debut back as a substitute against Germany back in June and has since gone on to carve out a relatively regular role at left-back for his country.
His team went 2-0 ahead courtesy of first-half strikes from Man City‘s Jacob Wright and Tottenham‘s Will Lankshear, but Japan were able to level matters shortly after the interval.
Liverpool’s academy graduate was introduced on the hour in place of Kian Best, having played the full 90 minutes against Romania earlier in the week, and made his presence felt by setting up the winner in the dying seconds.
Scanlon navigated his way beyond a Japan defender to get himself into position before firing a low cross for fellow substitute Jamie Donley to steer home the goal that settled the contest.
It was the second of two friendlies in November’s international break, with his side thrashing Romania 6-0 on Wednesday, also in Marbella.
The 18-year-old made his competitive debut for the Reds during the 5-1 victory over Toulouse last month, but did make four appearances in pre-season during the summer.
The dislocated shoulder injury sustained by Andy Robertson during the previous international break has opened a potential window for further involvement in the coming weeks, with Scanlon likely to jostle with Kostas Tsimikas, Joe Gomez and Luke Chambers for the vacated minutes.
Jurgen Klopp has rotated his team during the early stages of the League Cup and Europa League, with upcoming clashes against LASK, Union SG and West Ham offering further opportunities for those on the cusp of the senior team.
Scanlon was described as “fun to watch” by the Liverpool boss over the summer, and was drafted into first-team training ahead of last month’s Merseyside derby.
It remains to be seen whether his recent progress will translate into senior minutes, but Klopp will undoubtedly be keeping an eye on the youngster as the weeks progress.
