Academy starlets react to first international call-ups

It’s been a good start to 2024 in terms of international call-ups for our Academy, with a handful of young players recently earning their first opportunities at national team level.

Leo Black and Tyrese Hall, two stars of our Under-18 side this season, have been called up for the first time to represent England’s Under-18s and Under-19s respectively, while their youth team colleague, Yusuf Akhamrich, recently earned his maiden call-up for Morocco Under-20s.

Reflecting on their achievements, the consensus among all three players was that playing on the international stage is something they’ve been striving for.

“I was excited when I first got the news because I’ve been working towards this for the last few years,” said Leo, 18, who has been virtually ever-present for our Under-18s this season as an inverted right-back and made his England debut from the start in a 2-1 win over Czech Republic in Spain on Wednesday afternoon.

“From my first England Under-15s training camp to getting the call-up to actually play a game for the Under-18s, it was an amazing feeling, my mum was happy, my dad was emotional… everyone was really pleased. I feel like I can carry my club form in to England and hopefully help them to win games and tournaments, now and in the future. I know a couple of the other players from playing against them and a couple who were at Spurs previously, so I know the quality and the expectations are high.”

Central midfielder Tyrese, also 18, starred for our Under-18s during the first half of the season and has established himself as a regular starter for our Under-21s since the turn of the year. He joins Jamie Donley, Alfie Dorrington, Will Lankshear and George Abbott in the England Under-19s squad for two matches in Morocco during the international break, the first of which is against the host nation on Thursday evening.

“To get called up to play for your country, it’s a good opportunity and it’s obviously something new, so I’m excited,” he smiled. “I’ve been working towards this – I’ve been at the Club for 10 years now but I’ve never played for England before, so it will be special if I can make my debut.

“I didn’t know how to react when I first got the call – I was so happy that I just kept saying ‘thank you’! My family is proud of me as well, they’ve been wanting this for a long time so it’s a great opportunity. It will definitely be helpful knowing some of the other boys from Spurs – I know I’ll be able to talk to them for some advice and I feel that will help to make me feel as comfortable as possible.”

Left-sided player Yusuf, 18, has also been a regular starter for our Under-18s this term and last month headed off to Rabat to represent Morocco Under-20s for the first time in a training camp and friendly outside of the usual international window.

“I found out about a week before I went – I was so excited because I’ve been working hard for the chance to represent my country, so it was a great moment,” he reflected.

“Both my parents are Moroccan and I’ve been told that the national team had been monitoring me for quite a while before the call-up, so it just came at the perfect time. We had a couple of double sessions and then a game. Training was fun – it was quite a high standard. All the players were good – they had players from France, Spain, Italy, obviously Morocco as well, so it was good to get the chance to meet new people and learn new things. I’d say it was a good experience to play with older, more experienced players, because you can learn a lot from them.”

Be sure to check out our international call-ups guide to see which of our players is playing where and when during the international break.