Josh King on 'strong England feel' among U19 EURO camp

The England men's under-19 squad are in Romania for this summer's UEFA U19 EURO Finals, and as Will Antwi's team continue their group stage games we caught up with midfielder Josh King about his time in Romania so far and the team's ambitions.

How have you found it out in Romania so far off the pitch?

I think it’s been a really nice experience off the pitch so far, the lads have gelled really nicely. We’ve got a good space here to be able to connect and build a bond as a team. We arrived five days before our first game against Norway, so it allowed us to have some downtime and a lot of time to build that connection with the other players and staff which has been positive. We’ve got a really strong sort of ‘England feel’ in our team at the moment which is really nice.

What have you found or learned about the country or culture that you didn't know before you went there?

It’s very hot! Which is lovely, but it's meant that a lot of the boys were cramping by 80 minutes the other night. Everyone we’ve met here has been really nice and friendly, and the hotel have looked after us which has added to the positive environment.

What have you been doing in your down-time around the camp?

Sam Walker, our team manager, has set up a really nice social area in our hotel where we’ve got a couple of dart boards, table tennis and a pool table, so that allows the boys to spend any free time we have together and play a couple games of pool together which is nice. A lot of us have been keeping up with Love Island and watching the MU21s in their EUROs so that’s also been nice. Our hotel also has a really good spa facility, so that’s been amazing for our rehab and recovery.

What are your thoughts on the tournament so far? Have you watched or followed many of the other games while you've been there?

I think it’s been a good tournament so far, obviously we’re not too far through it as we’ve only played one game. I think the first game showed us that the level of football is really high here, regardless of the opposition. Norway came out really strong and it was a good first game. I watched a bit of Germany v Netherlands the other night, who are the other teams in our group and it was a good fought game, both teams threw the kitchen sink at it and the Netherlands came away with the three points, but both will be really tough opposition going into our next group stage games.

On the pitch, it's been a tough qualifying campaign to get there which you came through...how has it felt now you're in the Finals?

I think we were all buzzing to be honest, to get through the Elite Round, especially given that only one team goes through in that round. It was a difficult qualifying group, especially with Portugal in it but I’m delighted that we’ve managed to get this far and hopefully it continues throughout the tournament and beyond.

You can watch the U19 EURO games in the UK live on via the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website, while matches are also being streamed on UEFA.TV. England are back in action against Germany on Tuesday 17 June (6pm BST) before they play their final group game with the Netherlands on Friday evening (6pm BST).