England's Alejandro Rodriguez to face his birth nation in World Cup opener

England men’s under-18s open their FIFA U17 World Cup campaign on Tuesday afternoon, when they face Venezuela and for one member of the Young Lions squad it will be a special occasion.

Alejandro Rodriguez will be hoping to lead the line for Neil Ryan’s team against the country of his birth, having moved to England as a youngster to pursue his dream of becoming a footballer.

And the Olympique Lyon striker spoke about the transition in his life when he made the move with his family and how it all came about.

“Well, I was born in Venezuela and I came to England when I was ten,” said the former Southampton forward.

“I lived in Venezuela for the first ten years of my life. When I was a young kid I always wanted to be a professional footballer and I while played football in Venezuela, mainly through school, that was one of my goals, to move to a European country.

“My uncle helped to move me and all my family over to England, as he was already here, and I’ve just gone through the ranks of football since then and it's all been very fast for me to be honest.

“When we first came to England, we moved to Southampton because my uncle had been living there for six years already.”

“I've really enjoyed it since I came here, and I probably wouldn’t have chosen anywhere else to be than England, it’s a very good place to be, apart from the weather!”

After arriving in his adopted homeland and settling in Southampton, Rodriguez quickly caught the eye with his goalscoring ability and it wasn’t long before he was snapped up to play for the Saints’ academy.

International recognition soon followed, with Rodriguez courted by both Venezuela and Portugal but ultimately going on to represent England from MU15 level onwards and he’s now been capped at various age groups with the Young Lions.

“I first joined Eastleigh Football Club, which was near where we lived,” he added.

“And after I scored a lot of goals there, Southampton had a look at me and took me on trial and they signed me after one week.

“After two months there, I got a scholarship with them and soon after that I got into the England MU15s squad and in my first camp there, I scored two goals and everything for me has been very fast since.”

You can watch England’s opening game against Venezuela, and their subsequent matches live on ITV, with kick-off in Qatar scheduled for 3.15pm GMT.