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EURO 2020 QUALIFIERS

STRANGER

MINGS!

Tyrone thought the England call was

just a wind-up and didn’t believe it

WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

Belgium 3 England 3

Bronze shines

but Lionesses

bit too leaden

BY NEIL MOXLEY

LUCY BRONZE was crowned Europe’s

best player last night – an achievement

greeted by Lionesses head coach Phil

Neville as “thoroughly deserved”.

The powerful right-back was forced to

miss a glittering ceremony in Monaco to

turn out in the largely unfamiliar role of

midfield on a difficult evening in Leuven.

The Lyon defender (above) had beat

off competition from club-mates

Amandine Henry and Ada Hegerberg to

land the prestigious award from UEFA.

Neville (below) paid tribute to her,

saying: “It’s an amazing achievement.

Being a full-back, she believed it

would be held against her,

but after performances

for Lyon and England,

she thoroughly

deserves it.”

Bronze chose to

play for her country,

but the 27-year-old

must have been

wondering why she had

bothered after the Lionesses

threw away a two-goal lead before being

rescued by Nikita Parris’ late penalty.

Jodie Taylor and Beth Mead had fired

them into the two-goal lead before two

sloppy moments saw the Red Flames

hit back through a Carly Telford own

goal and Ella Van Kerkhoven.

When the same player lashed home,

following a scuffed clearance from

Steph Houghton, the Lionesses looked

to be heading for defeat.

But Parris fired home a leveller, with

13 minutes to go, after a handball

decision was given in the penalty area.

BELGIUM: Evrard 6, Deloose 6, Jaques 7, De

Neve 7, Philtjens 5, Cayman 5, Biesmans 6, De

Caigny 6, Dhont 6, Van Kerkhoven 7, Wullaert 8.

ENGLAND: Telford 6 (Earps 62, 6), Daly 6,

Houghton 5, McManus 5, Stokes 5, Bronze 7,

Walsh 6 (Williamson 87), Stanway 8 (Williams

56, 6), Parris 6 (Staniforth 75, 6), Taylor 7

(England 75, 5), Mead 6.

TYRONE MINGS thought his

shock England call-up was a

prank.

Gareth Southgate yesterday

named the Aston Villa defender

in his squad for the Euro 2020

qualifiers against Bulgaria and

Kosovo on September 7 and 10.

The imposing centre-back has

impressed on his return to he

Premier League with Aston Villa

after a permanent £20million

summer switch from

Bournemouth.

Mings, 26, starred on loan last

term to help Villa to promotion

and his call-up after just three

games back in the top flight came

as a big surprise.

“I thought it was a prank when

I first found out,” revealed Mings,

a former non-league defender with

Yate Town and Chippenham Town

who got his break at Ipswich.

“I got a text when I came in from

training from the England player

liaison officer Emily.

“I texted back saying, ‘Oh s**t’.

Excuse my language.

“She then called me and said,

‘I’m not joking.’ It was only when I

spoke to her on the phone, I knew

it was genuine. Obviously I am

delighted. It has been a long

journey to get to this point.

“Everyone has their own journey.

There are people in the England

squad that have come from non-

league too.

“It probably makes it a little bit

sweeter but every English player’s

dream is to be called up into the

national squad. Hopefully I get a

chance to play.”

Southgate said: “I really like his

leadership. At times we have lacked

that sort of presence.

“His athleticism is a stand-out

and we have to defend a lot on our

half-way line, with a lot of space

behind us.

“So, his speed, his strength, his

agility, clearing balls out of his box...

I mean, I lost count at Spurs away

how many he cleared out of his own

box.”

Mings has blossomed under the

daily advice and expertise of Villa

assistant head coach John Terry,

the former Chelsea and England

centre-back.

He added: “JT gave me a pat on

the back. He is such a great person

to learn from. The work he does to

help me improve as a defender has

been absolutely

tremendous.”

Villa boss Dean

Smith is also

delighted and

now reckons

Mings is a snip

after Harry

Maguire

subsequently

moved to

Manchester

United for £85m.

Ahead of his side’s trip

to Crystal Palace tomorrow , Smith

admitted: “At the time I thought we

were paying over the odds but it

was a deal worth doing because

we wanted him so badly.

“It was a tough one to pay but

when you look at the market after

it, and what some teams have paid

for centre-backs, it looks a snip for

sure.”

Villa keeper Tom Heaton was

also called up but there was no

place for captain Jack Grealish.

But Smith insisted: “He is

certainly not far away.

“Gareth told me he is

monitoring Jack very closely.

“He is too good for the

Championship and is finding

his feet in the Premier League.”

BY JAMES NURSEY

@JamesNursey

ENGLAND

SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS

Pickford, Heaton, Pope

DEFENDERS

Wan-Bissaka,

Alexander-Arnold,

Chilwell, Mings, Gomez,

Maguire, Keane,

Trippier, Rose

MIDFIELD

Winks, Henderson, Rice,

Barkley, Mount,

Maddison, Oxlade-

Chamberlain

STRIKERS

Sterling, Rashford,

Lingard, Sancho, Kane,

Wilson