Newcastle United new signing Antonito stars in UEFA Under 19 Euro Finals opener | OneFootball

New Newcastle United signing Antonio Cordero (popularly known as Antonito), has starred for Spain in their UEFA Under 19 Euro Finals opener.

Held in Romania, the eight countries are split into two groups, in these 2025 UEFA Under 19 Euro Finals.

Spain were up against Denmark in a very competitive opening group match and plenty of action at both ends.

Antonito was involved in most of Spain’s best moments, looking dangerous on the right flank and also when switched to the left. The Newcastle United teenager also entrusted with taking a lot of Spain’s corners.

Surprisingly only one goal in this match considering the chances created at both ends of the pitch, the key moment just before the break when Izan Merino’s shot hit the post and then rebounded into the net when hitting the Denmark keeper.

Antonito and his teammates doing enough in the second half to deserve the victory and the NUFC winger subbed off in added time.

With the winners of the two groups and runners-up going into the knockout semi-finals, Spain in a strong position.

Their two remaining group matches are against Romania on Monday 16 June and Montenegro on Thursday 19 June.

Spain are the most successful team in the history of this competition, having won twelve titles, they are also the reigning champions. England are next highest with 11 previous title wins in past years, then France with eight.

Aleksandar Mitrovic was player of the tournament back in 2013 when playing for the Serbia under 19s.

England begin their group matches on Saturday, playing the Norway Under 19s at 3pm this afternoon. Then face Germany on Tuesday 17 June and the Netherlands on Friday 20 June.

I went to check up on Lewis Miley and any clues on the official FA site as to whether he would be starting today, only to not see him listed in the England Under 19s squad for this tournament, despite having been named in the squad back on 19 May (see below).

When I checked further on The FA site, I found the following:

‘Will Antwi has added Tottenham Hotspur’s Reiss Russell-Denny and Crystal Palace’s Jesse Derry to his UEFA U19 EURO squad. This follows the withdrawal of Newcastle United’s Lewis Miley and Southampton’s Tyler Dibling.’

I hope all ok with Lewis Miley and not a new injury to worry about.

After what I spotted on The FA site, I had a look online and can’t see any reporting of the fact Lewis Miley has withdrawn from the England Under 19s squad, never mind why.

Official England Under 19s announcement from The FA – 19 May 2025:

‘England men’s under-19s will head to Romania in June to compete for the UEFA U19 EURO title.

The Young Lions have reached the last eight of the competition after coming through two qualifying rounds this season, as the 2024-25 year group look to get their hands on a trophy which England last won in 2023.

And head coach Will Antwi has named his squad for the Finals, where England will face Norway in their opening game on Saturday 14 June at the Ilie Oana Stadium in Ploiesti (3pm BST).

Then it’s on to a match with Germany on Tuesday 17 June (6pm BST) at the Arcul de Triumf Stadium in Bucharest, before the Young Lions remain in the capital for their final group match against the Netherlands on Friday 20 June (6pm BST) at the Giulesti Stadium.

The top two nations from the group tables will then progress to the semi-finals which will be held on Monday 23 June, with the final scheduled for Thursday 26 June.

Antwi’s team secured their place at the Finals after topping their elite qualifying round table in March, after a victory over hosts Wales, a draw with Turkiye and then a decisive final-game win over Portugal.

Prior to that, the squad travelled to Bulgaria for the first qualifying round last November, when wins over Lithuania and Bulgaria and a draw with Belgium kick-started their EURO campaign.

Tickets for all three group games are available to order online, via the links below.

England v Norway – 14 June England v Germany – 17 June England v Netherlands – 20 June

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Finlay Herrick (West Ham United), Tommy Setford (Arsenal), Matthew Young (Sunderland)

Defenders: Zach Abbott (Nottingham Forest), Joe Johnson (Luton Town), Caleb Kporha (Crystal Palace), Jayden Meghoma (Brentford), Stephen Mfuni (Manchester City), Harrison Murray-Campbell (Chelsea), Triston Rowe (Aston Villa)