‘Hard work got me here’: Eberechi Eze determined to take

Crystal Palace playmaker reflects on his journey from rejection to the national team, and returning from injury

When the text came through from the Football Association this time, it is reasonable to assume that Eberechi Eze had a flashback – and a harrowing one as well – to the episode he describes as “the biggest test” he has faced. And it is certainly worth saying that the bar is set high in this regard.

Before the previous European Championship, played in 2021, Eze clicked on a message to say he had been included on Gareth Southgate’s list of players for the tournament, before the announcement of the provisional squad a week or so later. It was Eze’s first senior England recognition. The problem was that he had just been helped off the Crystal Palace training pitch, having ruptured an achilles tendon.