Airidas Golambeckis continued his West Ham United goalscoring form, netting his first international goal for England U18s in a 3-1 win over Ukraine U19s at the Banús Football Centre in Marbella.
The 16-year-old centre-back, who has already scored three times for West Ham's U18s in his first year as a scholar, made his debut for the Young Lions last month in a 1-1 draw against Switzerland. Golambeckis, who had previously represented Lithuania at U16 level, switched his international allegiance to England when he was called up to the U18s squad in September.
Building on his domestic performances, Golambeckis was once again selected by Liam Bramley for England's four-nation tournament in Marbella, competing against Netherlands, Sweden and Ukraine. Joining him on their camp in south-east Spain was West Ham teammate Emeka Adiele, who earned his first England call-up and debuted in their 2-0 semi-final defeat by Sweden last Friday.
Following Friday’s result, the Young Lions braved wet conditions in Spain for the third-place play-off against Ukraine U19s. In his third start for the U18s, Golambeckis and his teammates raced into a two-goal lead thanks to a brace from Tottenham Hotspur’s Callum Olusesi before Yaroslav Karaman brought the Ukrainians within touching distance before the break.
With the match finely poised throughout the second half, Golambeckis sealed the win late on, rising highest from a corner to head England’s third goal past Ukrainian goalkeeper Nazar Makarenko, securing a 3-1 victory.
Golambeckis and Adiele will now return to Chadwell Heath and Rush Green to rejoin their West Ham United U18 and U21 teammates respectively.
Lauris Coggin’s U18s will face Tottenham Hotspur this Saturday in U18 Premier League South action at Little Heath, while Mark Robson’s U21s resume their Premier League 2 campaign with an away fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers the following Friday.
